Chapter 7

That evening, we ate light, seeing what we had for lunch. The dogs were happy to see us and ran around a lot. We both went and changed into nightwear before we sat in the lounge with the dogs, with me becoming more aware of keeping the clothes neat.

Before we went to bed, we went to the master bedroom and closed the door on the dogs while we pulled a load of things out of the cabinet and relocated it in my drawers, putting my guy things in the cabinet. The result was that I had enough panties, bras, stockings and corsets to not need to buy up big. We took each dress out and I held them against me for Margaret to check. None of them were suitable for day wear.

My everyday wear now only consisted of the dress I had worn to the nightclub, the outfit I had worn today, the pleated skirt and the couple of tops that Margaret had bought, and a couple of pairs of my old jeans that didn’t look out of place. My old tees were too tight to wear with breasts, unless I was competing in a beauty contest. Although I could get into the shoes in the cabinet, none of them would be good for a supermarket run.

I turned my computer on and checked my bank account. I transferred some from a savings account to my card to give me some leeway when we went shopping. Margaret told me that I would do best, for my money, in a thrift shop, so we found the addresses of thrift shops in Luton, as I could then shop in Letchworth and Stevenage as a girl with a choice of outfit. If I found some things, tomorrow, I could come home and put it away before heading to the shops in Letchworth for supplies.

Before I turned it off, I checked my emails. There was one from the lawyer, to tell me that the inheritance was likely to be confirmed next week, seeing how straightforward it was. He had the insurance payout and would transfer it as soon as the paperwork had been signed.

There were a couple of other things we needed to do. The first was for me to try on the two rings, to check if they fitted. They felt all right to me, but Margaret thought that they were a little loose, and needed to be resized. The other thing to do was to count the money that we had found in the box with the photos. It was all current notes and added up to a bit over four thousand. Margaret suggested that we used that to fund my new wardrobe, five hundred at a time.

That night, I shared my bed with Boots, as usual, who was very snuggled into my body, as if to let me know he was happy we were back. It was wonderful to get up and go through the usual things with the dogs and our breakfast. We sat in companionable silence as we ate. Margaret went off to have her shower first, while I tidied up.

When we left the house, dogs in the back, we drove to Luton and spent the morning going from thrift shop to thrift shop. I ended up with a good selection of skirts and tops that were still good, and a few daytime dresses, plus a range of handbags, some skinny-leg jeans, a long and a couple of shorter coats for when the weather got cooler. I also had two pairs of boots and six pairs of shoes, although it was difficult to find any that weren’t high heels. In the back of the Defender there was also a cardboard box full of music scores of party and torch songs of the forties to sixties.

We also got some things for Margaret and hadn’t broken the bank. We had lunch in Luton, at the Polish place where we could have the dogs outside, and then parked on the roof of the indoor market, leaving the dogs inside with a window open a bit. We went into the shops and looked for lingerie. I needed to get some slips, nighties and a bathrobe. We also stocked up on tights and knee-highs to use with the longer skirts, as well as a few more bra and panty sets. By the time we left, we had put a good hole in five hundred pounds for the day.

We took the bags back to the car and Margaret stayed with the dogs while I went off to get our supplies at Lidl from a list we had written. There was a jeweller in the complex, and I took the two rings to them, telling them that they had been an inheritance and if they could be resized. They measured my fingers and gave me a list of my sizes. I wanted them to both fit the third finger on my left hand, to wear when I wanted to be left unbothered. They told me that I could pick them up around the same time, next week.

Having shopped at Lidl, we didn’t need to go out again, so put things that didn’t need washing in my room, and the ones we weren’t sure of went into the laundry. One of the things that I took from the day was that the pleated skirt, while plain, had been very comfortable and easy to wear.

As I was preparing our dinner, Francis arrived and told us that the girls would be with us on Tuesday afternoon. I asked her if there was any special likes or dislikes, and she told me that they had all enjoyed a meal that Albert had often cooked for them. I had been taught that one so told her that I would do it for them.

On Saturday morning, we went to one of the big hardware stores and I bought a plastic table with fold-up legs and four, fold-up, tubular steel chairs. If we were going to host more than four, we would need more eating places, and this was cheaper than buying a bigger table and chair set. I also bought enough basic ingredients for the meal, serving a dozen. I would do it tonight, for my parents, and repeat it on Tuesday. The basis of the meal was just chicken, and the additions of various herbs and spices was what made it different.

I also persuaded Margaret to go into a driver training school in Stevenage and organise lessons in a dual-control car, starting next week. While she was talking to them, I spent a little while looking at the job cards at an employment place next door, to see if there was much call for a singer. That afternoon, I prepared the meal. The chicken legs had to be marinated in a special mixture to absorb the unique flavours, but much of the rest was the usual peeling and dicing. With my time spent with Albert, I was able to produce a hotel style dish with a little extra time.

When my parents arrived, we were set up in the kitchen and were both freshly showered and in good dresses. Margaret had done my face with the extra touches, and I looked like a star. It must have looked good, as both our parents gave us big hugs, with Dad almost squeezing the life out of me. Over the next few hours, we ate, we drank, and we laid out everything we now knew about Toms’ time in London, as told us by someone who was there.

Dad wondered about the jewels, and if they really did belong to Hectors’ father. We described what we could remember of them and could safely say that Tanya, while earning good money, would never have been able to pay what they would have cost. We got the boxes of paste copies and Mum was adamant that we were right. We spent some time going through the process of me now in a dress. With that, we did give Hector a bad name, because he had organised the process and had told the other girl to get me ‘the works’.

Margaret described my performance in the nightclub as well as laying down a recording. We promised them a copy when we got them. I told them about my side of the experience. How I had started hesitant, but fed from the audience as I could see them dancing. I mentioned the lad that I saw Margaret dancing with, and she blushed.

Dad wanted to know why I wasn’t there, tonight, in a nightclub.

“That’s an easy one, Dad. The way Hector was acting, he was sure that I would fall at his feet and kiss his shoes for the chance to play. The thing was, that when I did play, I would have signed there and then if he had the paperwork and a pen. Two grand a week for doing something I loved was tempting. Where he lost was taking us through Soho Park on the way to the bank. There we were, in a garden setting, with birds in the trees, right there among the concrete and squalor. I glanced back along the alley that lines up with the centre pathway and saw rubbish bins and tents. He was offering a glittering future in a city where homeless live in the back streets. Trade this place for that! No way!”

“So, what are your plans?”

“I want to explore the possibility of playing the pubs and hotels in this area until the make-up wears off or when I can’t maintain the illusion. Margaret can be my manager and make-up, and we can live here until she finds a nice lad and moves on. We’ve become far more attached to each other than when we lived at home, and there’s so much more we can do. When the inheritance comes through, we can cruise for a few months, with Margaret learning to drive and me trading in my Honda for a small car. It’s still parked where I left it the morning I found Tom. All I’ve done is put the cover over it.”

“What if you get pulled over now?”

“I’ll just have to say that I’m in character as an entertainer and show my normal license. Hector did give me one with my current picture in the name of Antonia Rebecca Hyde, which was all right for that purpose, although the bank manager had been at the nightclub with one of the girls in his branch and recognised me straight away. If I do get stopped, he also gave me a genuine Equity card with my right name on the front, and my entertainment name on the back. It would have been activated if I had signed, but it may come in handy.”

Mum looked stern.

“The bank manager was in a nightclub with someone from the branch! What was the age difference?”

“About forty years, or so.”

“What sort of nightclub was this?”

“One where me sitting at a table with a guy who was a teenager when Tanya was there, was probably one of the closest when it came to age. I did get the impression that the majority of the men were sugar daddies. A couple said that they had seen Tanya when she played, and that place was called Shackles, probably because it was a master and slave place. The money that was flowing wouldn’t have been possible in an ordinary restaurant setting. Hector said that having her on stage for four years expanded the empire. We only saw two floors of his five-storey headquarters, the office and the studio. He owns the nightclub, among others, and a stake in the hotel we stayed in. He’s not short of a quid. The thing that got me, was when I told him I wasn’t interested, he just walked away without a fight.”

“Then I’m doubly glad you didn’t sign on. People and places like that aren’t fit for a well brought up child, especially a young girl!”

When we all said goodnight, and they left, we tidied up and went off to bed with our companion pets. I had to smile, as I had been treated as just another daughter for the whole evening. No discussion about returning to a life as Anthony.

Sunday was, after the hectic and eventful week, a day of rest. We did the usual morning rituals and stayed in our gowns for a few hours. I told Margaret about my idea to get a car that we could both drive without needing the pedal blocks that the Defender had. It had been handy, having it set up for short people, but would prove a problem for her.

Mid-morning, we got ready to go out and went to the Weston Road Cemetery, in Stevenage, where Toms’ ashes had been interred. It was the first time we had been there and found a beautifully open and calming place with trees and flowers. We put flowers by his marker and told him that we now know the whole story and was sorry that he had been through so much.

I then took us to the Wilbury Hills Cemetery, in Letchworth, where Albert had been put, just up the road from the Two Chimneys, and laid some flowers there. We had lunch at the hotel, and I took us home via the track that I had cycled on, so that Margaret could see the Lavender Farm.

In the afternoon, I changed into a tee and jeans and worked out in the garden, now thinking about the space as a garden rather than just a space. I had a good look in the shed along the back and tidied up where the feed had been stored. I found a lot of old, and rusty, garden tools and a workbench with a vice. I made a note to get some spray to try and release all the screws and joints.

It made me think about things that had not been front-of-mind in my life. If I bought in some old railway sleepers, I could start building raised beds. I would have to go to a garden centre and do some research. What I did do was to take the cover off the bike, start it up and ride it into the shed, out of the weather, replacing the cover. I was happier that it was out of sight and more secure.

After my dirty work, I had a shower, washing the hair that was still attached. Margaret had said the hair and breasts would need removing in two weeks to allow the skin some rest, so I was now treating the attachments as part of my body. It was a steep learning curve when I went to dry myself, and Margaret had to bring me a second towel to wrap around my head.

When she had helped my get it dry, with a blower, she brushed it out and gave me a bit of a wave. As I was clean and semi-naked, she suggested that we see if the performance outfits would suit me. I went and put the gaffe on, now knowing the name, and we arranged the things from the cabinet drawers on the bed. She said that I didn’t need to worry about thigh pads, as I wasn’t going for the sex siren look, so we got me in a bra and panties, then put the waist clincher on, with Margaret lacing me up as I breathed in. We went with nude stockings as a baseline, attached to the garter straps, and then she helped me into each outfit, one at a time, including matching a pair of impossible heels and a wig.

With each outfit, she got me to move around and sit, to make sure that I wouldn’t stretch or rip the dress. She also got me to stand against the plain door, so she could take a picture of me. We also took a note of what wig worked best, just putting them over the current one.

By the time we had worked through the outfits, the dogs needed their tea, and I was wearing the last one as we fed them. It was silvery white, with fringes and matching heels. I found that I could move quite easily in it, finding that squatting was much easier in heels when I put their bowls down. One thing that was good, was that all the skirts were tight, making sure that my knees never splayed. It was like walking hobbled, but I guess that was what Shackles was all about. While I had tried them all on with white underwear, we did have the black and red sets to fit some of them better.

All the time, Margaret was making notes about make-up colours and accessories. With the last outfit, I had put on some of the paste jewels that we had brought home. I was about to get back into normal clothes when there was a knock on the front door, a door that we had hardly used, so it must be a stranger.

Margaret went to see who it was and came back to the lounge with a lady with a clerical collar. I explained that I was trying out performance outfits and was looking to sing and play piano when I could get bookings. She was visiting, as a usual greeting of new people in her parish. The Anglican Church of St. Katharine was in Ickleford township, and the only one in the area.

We put the kettle on, and Margaret spoke to her while I went to change, putting the pleated skirt and a top on, and going from the heels to a pair of slippers. That really felt like a change! Back in the kitchen, Molly, the vicar, was telling Margaret about her visits with Tom and Albert. They had never attended the services but had helped out with piano playing and catering whenever there were events on. Margaret dropped me right in it when she said, proudly, that Albert had taught me to cook, and Tom had taught me to play.

Molly stayed for a light tea with us, and she told us a lot more about the area and the people. Francis was a member of her congregation and had told her about us this morning. When I say that she had told her, she had told her everything! My greeting her in a stage outfit hadn’t been too much of a surprise, and she had been fully aware of Tom and Alberts’ situation, although she, like everyone else, didn’t know the full story, thinking that they were just a gay couple of guys. We both told her that we weren’t churchgoers, but would help out when we could, and she took our contact details before she left, saying that she would email us when there were events coming up. One thing she was certain of was the Harvest Festival in September, a very important event in this semi-rural area and about a month away.

After she had left, we sat at the kitchen table. Margaret giggled.

“There you are, Tonya. The only church in town accepts you for who you are.”

“That’s just the one person. Others may not be so welcoming, although having their leader accepting me may stop anything really nasty.”

“Play them something on their piano and sing to them. That will win them over. How are you on scone and cake making?”

“Pretty good. Now I know why Albert had such a big oven. It was used for a lot more than meals for two. I’ll get some more supplies, tomorrow, and do some cakes for Francis and the girls.”

“I’ve got my first driving lesson in the morning, so you’ll have to go shopping on your own. In the afternoon, we’ll go to a place I know, in Stevenage, and get you some new cosmetics. We’ll dump all the stuff from the cabinet, as none of it will be good after twenty-five years.”

We took turns, now as usual, to use the bathroom to cleanse and do our business before changing for bed. We wished each other goodnight and then went to try and get into bed. I had worked it out that lifting the blanket and rolling the dog worked well, and Boots seemed to consider it part of the game.

In the morning, I fed the dogs and made breakfast while Margaret got herself ready. She washed up while I went and got ready. I went with the existing make-up with a little extra lipstick today, and she called out that she was leaving as I was zipping up my skirt, one of the ones I had bought in Luton. I told the dogs that I’d be back and went to Letchworth. I knew that I had plenty of time if Margaret got through the written exam and then started her lessons.

The closest garden centre to us was just on the road into the town. It was called the Hitchin Centre and had a lot of nice things to buy. I asked about raised beds and good, local, plantings, and was given a brochure on building raised beds using railway sleepers, with different ways to secure them in place. I got prices, and the cost of getting a small truck with stones for the drainage, and soil to provide the body of the bed. I also had a list of the best flowers to plant. I already had an idea of what vegetables I would need to put in.

When I left there, I went through Luton to Dunstable on the western edge, and the music store of Octave. There, I looked at keyboards and amps. I could get a Yamaha DGX 670 electric grand piano, with stand and pedals, plus a twenty-watt amp, a microphone stand, and microphone for a little over a twelve hundred pounds. If I was going to play in places without their own piano, this would be absolutely the minimum I’d need to be independent.

I got all the details after trying out a setup that they put together for me. After a couple of songs, and asking me what I intended to do, they offered me a discount if I would put their sticker on the equipment and send them flyers of where I’d be performing. When I left, I had all new products in the back of the Defender, as well as a couple of books with the scores of the best songs for me from the last few years. The garden project would have to wait a little while.

I went back to Stevenage for my shopping. I needed cake mix, flavouring and extra flour if I was going to do cakes for the girls. I also got thickened cream, custard, and ice cream, all in packages. You don’t have to make everything from scratch when you cook, not with the quality of the packaged things available. I finished with a bag full of chicken legs and would marinate them overnight, for extra flavour.

I had everything I needed, so went home. When I arrived, Margaret was home. She had passed her written exam and had her learners coming in the post. The instructor had taken her to one of the big box parks, where there was enough space for her to start with her lessons, learning to start, move forward, move backward, keep a lookout and drive in curves, aiming for a particular parking space. She thought that she had done well and was taking another lesson on Thursday.

She helped me carry the Yamaha into the house and set it up on one wall of the lounge. That’s when I realised that I’d forgotten to get a seat. I could use the one in front of the upright, for now, but would need to get one that matched the unit. I plugged it, and the amp, in and turned everything on. Set as a normal grand, it sounded a lot like the one in the club. I used the controls on the amp to mellow the sound and played a few of the songs I knew. The dogs were stretched out on the carpet with their tails wagging.

I put the boxes in the shed, got us lunch, and started getting things together for the cakes. I was going to make a pair of Victoria sponges, the basic cakes today and adding fresh filings tomorrow. I had strawberries for one, and raspberries for the other, as well as double cream.

Once I got everything going, I made up a scone mix that we could have for afternoon tea. Then I went to my bedroom to turn on the laptop and check my emails and banking. My banking site showed that my outlay, this morning, had put me close to emptying my normal account, so hoped that the inheritance would come through on time. I did one other thing before I turned off. I went on the site to register businesses and submitted a request to open up a business called TonyaTunes, with this address as the base, my full name as the sole trader, and musical entertainment as the business.

Marianne Gregory © 2026