Betrayed Chapter 4

"Are you gonna get these cock mittens pumped, Dianna?" Chantal questioned as she painted my lips.

"Uh-huh," my 'drag mother' intoned. "Cheekbones too – as well as other parts of her anatomy. All in good time."

Meanwhile, other pairs of hands had pinned my wrists to the padded armrests. Something was carefully applied to my fingertips. After a few minutes, several coats of what I suspected was nail polish (once you smell that smell, you never forget it) was brushed on my fingertips. At the same time, my stockings had been removed. My toenails were receiving similar attention.

"We need something for her ears," Dianna pronounced. "Cheríe, are you packing tonight?"

A tall, attractive Black girl rummaged through her own shoulder bag and came up with a pistol-like device.

"Always," Cheríe proclaimed. "Have gun, will travel. Mild or wild?"

"Wild!" echoed a chorus of voices.

Dianna smiled with amusement, gazing into my face.

"You heard the ladies," she pronounced. "Go to town. I want the best for my wife. In this case, the baddest is the best. I want her so her own mother won't recognize her."

In the next twenty minutes, each ear was stung repeatedly by what felt like a swarm of silent bees. Several pairs of hands were swiping at the pinpricks with cotton swabs dipped in peroxide. Then something was applied repeatedly to my ears that added more and more weight to them.

"She needs hair. Who's got hair?"

The cry was echoed around the room.

"I doooooo," chirped a voice clattering down the stairs from the stage door. "I guess I'm just in time to add the crowning touch. Happy to help."

"You are a doll, Mimi," Dianna complemented gratefully. "I owe you big time. Knowing how you are about hair, it's got to be special."

"It's special, all right," Mimi crowed. "Showgirl Deluxe, in 'Bleach Bunny Blonde'. With those Baby Blues of hers, she's gonna be fabulous!"