OFM Lit: Good Heart, Better Wardrobe

As she slipped into her heels that were, truthfully, a half-size too small, Trisha caught a glimpse of the opening number gown hanging behind her in the mirror. The red lace over a nude illusion trickled down into an ostrich feather-lined trumpet skirt. She smiled as she sat staring at its reflection. Trisha flashed back to the day something like this first became a dream.

She stood in her mother’s bedroom mirror, admiring how she looked. With an ensemble of a mismatched striped sweater with a tribal print skirt and sequin heels, she puckered her lips for the “Vivacious Vixen Red” lipstick her mother wore. She twirled around, giggling as the fabric flowed around her. Though she was only 6 years old, she knew this freedom was what she would pursue for the rest of her life. She was too distracted to hear the thudding footsteps approaching. It was too late to hide before she heard his angry voice.

“Tyler,” her father yelled, “what the HELL are you doing?!” Daniel Waters was an intimidating man. His lumbering stature and thick beard left no room for kindness. Tyler stopped spinning and froze in fear. His father blocked the doorway, and with no other exit, there was nowhere to escape. Daniel leapt forward and heaved his crying child over his shoulder and marched down the stairs. 

“Daddy, no! Daddy, please!” Tyler begged with his father, sure of what punishment was to come. As Mr. Waters traipsed past the kitchen to take his child outside for discipline, Tyler saw his distressed mother by the sink. “Mommy,” he screamed, “Help! Please!”

“Daniel, leave him be! He’s just playing around. There’s no need for this!” Meredith Waters was a kind and loving mother. Always dressed as though she would be meeting someone important, Tyler idolized her elegance. While her appearance caused people to think she was cold, Tyler knew she dressed like that because of what she had been taught as a girl: Have a good heart and a better wardrobe. She adored her only child, and became a place of refuge for Tyler when his father expressed his disgust in his flamboyant nature.

“Meredith, stay out of this. He needs to learn this faggy shit isn’t right!”

“It’s just a pair of heels and some lipstick. He’s a child, for Christ’s sake.” Meredith knew her son wasn’t like the other boys in town. Instead of football, he begged to be in dance classes. While his classmates wrestled on the playground, he would spend extra time with the music teacher learning piano. Tyler Waters was different, and Meredith loved him for it.

“You know this is wrong, and I’m going to teach him the way my dad taught me about being a man.” He began to unbuckle his belt as he held Tyler over his knee. Tyler squirmed but couldn’t break loose of his father’s monstrous hands. He cringed as he heard the buckle jingle. Daniel began to wrap the belt around his hand when he heard the unmistakable click of his revolver. He turned to see his wife aiming right between his eyes. “Meredith, what in God’s name do you …”

“He’s not sick in the head. He’s 6, fucking 6, Daniel. Now let him go, or I swear to God, I’ll make sure you never get to see what he becomes.”

“Meredith, put that gun down now.”

“I’m giving you until the count of three to let my baby go.”
Daniel stared at her, unsure of what she would actually do to protect Tyler.

“One … two … “
 
“Three minutes until I need you on that stage, Ms. Sparxx!”

Trisha’s assistant burst in the door. “Right, almost ready! Just got to zip up the dress. Do you mind helping me?”

Hailed as the new queen of pop, Trisha’s first single had gone triple-platinum in just a matter of a month. From opening for her drag mother in that run-down bar three years ago to becoming an international pop star with a sold-out tour, Trisha still couldn’t wrap her mind around it all. As she stood waiting for the stage to rise up to the anxious crowd above, her assistant leaned in.

“First row, stage right, seats two and three—They’re both here.”

As she ascended into the beaming lights, a roar erupted from 12,000 fans. And right where she said they were, Mr. and Mrs. Waters stared up in awe at their baby.

“Who’s ready to party with this drag queen?” she boomed into the mic. As the crowd erupted, she looked down at her parents. Trisha felt tears well up. Daniel smiled as Meredith mouthed the words “I love you.”

“I think you all know this first one … ‘Good Heart, Better Wardrobe