torn hose: a mother's story

It's A Setup

The following Saturday, while the three of us were having dinner in front of the television, I asked Rachel, "Rach, how would you feel about coming out shopping with me tomorrow? We could have some lunch out, make a day of it."

"Sure, mom, if Raymond doesn't mind being left home alone, all day long," Rachel replied with a grin, trying to make sure her brother heard how long they were planning to be gone.

She then added, "Wait, I know. Maybe you should come with us. We'll be trying on all kinds of cute clothes, and shoes, and getting our nails done. It'll be way more fun than sitting at home alone all day."

I noticed him awkwardly shift in his chair as he responded with a disinterested, "No thanks, sis, I'd rather not."

"Ray, sweetie, will that be all right with you, all day by yourself? You can make yourself some lunch, can't you? There's hot dogs in the freezer, or there may be some pizza rolls in there. Are you sure you wouldn't rather come with us? You'll be bored here."

Raymond happily replied, "Of course I won't mom. I'll find something to do. And I can make my own lunch, you and Rachel go ahead and have a nice time. Take as long as you want. I've got things here I want to do. I'll be fine. Just have a nice day."

Rachel and I looked at each other with a smile of satisfaction on each of our faces.

The next morning at about nine-thirty, I called Rachel down saying, "Are you ready Rachel? We need to get going. Our appointment at the nail salon is at ten-thirty."

"Mom, don't let me forget I need to pick up a few pairs of hose while we're out." Rachel call back from upstairs.

On our way out the door, Raymond wanted to know how long we thought we'd be gone and I told him I expected we'd be back around four or five. I also told him we'd probably pick him up and go out for dinner, so be ready.

Once we were out of the house and on our way, I explained to Rachel what I'd done.

"I've set up a hidden camera in Raymond's bedroom and one in your room, they're motion activated and recording to the cloud. I can check the feed on my phone, so we can take our time shopping."

Around 11:30, we took a break.

We were eating our lunch when Rachel asked, "Mom, have you gotten an alert from the cameras yet?"

"I have." I responded but didn't offer any details.

"Well, we're we right?"

"I've seen him go in hm's out of his room several times."

"And?"

"So far it's all been innocent, nothing that proves anything yet."

"We still got time." Rachel replied before becoming serious. "Mom, what if it is Raymond? What are we going to do about it?"

"Well I've thought about this a lot over the past few days and if it's agreeable to you, this is what we we'll do. If it's him stealing and destroying our clothes because he wants to dress like a girl, then with his summer vacation coming up, he can stay dressed as a girl for a while day and night and I mean no jeans or trousers, no pants at all. I think a week or two of this will get it out of his system and teach him a lesson."

"So, what will he be wearing then, mom?"

"Everything else we girls wear, from panties and bras to dresses and skirts . . . hose, we know he likes those, but it'll humiliate him to have to do it in front of us. He won't want to do it ever again. Makeup, definitely makeup, oh and shoes."

"What about hair? Oh, and nails?"

"I guess I could even bring him to our salon to have Lacy trim and style his hair in a girl's style, put extensions on his nails and pluck his eyebrows, so no one mistakes him for a boy."

Rachel laughed excitedly, "Wow, now I really hope it is him, mom. I know I shouldn't, but it would be so much fun to see him spend the summer as my younger sister."

"I just hope it teaches him a lesson and he doesn't want to go in our drawers and closets ever again after this is all done."

Rachel now couldn't wait to see if it really was Raymond.