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- Things began to change a little in the second month. Doris
- took Anderson to a hairdresser. No names were mentioned, but she
- clucked with disapproval at the military haircut. Anderson thought
- his hair was long; it was longer than the uniform regs allowed, but
- still short. The stylist recut it into a hairstyle that was short
- but fairly feminine. She looked at his nails. "Your nails are a
- mess. You need to stop chewing them." She painted them with a
- clear liquid, thed waited for the coating to dry. "Now chew on
- them," she said.
- Anderson tried, the stuff tasted horrible. he spit out a
- fragment of nail and said as much.
- "That's just the point. Take the bottle with you and put a
- coat on your nails each morning. After a while, you won't even
- think of biting them." She then pierced his ears. "You're about
- what, 26," she asked.
- Anderson nodded.
- She pierced them twice more, so he had three gold studs in
- each ear. "You're young enough so that looks about right," she
- concluded. After a lecture on how to care for the piercings, she
- took him over to a vanity table and began showing him how to apply
- cosmetics, indoctrinating him in the mysteries of foundations,
- bases, power, lipstick, gloss, mascara, eyeshadow, and cold cream.
- After she was done, she scrubbed it all off and had him apply it,
- correcting him as he made mistakes.
- "That's sort of the `full formal' look," she explained. "It's
- good for an evening out. But for daytime, it's a bit much..." She
- then showed him how to lightly apply makeup for a look that was
- both enhanced and natural. "You don't want to wind up looking like
- the daughter of Bozo the Clown and Tammy Faye Bakker." Anderson
- left the salon with that coating still applied.
- That took the entire morning and then some. Anderson was
- getting very hungry, so Doris dropped him back at the townhouse.
- "See you in an hour," she said. Anderson made a couple of
- sandwiches and leafed through two aviation magazines that had been
- dropped off. He also noticed that "Cosmopolitan," "Redbook," and
- "YM" had been added to the selection. He repaired the damage to
- his lipstick by the time Doris returned.
- Doris showed up carrying two purses, one of them was for
- Anderson. She showed him what cosmetics to carry, enough for field
- repairs. He looked at the wallet, it had a Wisconsin driver's
- license in the name of Sherry Anderson, complete with photograph
- and signature. There was also a VISA and American Express credit
- cards, a pilot's license (private, instrument airplane), medical
- certificate and a radiotelephone permit in Sherry's name. There
- was also $52.47 in cash.
- "All those are legal," Doris said. "Anyone who checks with
- the DMV or the FAA will find Sherry Anderson listed. Give me your
- logbooks."
- Anderson went to find them and handed them over.
- "You'll get these back in a while. Now we have an appointment
- with a voice coach. You really need help there, Sherry."
- "I know I sound like a man, but why do you say that?"
- They left the townhouse as Doris explained: "Appearances are
- very important for a man who is passing himself off as a woman.
- What someone first perceives is the way they are going to think of
- you, 99% of the time. If they see a woman, then they are going to
- think `woman' even if your voice is a tad low. But in your case,
- the first contact a lot of people are going to have with you is
- over an airplane's radio. So your voice has to convey that you
- are a woman.
- "You might say we are going into phase two of your training
- here."
- "Which is?"
- "Female training. You're going to take deportment lessons.
- We aren't going to teach you how to act like a woman. An act can
- fail under stress. So we are going to teach you to BE a woman.
- There will be sessions with image consultants, the voice coach,
- and some time out in the real world. You're going to start
- spending some time with a therapist to ensure that we aren't
- overloading you. She'll also help you sort out your feelings about
- who you are and what we are training you. Feel free to talk with
- her about anything, ok?"
- "Sure. Will I still be flying?"
- "Oh, yes. You have a *lot* more training to go through."
- The voice coaching was simple. The first session took just
- fifteen minutes. The coach showed Anderson how to raise his voice
- slightly through humming and gave him a tape-recorder to practice
- with.
- The therapist was next. Her name was Janet, she explained
- that the process was to talk things out. She would have him
- explain his life to her. The process was like peeling an onion,
- one removes one layer at a time.
- Anderson digested that. "But there's nothing distinct about
- the center of an onion," he remarked. "How do you know when you
- get there?"
- "When there's nothing else left. You'll know it, and so will
- I. We'll start on your next visit."
- Doris was waiting in the therapist's outer office. "What's
- next on the schedule," Anderson asked.
- "We're going to get you some new clothes." They rode the
- electric jeep to a clothing store. There the saleslady first
- fitted Anderson with a bra and a set of breast prothesis. She had
- him try on a number of differnt bras, then camesoles and slips.
- After that, she brought in a hound's tooth suit with a white blouse
- which she had him try on. Then she fitted him with a pair of black
- leather pumps with 3" heels. Finally, she led him over to a three-
- sided mirror.
- Anderson's jaw dropped. Gazing back at him in the mirror was
- an attractive young businesswoman. He ran his hands down the side
- of the skirt, feeling the smooth material. He smiled and the woman
- in the mirror smiled back. What he didn't see was the satisfied
- grins Doris and the saleslady gave each other. He wasn't sure how
- long he stood there, entranced at his image in the mirror. He felt
- something click inside himself, and from then on knew that the
- female pronouns were the right ones. It just felt right. It was
- a moment that Sherry would remember as long as she lived. She
- would later say it felt like she had been reborn.
- They spent a lot of time assembling a wardrobe; dresses,
- skirts, tops, casual wear, coats, shoes, and a couple of pairs of
- boots. Doris picked out a few things to take back with them, the
- saleslady promised the rest would be delivered.
- Doris helped Sherry put her clothes away when they returned
- to the townhouse. "Tomorrow you start on your commercial pilot's
- license," she said. "Just be at the flight school by 0730. You'll
- do your training in the Bonanza, since you'll need to use a complex
- airplane for the exam. Wear the jeans and the sneaks for your
- flight training. As before, you'll be flying every other day.
- I'll let you know each afternoon what is planned for the next day
- so you can choose the proper attire. If I don't see you' I'll
- leave a note in your mail slot.
- "The other thing is, you need to start on a physical training
- program. Some of that will come later, but I want you to start
- running each afternoon. That is to be the only activity where you
- aren't to wear the artificial breasts. Start today."
- "Okay." Sherry changed into a t-shirt and shorts, then went
- out for a run. It was a brief run, she hadn't been running for a
- few months. But she knew from past experience that the wind would
- come back quickly.
-
- Sherry was at the flight school on time. If Craig had any
- thoughts about her changed appearance, he kept them to himself.
- The classroom phase was over quickly, most of the material was the
- same as the instrument course, so they went through it at a fast
- clip.
- The instructor thought she was a little weak on slow flight
- and stalls. "I think you're afraid of them, so let's change the
- syllabus a bit," he said. Sherry found herself in the front seat
- of a Bellanca Decathalon; they went through stalls, spins, and some
- basic aerobatics. She had to use a Sic-Sack on a couple of
- occaisions, but soon she was doing loops, rolls, and inverted
- flight. Craig had her do inverted stalls and spins, then he let
- her take the Decathalon up when she had some free time.
- Sherry had the time of her life in the Decathalon. Craig
- chewed her ass out for making a low inverted pass down the runway
- one afternoon, but she didn't mind.
- For most of the non-flying days, Doris had her wear more lady-
- like attire. She got used to moving around in dresses, skirts, and
- high heels. She lost her purse a few times the first week, but
- soon carrying one became automatic.
- The therapy was easier than she thought it would be. Sherry
- trusted Janet and opened up to her completely. They met three
- times a week, then scaled back to twice a week. Janet wanted to
- make sure that the training wasn't taking Sherry down a road she
- didn't want to go. But what she saw was a young woman who was full
- of life. Sherry was finally doing everything she had wanted to do.
- The deportment classes (to use Doris's term) were more like
- aerobics. The instructor's name was Sharon, she worked to teach
- Sherry to loosen up and move more fluidly, not to shamble along
- like a male. They were tiring at first, but also fun. Sherry was
- keeping up her running, she was now doing over four miles a day.
- The town (she thought of it as that) has several running courses
- laid out along the roads, complete with mileage markers. Sherry's
- goal was to run three laps around the airport, a distance of over
- seven miles.
- The coursework was changing constantly. After a series of
- lessons on clothing and accessories, Sherry started a basic cooking
- course. Doris pointed out that most women knew how to do more than
- fry hamburgers and eggs, which about the extent of Sherry's kitchen
- skills. So she learned how to cook and how to select items from
- the supermarket. Sherry privately didn't think much of this phase
- of her training. It seemed like a lot of effort to spend so much
- time spreparing a meal that normally didn't take anywhere near as
- long to eat. Lord Sandwich knew what he was doing, she concluded.
- The big treat came after Sherry passed her commercial pilot's
- check ride. Doris and Janet treated her to a trip to Chicago for
- three days of R&R. They took the Bonanza, Sherry flew them to
- Meig's Field right downtown. They went shopping on Michigan Avenue
- and in Watertower Place. The highpoint was a theatre night,
- including a fantastic dinner afterwards. Sherry was sorry to leave
- Chicago, even though she logged some good instrument time,
- including a NDB approach to their home base.
-
- Sherry started working with Craig on her multi-engine rating
- in the Twin Beech the next day, including a session on the care and
- feeding of radial engines. "You can't overprime a radial," Craig
- admonished. She learned about engines that measured their oil
- levels in gallons, not quarts.
- While Sherry was being introduced to the fun of engine-out
- drills, a conference was underway concerning her progress. Col
- Hampton had flown in, he met with Janet, Doris, and Dr. Trotti.
- "How's our boy doing," was his first question.
- Janet smiled. "She's a woman, Colonel, and she's doing fine."
- "Explain."
- "Frankly, I don't think Sherry's a transvestite. I think
- she's a transsexual, although she really hasn't admitted it to
- herself. The majority of TVs we get here aren't content to go
- full-time dressed up. They find some way of visibly asserting
- their masculinity. The TSs assimilate completely. Sherry has
- shown no signs of not wanting to be a woman. No covert strength
- exercises, or anything like that.
- "Her adjustment to female living has been remarkable, although
- I don't think she should consider making a living as a chef." That
- comment earned a laugh from Doris.
- Col Hampton mulled that over. "How's the flying coming?"
- Doris fielded that. "Craig says she's doing well. She may
- not be a pure natural at it, but she is working very hard at it."
- "So, what's the next step in her training?"
- "She's started multi-engine work. Once she gets her multi
- ticket, then we are going to get her rated in DC-3s and C-46s,
- along with turboprops. After that, then it may be time to send her
- out living full-time as a pilot to build up her flight time."
- "What about tradecraft?"
- "We'll start weapons training next week, along with escape and
- evasion, surveillance and counter-surveillance techniques, and the
- usual stuff," Doris said.
- "What about her femininity?"
- "I think it's time to see if she wants to start hormones,"
- Janet replied. If she agrees and sticks with it for the next few
- months, then it may be advisable to consider some non-genital
- reassignment surgery."
- "Face and voice?"
- "Yes. I'd say if she is to go that route, we do the surgery
- before she goes out for learning how to live on her own as a
- woman."
- "All right," Col Hampton concluded. "Call the airport and
- have Sherry brought here for a discussion about hormones with you
- and you alone. We'll wait up in Trotti's office."
-
- Sherry came to Janet's office looking an absolute mess. She
- was sweating from the effort of conducting the dead engine
- exercises. "This is a little out of the unusual," Sherry said.
- "What's up?"
- "I've been reviewing your progress here, Sherry. You are
- turning out to be a fine young woman. When I or anyone else looks
- at you, we'd be hard-pressed to believe that you are really a man.
- How do you feel about it?"
- Sherry was taken a little aback. "I guess I feel good about
- it. When I get dressed and look in the mirror, I see me. It's
- hard for me to realize that I am a man, too."
- "Do you want to go back to being Sam?"
- "What? But Colonel Hampton said-"
- I know what he said," Janet interrupted. "What has been done
- is easily changable. Even if you have no facial hair, all you'd
- need to do is get a crewcut, change clothes, take out your
- earrings, and everyone would assume you are a man. But now you're
- at a decision point.
- "For what I am going to say now, I do not want an answer.
- Promise me you won't say a word to me until tomorrow morning or
- later if you need the time. All right?"
- Sherry nodded.
- "This is the choice: you can go down the impersonation road
- with facial surgery and breast implants. It'll fool most of the
- people. When you're done, Dr. Trotti can make you look almost the
- way you look now. Not quite, but almost.
- "The other option is more permanent. Instead of implants,
- you'd start hormones. We'll schedule you for voice surgery, your
- voice will be higher forever. The facial surgery will be more
- extensive. And finally, if you make it that far, you'd go through
- sexual reassignment surgery. At that point, you'd be as female as
- chemistry, training, and surgery can make you.
- "It's your choice. Go home and think it over."
- Sherry nodded solemnly and left. She thought about it quite
- a lot. She thought about how she had never quite fit in as a man
- and how everything felt so right now. She had a few drinks in
- thinking it over, too.
-
- Sherry was wearing a pink suit and was waiting in Janet's
- outer office when Janet came to work the next day. "Come on in,
- Sherry," Janet said. They sat down and Janet didn't say anything.
- Sherry took a deep breath and smiled. "I want it to be
- permanent. When can we start?"
- Janet looked solemn. Inside she felt joyous, but kept a
- professional demeanor. She opened a drawer and handed her a piece
- of paper. "Take this to the pharmacy, they'll fill the order.
- Follow the instructions exactly, Sherry. Ok?"
- "Sure, Janet."
- Janet stood up and hugged Sherry. "Welcome to the other side,
- Sherry."
-
- --