Peter’s mother visited Margo's Hair
Salon every fortnight and as a result, knew the proprietor, Margo
very well. As well as the usual soap operas, holidays, celebrity
gossip and current affairs conversations, Peter himself is often the subject of their
biweekly chats. Like many sixteen year old boys, he gets up to
mischief once in a while, but since he got in with a certain 'crowd',
his mother fears he's headed down the wrong path.
“When he was little I'd threaten him
with a dress... which always did the trick.” she reminisces. “But
he's too old for petticoating.”
“Petticoating?” Margo asks.
“You know... a naughty boy plus a
pretty dress equals a good boy.” Peter’s mother replies.
“You put him in a dress when he was
naughty?” Margo quizzes, clearly taken aback at the revelation.
“Yes, occasionally... more often than
not just the threat of a dress would curb his behaviour.” she
replied. “You must have heard of petticoating?”
“Well... I'm familiar with the
concept, but haven't heard it called 'petticoating' before.” Margo
replies, “...and I had no idea people actually did it.”
“Only when he was really naughty. He
used to look quite sweet in a dress... obviously he hated it but...”
The door opened and a customer entered.
Margo welcomed the lady and asked her to take a seat. Margo changed
the conversation to one more 'mainstream' as she finished Peter’s
mother's hair. Before long she was finished. Peter’s mother paid,
booked her next appointment and left.