RANSVESTIA

"I didn't think I could, either," Peggy shouted back with an impish grin at Erica. A tall, bushy-haired man with a thick moustache stood

and came over. He put his arms possessively about Peggy's shoulder and kissed her cheek.

"It's nice to see you too, Ian," laughed Peggy, pushing him away. She pulled Erica after her, sitting her down in Ian's vacant chair. "This is Erica, a real friend of mine," Peggy shouted, and then dis- appeared with Ian pulling on her arm in the direction of the dance floor, where the boards were shaking to the beat of a heavy rock band.

Erica thought she glimpsed a flash of violet cavorting on the stage but the whole riotous scene was in such constant motion that nothing stood still long enough for certainty. She herself was pulled onto the dance floor by different men in the group that Peggy had left her with and she didn't see Peggy for a while. Eventually, she flopped exhausted into a chair, to find Peggy sitting beside her, the arm of a different man about her shoulders. Peggy smiled. "Enjoying your- self?" she yelled, perspiration gleaming on her forehead. Erica pulled a face. It wasn't how she'd hoped to spend the evening, but she was having fun, despite the fact that this was the first time Peggy had spoken to her in an hour. Her eyes fell on the bearded man next to Peggy.

"This is Bert," Peggy's eyes rolled. "He's a dear, but he tells every- body we're engaged. We're not," she laughed. "We're just good friends."

Erica had to lean over to whisper her next question into Peggy's ear. "How come so many different boys have come and asked me to dance?" she queried. "I don't usually get this attention."

Peggy's grin was devilish. She leaned over and whispered in Erica's ear, "You're new and you look lovely. You really do. And they're probably trying to find out if you're a man or a woman. After all, this club does cater specially to transvestites.

"But was every woman there really a man?" Erica's eyes showed the excited state of her emotions as she persisted in her questions.