sleep away at Camp Wiŋtke

Chapter 18

Thee bus was mostly empty, it finally approached Julie's stop.

Albert knew the moment he stepped off the transport, Julie would be left behind and Albert would have to return to existence again.

The bus squeaked to a stop and he hesitated wanting to hold onto Julie a little longer.

At last he stepped out and onto the black tar of the parking lot. 

"Hey Al," his mother called out as the bus pulled away.

"How are you," she asked, as he approached.

She stood alone, next to her car. Albert stopped in front of his mom, full of questions and still confused as to why his parents had chose that camp when he had always been so sure his dad would disown him if he ever found out his cross dressing desires.

"Yeah, I'm great," he answered while trying to suppress a huge grin.

"So, how was the week? I wasn't sure we should just push you off to that camp without telling you what was going on, but your father insisted it would be better right that way."

Albert took a deep breath and in the moment, decided to go for it while he still had the nerve.

"It was wonderful, mom." he began enthusiastically as he smiled at her. "That was the best week ever, thank you. I want to go back next year. Is that okay?"

"Wait. . . What," she asked, the look on her face turning to shock. "We thought that maybe this would get it out of your system. That you wouldn't like being forced to wear girl's clothes all week in front of other people and that you would be so humiliated and embarrassed you'd be convinced to be a normal boy again."

"Normal?" he repeated. "Mom, there were a lot of others there just like me who found they enjoy the same things as me. A few were forced to be there against their wishes, and there were others who seemed to like, I mean romantically like each other, but I don't think that's for me, not yet anyways. There was even one camper there who's parents are taking steps to help him live the rest of his life as a girl. I made a couple really good friends there and it was great getting to be who we wanted to be the entire time, even if it was just for a week. What I learned about myself this week is that this is my new normal."

"Your father isn't going to be very happy hearing this, not at all," she explained with a stern harshness her voice. "I'm not sure how I feel about it right now either. Throw your suitcase in the back seat and get in the car."

They rode the entire way home in silence. It wasn't at all the reception Albert had hoped it would be. He had been practically bursting, believing that it was a sign of exceptance, his parents sending him there. He had been excited to talk more about his time at camp and about Belinda and Terry, but now he wasn't sure there would be any talk at all.

Once they were home, Albert and his Mom walked in to find his Dad sitting in the living room. His mom sat down and silently motioned for Albert to do the same.

His Dad asked him about the week.

Albert decided not to beat around the bush or hide anything. The camp had emboldened him, given him the courage he needed to accept this part of him and not let anyone tell him he had to get rid of it, so he took a deep breath and told his parents all about how wonderful the camp had been for him. He wanted to convey how incredible the week was, and how he felt about it all, in hopes that his parents might come to understand.

When Albert finally ran out of words he sat in silence. His parents just sat there as well. A thick blanket of quiet hung over the room, slowly suffocating him.

"OK, then," his father finally said, breaking the tension. "I guess that settles things. Your mom and I really hoped you would discover you didn't like it when you were forced to wear those clothes all the time, but that seems to have backfired, so, I guess there's only one thing left to do now."

He placed his hand on his wife's knee and looked at her for encouragement before continuing.

She had a grim look on her face, but she nodded in support.

"Your mom and I, we discussed this as a possibility, but never talked about what we would do if it were true because we were so convinced you'd get it out of your system. Now that it's come to this, it looks like we have no choice, but to, uh," he paused.

His wife, her gaze trained on the floor, took his hand in a show of support.

He looked over at his wife and squeezed her hand. She looked up at him and gave him a quick feeble smile. It was obvious that what he was about to say weighed heavily on both of them.

Taking a deep breath, he continued,
"We-we have no choice," his eyes began to water. "No choice but to a-accept this as something you need to explore.  We, think, uh . . . well, I think we need to give you some space and allow you to figure this out, but I think we should buy you a few things of your own, though."