Ace glared back at her, the eyebrow pencil working overtime on his eyebrows.

Nadine looked over towards Lisa and Babe. "If you don't want your hair done," she glanced down the line of partly clad, feminized men, "any of you, darlings, I have a few more

.. uh . . . persons to interview tomorrow about replacements. Besides, "she paused, found Clinton's anxious face, and was suddenly serious," it'll mean more money for you all if you do." Then she was gone.

Millie didn't have too hard a time with washing out and set- ting the boys' hair in curlers under driers. Ace, as usual, ob- jected to everything so that his manicure was not a success. Not even David Rennick, however, expected to lose almost all of his eyebrows. After Millie combed out the hot perm, he couldn't believe his eyes. The two changes had altered him almost beyond recognition. Even without make- up, he was a girl. He looked at the others, and saw that they were the same.

While Babe giggled on about how beautiful they all were, even Lisa was quiet and nervous as they got ready for the first show. As they moved along the wings, David heard wolf whistles from the stage hands, the first he'd ever heard. When he dropped a glove, a husky electrician came running over to pick it up for him. The big worker smiled at him. "You look great," he said, giving David a wink.

With the boys giving their best and most authentic performance in the two Saturday shows, the girls as boys seemed to give their worst. Even Rosalie, usually so wicked, so leeringly convincing

as the misogynist-chauvinist, had no zip. Her pinches on David's derriere were just gentle pats compared to the way she usually liked to taunt him.

"What's wrong?" David asked Cindy as the two sat on a swing- her arm about him his head cuddled onto her shoulder just like an attractive girl.

SO

"You're all so David felt a tear touch his check. "Hey!" he said, trying not to interrupt Babe's new number, the one where Babe stripped off his white, silky gown while Dan- ielle, Shelley, Jackie and Rosalie, the 'boy friends', treated him as the sexy glamor girl he appeared to be. "Hey, Cindy. It's me, David!" he exclaimed.

"Are are you sure?" The words came out very slowly, as Cindy's arm came around David's narrow waist and she pushed him out to join the other 'girls' on re-dressing Babe so that they could go on to a modern, up-to- date dance.

As they left the stage, David held onto Cindy's hand. "Let's go for a drink," he said. Cindy turned and looked at the thin bobbed nose, slender eyebrows and thick eyelashes in the soft- skinned face. David's hair was parted down the middle and then swept back down both sides, very thick and curled at the nape of his neck. Gold circles swung in his ears.

"With you looking like that?” She tried not to be bitter. "May- be we'd be better to just sneak home instead."

David shook his head, feeling the earrings now and realizing how he must seem. "I'll get ready quickly," he said, moving as fast as high heels and tight skirts would let him.

· 14 -

He met a violent Ace at the doorway, Marty and Lisa hang- ing on to the bigʻman' trying to hold him back. "Just let me get at her!" Ace was raving in a deep bass voice. Strands of blonde hair lay across his face, his black eye- makeup screwed up in rage. He was wearing the very tight, black tubular dress of Sally's and, like her, could hardly move.

"What's up?" asked David, pushing at Ace, who scratched at him, with long, pointed fingernails.

"That woman!" screamed Ace allowing David to push him back a little, into the dressing room. "She's taken away all our street clothes!"

"She thinks it'll help us all," said Marty wearily, "if we wear drag all the time. We'll be more feminine."

Behind David, Babe Corbin be- gan to giggle again. "It's true, darlings," he cried. "Look at me! We can all be more feminine."

There was a strange kind of snarl from Ace Demanski and suddenly David was thrust aside. He had a ringside seat to the punch that caught Babe flush on his pert, little nose. Then, Ace was on top of the platinum blonde, punching away. Farrell came in and with the help of all the others pushed Ace away.

Babe lay on the floor whimp- ering. Blood came from his nose and ran across his thickly, scarlet lipsticked lips. "My dress!" was all he could say, followed by, “I don't have any more panti-hose," and then there were floods of tears.

Ace sat for a moment, breath- ing heavily, at his dressing mirror staring at his reflection in the mirror. Then he stood slowly, ignoring the sobbing Babe whom