By Sissy Karen Part 1 click here
My alarm went at 5 am and I looked across at my beautiful wife sleeping soundly. I could see a slight glimpse of the top of her breast as her nightie had slipped a little. The thought of trying to wake her and seeing if I could tempt her with some love making crossed my mind but I remembered the two baskets of ironing Mother expected me to have completed before breakfast and decided it was more prudent to do my duty. I jumped out of bed and then I slaved away in the laundry for the next 90 minutes and still had only ironed one basket load. Mother has so many damned pleated skirts to iron and they took me forever! At 6:30 I began making the breakfast. Mother wanted the full hot breakfast, sausages, eggs, toast, bacon, fruit and yoghurt, freshly squeezed juice and coffee from our coffee machine. I managed to have it all plated up and on the table just in time. The ladies both arrived in the dining room together. Mothers first words were,
“Did you finish the ironing Georgie like I told you.”
“No Mother, it is taking longer than I hoped.”
“There will be a punishment for that. I expect you to work quickly as well as thoroughly. You will be rising early every morning until it is completed understand?”
“Yes Mother.”
Brenda then said to Mother,
“I still have quite a bit of packing to do Mother, do you mind if I miss Church this Sunday, I will start going again when I return form my trip.”
“Certainly darling, with the lack of help you have been getting from Georgie is it no wonder you are still not ready. I will take Georgie to church, you stay behind and finish your packing and then we will take you to the airport after church. Now Georgie, you have a shower and then go to my room, I have laid out what you will be wearing to church. Then if there is time you may have a slice of toast and a glass of water before we go to church.”
I was quite hungry as I had been working hard all morning and cooking the bacon had only added to the hunger pains. I tried to hide my resentment that I only got toast and water. After showering I went into Mothers room and nearly died when I saw the clothes that she had laid out for me. There were a white padded panty girdle with clips for white stockings, white panties and bra. There was a white blouse with a peter pan collar. It looked like it was part of a girls school uniform. While not too over the top, anyone with more than a cursory look would realise it wasn’t a man’s shirt.
“Come and give us a look at you?”
Mother looked me over very seriously,
“Turn around Georgie”
and then she broke into a big smile.
“Oh Darling, you look absolutely adorable in that outfit.”
After all I had been through I suddenly felt awash with maternal love. I surprised myself and actually felt proud, for once I had pleased Mother and she appreciated it. It was the lift I needed. I was brought back to reality quick smart when I looked over at Brenda.
Brenda was fighting back a laugh. I knew she was laughing at me. After tasting the joy and pride of Mothers approval I once more felt ridiculous dressed in such a fashion and seeing Brenda cover her mouth and obviously fight back the laugh made me feel even more worried about having to go out dressed like this. Mother however saw my attire as totally appropriate and walking over to me and pinching my face lightly in a playful way said,
“Now my little darling, this is your Sunday bests from now on. I expect to be greeted every Sunday morning dressed like that understand?’
“Yes Mother,” I meekly replied.
“I expect those shoes polished every Saturday night understand”
“Yes Mother.”
Every time she asked “Understand?” I felt more and more submissive. I passively swallowed my last drops of male pride with every meek “Yes Mother” that I replied with.
Brenda finally managed to control herself and added.
“I think it looks cute Georgie, perfect for church.”
Then Mother said,
“Come now we best be off, we don’t want to be late, there’s not time to cook your toast, just fill your water bottle Georgie.”
I felt like crying! I didn’t even get a chance for my toast. Brenda then said,
“Have this instead Georgie.”
Brenda gave me a slice of grapefruit. Brenda knew I hated grapefruit, she often tried to get me to eat it extolling the health virtues of grapefruit for breakfast. I had tried it once and could not stand the bitterness. Since then I had always declined. She took this opportunity, with Mother standing over me to offer me a slice before we left. Even though I was hungry, having made the ladies a cooked breakfast and having none myself, I did not want to eat the grapefruit.
“No thanks Brenda.” I must given a look on my face showing resentment at Brenda for offering what she knew I hated. Mother exploded!
“WIPE THAT LOOK OF YOUR FACE NOW!” she yelled at me!
“You think you could show your wife a little gratitude for offering you anything at all! “
Brenda chipped in,
“And it is so good for his health Mother. I have been trying to get him to eat it for years now.”
“Eat it up now!” said Mother loudly and strongly.
"And don't you dare disobey my daughter again if she tells you to do something!"
I bit into the grapefruit, it seemed especially sour, my face recoiled with the bitterness but I just had to force it down. I hated it.
“From now on your breakfast will include one whole grapefruit understand. You will be a good girl and eat all of what is given without complaining or I will have to get the castor oil out?” Mother barked!
“No Mother”
“Sissy maids should always have an attitude of gratitude Georgie! Or else face some attitude adjustment lessons with my strap!”
“Yes Mother.”
“You have to curb that willful streak and accept that Mother knows best Georgie.”
“Yes Brenda.”
“Now thank your wife properly for the grapefruit.”
“Thank you Brenda for giving me the grapefruit to eat.”
“It’s a pleasure.” Brenda beamed as she said, a look of victory in her eyes.
“Come on, off to church now.”
We said Good Bye to Brenda and I drove Mother to the church.
We arrived 20 minutes before the service and it looked like we were the first there. Before we went in Mother laid down the law.
“You will address Pastor Vorster as Pastor Vorster each time you speak to her. You will address other parishioners as Sir or Madam until you find out their Surname and then you greet them as Mister, Mrs or Miss and use their surname understand?”
“Yes Mother.”
“You will fully participate in the service, praying and singing every hymn, understand?”
“Yes Mother.”
This was going to be a stressful service for me I thought to myself.
We walked in and were about to take our seat, when from out of the vestry came a tall imposing figure of a woman. She was wearing the collar of a priest and a dark shirt, She had neat short blond hair and was wearing glasses that seemed to add to her authoritarian disposition. She greeted us.
“Good Morning, Its great to see some new faces!” She smiled broadly at us and spoke in a strong South African accent.
“Good Morning Pastor, my name is Eleanor Falwell and this is my son in law George.”
Pastor Vorster proffered her hand in greeting and I shook it.
“Pleased to meet you Pastor.” Mother then spoke,
“I have just moved here from Melbourne and my daughter has given me the task of training George here to be a better husband. One of the things I insist on is regular church attendance and active participation in the parish. He used to attend Church every Sunday when he was courting my daughter but since moving to Sydney he has led my daughter astray and not only let his faith go but become a burden on my daughter and a lay about around the house. I hope You may be able to help me with his re education into the faith.”
“Of Course Eleanor! That is so good of you to want to save your son in laws soul as wells as your daughters marriage, I am sure I can be of help with that, I run the correspondence courses for the whole archdiocese, I have a wealth of resources for George. There are courses, assignments essays and examinations we can enroll him in.”
“Thank you so much Pastor, that will be a much better use of George’s free time then going out drinking or lazing about watching TV! George will be more than happy to volunteer to help around the parish as well, won’t you George?”
I knew what I must say.
“Yes Pastor, please if there is anything I can do just ask.”
“Well that is an offer too good to refuse, I am afraid my parish is mostly women so a man to help around the place will be a Godsend. You must come on Wednesday evenings and join the Altar Society, they are a fine group of ladies who keep the church spic and span.”
“George will come straight after work, consider him yours every Wednesday evening from now on.”
“Fantastic, make sure you meet Mrs Fairweather before you go home who is in charge of the Altar Society then come and see me after the service and I will get George the first module of our Scripture study course so he can start straight away.”
“Thank You so much Pastor.”
“What do you say George? Mother nudged me in the ribs.
“Thank You Pastor Vorster.”
For the next hour I sat ramrod straight and tried to give the service my full attention. Pastor Vorster’s brand of Christianity seemed very old fashioned and strict. Hers was a harsh judgmental God, who demanded sacrifices. self control and patient suffering. She spoke about the virtues of temperance and chastity, of self sacrifice and obedience to those in positions of authority. Mother than gave me a nudge in the ribs, indicating that She has now in a position of authroity over me
Pastor Vorster went on, saying that for students to be doing God’s will, they must obey their teachers and for those undertaking education as adults should be doing their very best to listen and do what their teachers expected. It was at that stage it seemed both Pastor Vorster and Mother were looking at me. It was a look that said. “This message is for you!” The sermon went on to say how suffering now would be rewarded in heaven and must be accepted without resentment in this world. Each of us has our own crosses that we must take up like Christ our Saviour.
Her enthusiasm at that stage was reaching a crescendo and she had made shaking in fear. The final hymn began and I was given another nudge for not singing loud enough.
After Church, Mother introduced herself and me to the matrons. There was a genuine consensus of what a ‘saint’ Mother was for taking on my training in her retirement. I was introduced to the head of the Altar Society, Mrs Fairweather a fierce looking matron with her hair tied back in a bun. When she heard about Mother training me she heartily approved and said, “I hope you are grateful for what your Mother in law is doing for you, if it wasn’t for her you marriage would be in tatters, what a wonderful opportunity for you to save it and your sould in the process. You’d be well advised doing everything she asks of you”
“I am very grateful Mrs Fairweather.”
“Now Pastor has said you have kindly volunteered to help the ladies of the Altar Society.”
Before I could even say anything, Mother spoke up,
“That is right Mrs Fairweather, George will be at your service every Wednesday night, he will be able to come straight from work. If he is not here by 5:30 p.m. sharp be sure to let me know.”
“Happy to oblige Mrs Falwell. Now George I am in charge of the Altar Society so report to me on arrival and I will tell you your duties.”
“Yes Mrs Fairweather.”
“I give you total charge of him while he is your care Mrs Fairweather, be sure to work him hard, I think it is high time he made amends for all those years he has neglected his faith by doing a little service for the Church If you would be kind enough to call me and give me a report after each Wednesday night I would greatly appreciate it”
“It would be a pleasure, and don’t you worry about me not working him hard, there is mountains of polishing to do! Anyway I must head off, It was a pleasure to meet you Mrs Falwell.”
Then turning to me she added,
“And by the way George, I just love those slacks you are wearing.”
She patted me on the bottom as she said it and the matrons gathered all gave a giggle. I was once more awash with embarrassment and cast my gaze to the ground to avoid eye contact. Mother then said,
“Look at Mrs Fairweather when she talks to you!”
“And I will be seeing you on Wednesday, straight after work!”
I looked at Mrs Fairweather and felt like melting away, my shame was so great, but I managed a very humble,
“Yes Mrs Fairweather.”
I would soon come to dread Wednesday nights and working under Mrs Fairweather’s supervision. That is another chapter of this story for another day! Before we went home we had to wait to see Pastor Vorster. I stood there silently as Mother made pleasant conversation with the other ladies. I kept quiet and only spoke if spoken to . As the Pastor fare-welled the last of the congregation she walked towards us,
“Ah my new parishioners, it is so good to have some new blood.”
Mother than spoke,
“You said to ask you about the Scripture course for George.”
“Oh, yes thats right, I nearly forgot, come with me to the Rectory.”
We walked into her office, there was a huge mahogany desk and the room was completely surrounded by books on shelves. Pastor Vorster reached up and grabbed a very thick manual.
“OK George, we will enroll you in the ‘Scripture for Moderns” course. Each week you will work through one chapter and complete the exercises for that chapter. If you hand them in to me on Friday evening , I will have them marked for you by Sunday when you come to church.”
She handed me the thick manual.
“You do have a bible at home I take it.”
“Ah,,,ah,,,yes.. I think so. Pastor”
Mother then raised her voice.
“YOU THINK SO! You better have my boy or there will be a thrashing when we get home!”
I was shocked to hear Mother mention discipline in front of the Pastor and I thought Pastor Vorster would be horrified.”
‘Glad to hear you are not afraid to use the rod on the boy, too many so called Christians have shied away from corporal punishment, but it is clear that is fully endorsed by scripture.”
I was shocked to say the least, thinking this style of Christianity belonged to the Dark Ages and started to think where in hell I would have put my Bible, it was a wedding present from Mother and I hoped I still had it. Pastor Vorster handed me the manual and I leafed through the first chapter, there must have been over 25 pages of reading, followed by 20 questions and a 2000 word assignment, I was starting to think I could kiss any free time goodbye if I was to complete this in a week. Mother than spoke.
“I would like George to do two chapters a week instead of one.”
“That is what I like to see a conscientious student. Two chapters a week it is,”
I was shellshocked to say the least. How did Mother expect me to do so much! I had so many chores to do and now this, it was too much. I was dumbfounded. Mother had to give me a nudge in the ribs to shake me out of it,
“What do you say to Pastor Vorster George?”
“Thank you Pastor Vorster.”
“It’s a pleasure George but the person you will be thanking is Lilly ”
She then buzzed on the intercom and a moment later another lady entered the study. She was dressed conservatively in a long skirt, long sleeved button to the neck blouse, a cardigan and also wore very old fashioned glasses. Her hair was tied in plaits. Pastor Vorster said,
“Lilly, let me introduce you to Mrs Falwell and her son in law George.”
The way Lilly greeted us and behaved it soon became clear that she was mild mannered and subservient to Pastor Vorster. It turned out Lilly was a spinster who devoted all her free time to the church. She had completed the whole correspondence course with the best marks ever recorded in the Archdiocese.
I was then told Lilly would be supervising and marking my work and I had to have it handed in by 8 am every Saturday morning at Lilly’s place who would report my progress to Mother and Pastor Vorster at Sunday service. At first I was relieved, I thought this meek mannered girl would be a pushover compared to the other ladies but I would soon find out that despite her meek and very pleasant manner that she would be an extreme stickler for the correct answer and be a very hard marker! After a brief run down from Lilly of what was expected to be completed by next Saturday it was time to go.
“We must head off now, we have to get Brenda to the airport, then I want to look for a maids dress.”
“A maids dress for George did you say?”
“Thats right, I am a firm believer in petticoat discipline to train the unruly husband.”
“You certainly are a woman after my own heart, nothing like getting a man in a dress to rid him of his evil arrogance. I think I may be able help you there, we have an extremely accomplished seamstress in the parish, Mrs Grossman, she played the organ at the service this morning, I am sure she would be more than willing to help you, it would be very hard to find something that fitted well straight off the rack in a store, I can ring her now if you wish.”
“That would be fantastic Pastor, thank you so much”
My humiliation was complete, I must have been as red as a beetroot. While I was already dressed in a slightly feminine way I did not think Mother would disclose this aspect of my training to Pastor Vorster and now to the organist and my new supervisor Lilly as well. Pastor picked up the phone and made the call. Before I knew it arrangements had been made. Mother would be taking me to Mrs Grossman’s house after we dropped off Brenda to take my measurements and discuss what style dress.
“I cannot believe how fortunate we have been to end up in your parish Pastor, the help you are provided me in training Georgie has been immeasurable!”
This was the first time Mother had referred to me as Georgie in the Pastor Vorster’s presence and if I was flushed red before I was now burning up with embarrassment. To top it off I was going to be exposed as a sissy maid to Mrs Grossman later in the day, the humiliation was torturous.
“It is an absolute pleasure, after all it is my mission to serve my parishioners especially when they are involved in such wonderful work as saving marriages and turning selfish wayward males into useful Christian husbands.”
The fierce look that the Pastor gave me as she said those words in her strong South African accent definitely put the fear of God into me. I thanked her once again and after saying Goodbye to both of them I followed Mother back to the car, my head hanging despondently. In the short space of one Church service my life had been turned upside down. This however was just the start of it.
We returned home and I was ordered to change into my working pinafore and prepare the ladies a light lunch, some ham and salad sandwiches on sourdough bread and a cup of tea. As I was getting the lunch ready Brenda asked Mother,
“How was the service Mother?”
“Absolutely wonderful Brenda, they have a fantastic female Pastor who was so helpful and supportive of what I am doing for Georgie. She thinks it is wonderful that I am working on saving your marriage. Like me, she is a firm believer in discipline and thinks petticoating is a wonderful way to train an unruly male. She even put me in touch with a seamstress from the Church who has agreed to hand make a special maids dress for Georgie, we are going over to have her measured this afternoon.”
I looked at Brenda and could see her fighting back the laughter, she thought the whole thing was absolutely hilarious but did not want Mother to see her giggling.
“That sounds very generous of her Mother.”
“Yes, and another lovely lady Lilly has agreed to help Georgie with her faith education and will be supervising her in her
"Scripture for Moderns" course. It is a correspondence Scripture course. Lilly has agreed to personally mark all of Georgie’s work and she will report to Pastor Vorster and I each Sunday on Georgie’s progress. Georgie will have to deal with me for anything less than perfect marks. This will be a much better use of her free time than going to the pub or watching sporting events, don’t you agree.”
“Yes Mother, much better. I am so lucky to have you help me with this.”
Brenda’s approval of all that was happening just made me feel worse. I guess I was hoping that she would have had some moderating influence on Mother but I was quickly learning that not to be the case. Brenda was well and truly 100% behind everything Mother was implementing. In fact the next phrase from Brenda was said with a real tone of superiority such I had not heard from her.
“Run upstairs, change back into your Sunday Bests and fetch my suitcase from upstairs then load it in the car, it’s time to go the airport.”
There was no please, no use of my name, I certainly felt more inferior than I ever had before. As I scurried upstairs to fetch I heard Mother say to Brenda,
“Thats the way an Alpha wife should talk Brenda, well done!”
“Thank you Mother, you are such a good influence, I look forward to seeing the change in Georgie when I get home.”
“I am sure you will be pleasantly surprised."
That comment certainly filled me with dread!
At the airport I was treated like a porter, first carrying Brenda’s bag to check in, then her hand luggage all the way to the barrier. Dressed again in my “Sunday Bests” I certainly felt conspicuous and embarrassed and dare not make eye contact with anyone. Mother insisted I walk two steps behind them. It was as if I wasn’t there. I was not included in any part of the ladies conversations. As we said our goodbyes I was about to kiss Brenda on the lips when she held her hand out for me to kiss the top of her hand. As I did so Mother said,
“That is how you will kiss Brenda in public from now on.”
“I much prefer it this way Georgie.” said Brenda with a wicked gleam in her eye.
I felt like crying that my wife no longer wanted me to kiss her on the lips, this was going too far! My heart was breaking. As I saw Brenda walk through immigration I began to feel very sorry for myself and was holding back the tears.
Mother turned to me and seeing my distress, put her arm around my shoulder and in a gentle affectionate tone said,
“Come now darling, you have to put your trust in Mother now.”
“You have to trust that Mother knows best.”
Then she gave me a big hug, it was overwhelming. I felt the despair be washed away by this display of loving affection from Mother. The hug added to the all encompassing feelings of love I felt for Mother at that moment. She patted me gently on the back and I managed to calm down and feel better and was once more ready to do as I was told. Mother noticed my reaction and said”
“Thats my girl!
To hear those words from Mother really lifted my spirits. I felt even better and ready to obey once more.
Mother read my body language and resumed her strict, no nonsense tone.
“Right now Georgie, come now, off we go, there is so much for you to do. We have to get back home and deal with the little matter of not finishing the ironing this morning then it is over to Mrs Grossman’s to have you measured for your uniform, then back in time for you to prepare dinner before we work out your new sleeping arrangements and daily schedule.”
“yes Mother.”
My humble compliant tone becoming automatic now.
Part 3