David in," she said to Alice, the secretary who had worked with her through all her failures and her present success.

The girl who came into the room had long hair halfway down her back. It was all waved out from the centre parting, with many blonde streaks. She wore huge earrings and very little makeup save for a little brown eyeshadow and a touch of pink on her lips. She wore a tight, black, leather dress, which ended several inches above her shapely knees, and dark stockings with black stiletto heels. The front of the dress plunged to show a spectacular cleavage. Her waist was narrow and her hips wide. She wiggled in the tight skirt across the office and pouted at the men, turning and stretching, her breasts thrusting tight against her dress.

―

"You you're David Ren- nick?" gasped the taller, thinner guy.

"Yes, darling," the voice was a low, sultry contralto.

"David always has been a com- plete actor for whatever role he has to play," Nadine put in anxiously. "David can sing in his own voice, too, she added, over- selling the sexy product in front of their eyes.

"She still needs a girl's name, said the fat man. David turned to him and flicked his long hair over his shoulders, bare save for the thin straps that went over his shoulders and behind his neck. "Have dinner with us to- night David," said the fat man to the beautiful girl, who smiled and nodded.

―

She minced and wiggled her way back to the door. She gave them all a big smile and a little wave of her slender hand with

the big engagement ring and long pink nails.

""

"David's married, of course,' said Nadine huskily as both men stared open-mouthed at the door what?" croaked the thin

"To

man.

"To Cindy Brenner that's what," Nadine was gossiping now "or Cindy Rennick as she is now. She's expecting too, in three months which is why she had to quit, and David has to work."

"Cindy," said the fat man, sitting up. "That's a good name.

""

"It's Marty Salter's femme name too," said Nadine apolo- getically. "He'll likely be in the new show."

The thin man snapped his fingers. "It might be even better to leave her as David Rennick," he said. "Yeah, that's it!" He was excited. "Get all the photo- graphs you can of him like he just was as sexy and femme as you can. Hey! We got a really great idea starting out here! We can make this David Rennick in- to one of the most talked-about personalities on the stage in years!"

—

David didn't enjoy the photo sessions as much as he enjoyed the interviews with the reporters. It was different being sexy and female for a single photographer who was as straight and disa- proving as he could be of David and the strip he did down to a polka-dot bikini. In a white, strapless evening gown, cut up the side to expose his fishnett stockings, David's newly bleach- ed and lightened hair a mane over his bare back, David felt relatively at ease in putting on the reporters with outrageous lines. As well, he was a hit where- ever he went escorts provided

-

- 17.

by the show's backers male though not always.

usually

Cindy was the only person he allowed as his dresser. They'd gotten, now that Jason was born, into a little routine before his shows. He had his own dressing room, and though Cindy still wouldn't let him make love to her when he was in drag, she would pet and caress him and let him do the same to her. Some- times, when he went out to do his act, he was physically shaking with repressed sexual feelings, and usually Nadine told him that those were his great nights. Cindy had it all worked out, too. She knew how long David could keep going before they had enough money to do just what they wanted for Jason, and the rest of the family they planned.

David's chorus line, that went out with him quite often, was much more subdued than he. Marty (or Cindy as he preferred to be called), Clinton (also known as Debbie), Farrell (now called Diane by everyone), Ace (or 'Ellen' as 'she' preferred now that she was on hormones and developing at an alarming rate) and Lisa of course, all would go out with David who was the only one still to use his real name. But 'the girls' felt themselves to be overly treated as 'freaks'. They were uncomfortable and afraid of letting go even in pri- vate parties, save with each other and their own 'girl friends'.

David Rennick, however, was not inhibited at all. He was like a butterfly burst from a coccoon. Sooner or later, he knew, he would crash down to earth, but for the time being, he tried to take advantage of the star billing of the new show Nadine had created specially for him. It was