FICTION

Turner's Triumph

by Jeri (49-K-3) FPE

William Turner had two hobbies

--

Pastimes

perhaps would be more accurate. Going to movies

was one of them.

whether it was an Sometimes, in the

He never missed a new movie, Italian epic or a musical comedy. case when a first-run show would be held over for several weeks, he would see it several times. He was an expert on movies.

The movie he was watching at the moment was another in the series of the Mondo Cane type: a bewildering montage of the bizarre and the beauti- ful, the commonplace and the obscure. He didn't particularly like this type of movie, preferring either costume-dramas or an elaborately staged musical with exotically dressed stars. While he munched delicately at his popcorn, the film dis- solved to a shot of an African warrior of fierce mien and haughty stature; the music of the sound track segued down while the narrator described the dressing of the warrior's elaborate conical hairdo with fresh cow dung. William Turner felt faintly nauseous at this. A few kernels of popcorn escaped his fingers and fell onto his skirt.

Oh, yes--perhaps a word about William Turner's second hobby is in order, since it involves the first: William Turner was a transvestite. His greatest pleasure was in dressing himself from head to toe in woman's clothing, and then, because it was irresistable, he felt he must go out while he was so dressed, For a long time, he confined him- self to late-evening walks around the block. One night, he screwed up his courage and went to a movie. There, in the dim theater, he felt secure in his disguise while participating in the world as if he

(14)