Flamingo Lounge

The last line left my lips. My heart exploded. I fell to my knees, crying my eyes out.

I absolutely crushed the song. I could feel it in my soul.

Somewhere in the silence that now filled the bar, I found myself in Ash's arms as she held me and let me cry, slowly helping me to my feet and then backstage where I could wash my face and regain my composure.

When Ash and I came back out, the girls had all gathered around Ellen, talking animatedly, all at the same time. "Girls!" Ellen half shouted. "You're right. Yes, Absolutely I will ask him."

"Ask him what?" I already knew the answer. I just wanted to hear her say it. I somehow needed the validation of what I had just done, that they felt it was good enough for Miki.

"Would you do that again this weekend? We'd like you to close the show with that, maybe introduce yourself, tell a story about how Miki helped you."

"And I'd have all week to figure out how to sing it and not destroy myself in the process? That's a big ask."

"Well, think about it. We're going to run through some ideas. After tomorrow's rehearsal, I'll set the show. So, no rush, but I'd like your answer tonight. You're welcome to stay and watch."

The girls were all in jeans and shorts and t-shirts wearing sneakers. Some passed better than others, but even without their stage makeup, they were amazing. Ash belted out 'Nine to Five,' and someone else did 'I am Woman.' Jules and Grace did a couple of duets, 'I Got You, Babe' and a song named 'Shame, Shame, Shame' I'd never heard before.

"So...?" Ellen just looked at me as they wrapped up the rehearsal.

"I guess I'm in, but this is a drag show. I'll have to..." I tried not to let my face show how badly I was cringing inside.

"Yup. But don't worry, we're professionals. Trust us. You'll be fine." Ellen smiled at me like she knew a secret.

"Pizza's here." Jesse walked up with two aluminum buckets full of various beers. She obviously knew what everybody preferred. A young man carrying several large boxes of cheesy goodness followed her, and the rehearsal was officially over.

What followed was interesting. It was a mix of good-natured fun and a flurry of ideas for the coming week's show. Suggestions on show order, with the girls picking on each other and then, in the same sentence, praising each other. I remembered times like this from my childhood. Early Christmases with the entire family. All my siblings and cousins siting around laughing at each other's expense and nobody taking any of it seriously. These girls were a family, and I was slowly being included.

It caught me by surprise when the first person took the stage. Evidently it had started quite by accident. A Monday rehearsal had run long, and a regular had gone up on stage, selected a song on the computer and started singing. Ellen had wanted to shut them down, but Miki had said, "Let him sing."

It turned into a sort of amateur, open mic night / karaoke kind of thing with a profession sound system and quickly became a tradition. Ellen and Miki had discovered Ash and two other girls in the show on Monday nights.

Some people that sang were decent and some awful, but they all had the guts to get up and try. After a while, Ash nudged me. "Go pick a song. The practice will do you good."

'Sure, why not?' I thought to myself. This was just like back at school and I knew I was as good as anyone else singing, probably better. Besides, it would be interesting to do it sober.

The guy in front of me did 'Satisfaction' by The Rolling Stones, so I hit the back button and looked through all the artists under R. Grinning, I looked at Ash. She was Dolly Parton, so why not? I picked Kenny Rogers and chose 'Daytime Friends.' We had been nighttime lovers, after all. Maybe she'd get the joke.

The robust response I got from the crowd I finished surprised me.

"Do 'Lucille.'" Somebody shouted out from the crowd.

I looked at the girl waiting behind me for her turn.

"Go for it." She even queued the song for me.

"The Gambler." It was someone different, but they were just as energetic as the first request. I did three more before I quit. Who would have thought that an 80s pop country singer would be so popular today, or that they would want to hear me sing that much? Certainly not me.

"They like you." Ellen caught me on my way back to my seat. "Maybe we can work you into the show for more than just the closer. We'd have to get you a persona, though, give you a 'look.'"

"Ok." My mind went blank. That one word was the best response I could come up with. Hell, it was the only response I could come up with. What had I gotten myself into? I just came here for my uncle's wake and now I was being recruited into a drag show. I still didn't have a place to stay or a job.

Ash yawned, or maybe it was me, but she got up and took my hand, smiling and looking toward the door. I didn't have any place else to stay and waking up this morning in her arms had been so nice, so I got up and let her lead me out of the club.

"Why don't you move your car closer and bring your bags inside? You can stay until you find someplace else." Her smile told me she hoped it would take a while. I agreed with her.

"Ash. You are beautiful and I really like you, but what are we doing? We don't even know each other."

"Well." She grinned at me. "I was thinking we could try what we did last night again and maybe this time you would remember it. That's a good way to get to know each other, right?"

There was a certain undeniable logic in her plan that I couldn't ignore, and one thing I remembered about last night was that I had enjoyed pleasing her. The specifics of what I had done to do it seemed irrelevant.

I didn't even bother to unpack. Ash and I dove into her bed and lost ourselves in mutual pleasure. My god, she was talented and when I returned the favor, I found I had evidently learned a few tricks by osmosis or something. We kissed and fondled and touched, we licked and sucked and teased, we explored places on each other's bodies that few had ever gone.

I discovered I was ticklish behind my knees and that Ash loved to have her toes and fingers sucked. I learned that someone shaving their pubic areas has benefits beyond aesthetics, and that, if it's clean, licking someone's ass and probing their hole with your tongue is close to the top of the list of erotic things you can do, both giving and receiving. That what she was doing to me was leading somewhere wasn't lost on me, either.

When we finally collapsed into each other's arms, I also realized taking my time looking for some place else to stay just might be worth it.

Tuesday morning, we unpacked my stuff and found places for it and took a shower. Ash got me to shave all over, just like her, which made sharing the shower even more fun. The feeling of two hairless bodied rubbing against each other is incredible. I have to admit, seeing your own cock and balls bare for the first time takes some getting used to, but the feeling of Ash's lips and tongue on my smooth scrotum was too much to handle. As punishment, I got to lick my mess from her face. My new girl had a nasty streak a mile wide, and I was getting to explore all of it.

When we got out and dried off, we took turns slathering lotion all over each other, too.

Ash grabbed a pair of panties for me like it was a forgone conclusion. "Ellen will probably measure you for a bra at rehearsal today, so you might as well..." She added a wink and a sly grin, and I caved, slipping the flimsy satin and lace up my legs and nestling everything in place. Just like yesterday, it sent a tingle up my spine.

Breakfast at the diner, and then a morning of wandering the neighborhood window shopping and just talking. Ash, he called himself Ashton then, had come out here a few years ago with his then girlfriend. Going to the Flamingo had been a lark. His girlfriend had heard about it and thought it would be fun to come watch the freaks. Two unexpected things happened. The freaks were actually very good, and Ash had gotten up on stage and sung a song like he belonged there. Then he sang another and another. His girlfriend got up and left, and he never did. It didn't take long for Ash to be born.

Ash had been right. Ellen measured me all over, grinning at the discovery that I was wearing Ash's panties. "There's a shop over on Fillmore that does our fittings and alterations. I'll send them your measurements and you can stop by first thing in the morning to get them started on some basics. Do you have a feel for how outrageous you want to go? I'll need to let them know."

"Outrageous sounds like a lot of work. Maybe for now, we can go more subdued, more natural and see how it goes. I mean, it's just for one show, right?"

"Jackie, girl. This is infectious. It's addictive. Once you get that response from the audience, and with the way you sang yesterday, you will, you will never want to stop. For now, we'll go subdued, but I'm betting you'll change your mind after this weekend."

Ellen pulled out her phone and made a call while I got dressed.

"Uncle hank, Chris, what are you doing here?" I Came out from backstage to see Ellen talking to my uncle and cousin. Ellen was not happy.

"Hey Jack. Long time. I should ask you the same thing. We're just doing some prep work for the change in ownership. No word on the specifics of the will, but it makes sense that everything goes to the family, right? So, what are you doing here?"

"Came in for the wake. Met some nice people and agreed to help with a tribute to Miki."

"Fuck, Jack. Not you, too. Damn, your dad told me you and Mike were tight. I never thought you'd, well, you know. He won't be happy about this; you know that right?"

"Haven't cared for a while. Not sure I should start now, and I think you two should probably leave. If probate on Mike's estate hasn't even started yet, your being here is premature, and personally, I plan on doing everything I can to see you and my dad and the rest of you assholes don't see a penny."

I wasn't as big as Hank or even Chris, but I knew how to make myself imposing and had taken out guys bigger than me more than once. Part of tending bar means you get to deal with the drunks, too.

"Sure Jack, sure. We don't want any trouble. Mr. Walters," the vitriol in the way he called Ellen 'Mr.' dripped from his words. "I suggest you read over those papers and start getting things together. My nephew doesn't know as much as he thinks he does." Hank and Chris turned and left. Ellen was seething.

"Ellen, Miki planned, right? She wouldn't just let the state decide what happens?"

"I don't know, Jackie. I just don't know. Her lawyer can't tell me anything - or won't. We'll just have to see."

Everybody saw the encounter, and it took a good half hour to get them focused on the show again.

Ellen had thought of a way to get me on stage for more than just 'Wind Beneath my Wings'. Since I had nailed Kenny Rogers, she picked two duets I could sing with Ash during her set. We already had the required chemistry, after all.

We started rehearsal with 'Love is Strange' and 'Islands in the Stream.' Great, I was singing love songs with Ash. Probably not a bad thing based on how things seemed to develop between us. Besides, our natural harmony was tight.

When we had those down and Ash had gone through the rest of her Dolly set, Ellen had me do my Bette Midler piece. I held myself together, almost. I had to take a few deep breaths and compose myself, but that just validated I had done a good job. Ellen agreed. I was feeling what she mentioned, and this was just rehearsal.

Tuesday and Wednesday, The Flamingo was just a lounge with a jukebox and a few TVs over the bar. There would be no karaoke tonight. Thursday would be the opening of the show. Ellen let me know "Wind Beneath my Wings' was just for the tribute on Saturday. We would work through that show tomorrow.

Ash was insatiable. Either she was a legitimate nympho, or she was doing everything she could to convince me to hang around. I wanted to tell her she didn't need to try so hard, but I was enjoying it as much as she was. I got to where I could hold her on edge until she begged me to let her cum. I'd work on her cock and then trace an imaginary line down her thigh and calf to her foot and worship her toes for a while before slowly working my way back and kissing and licking her little pink rose, driving my tongue inside her while I gently stroked her aching cock and balls.

Moving back to her cock, I would kiss and lick her glans and twirl my tongue around her pink head before taking her balls deep in my throat and just holding her there. When I finally shoved a finger or two in her ass and pressed on her prostate, letting her explode in my mouth, her entire body trembled with the aftershocks of her orgasm.

Then my turn and she tortured me as badly as I tortured her. The best part was that we would start all over until we were both exhausted.

Wednesday morning was interesting. Ash took me to a small boutique that specialized in lingerie. Specifically, items for cross dressers, drag queens, and trans women. I had tons of options. There were granny panties for cross dressers that offered plenty of room for junior and the twins, and there were lacey frilly thongs that somehow magically hid everything, making it look like there was nothing there. And there was everything in between, including standard issue Hanes and Jockey bikini briefs in simple cotton.

I bought a variety, a large variety. Somehow, my encounter with my uncle had convinced me I wasn't going anywhere. According to Ellen, my bra band size was a 36. The girl at the boutique confirmed it, and I chose a collection of C cup bras. That was the most common size after all, and maybe I was thinking Ellen was right about going bigger.

In the back of the boutique, they had a counter filled with breast forms. Ash helped me choose, and I tried on several pairs before deciding on a pair that were more expensive than I should have bought, but they looked amazing. The salesclerk showed me how to glue them in place and told me how to care for them, how often to clean them and how. I wore them out of the store. Next stop was a salon where they tamed my tangled mess of red hair. With Ash's encouragement, I even let them do my eyebrows and nails and pierce my ears. If nothing else, the pierced ears would send my dad over the edge the next time I saw him, and that would be so very worth it.

I hadn't even bothered to look at myself. When we got to the tailor and I stepped onto the fitting platform, surrounded by those three mirrors, I audibly gasped. Even in my clothes, even with no makeup, with the hair and the boobs; I was a girl.

I had to strip and just stood there in my panties and bra while the three of us discussed what my costumes should be. Ash was going to be over the top as Dolly. I proposed that one, I would be more comfortable, and two, it would be a pleasant contrast if I was more conservative.

Well, more conservative than Ash's Dolly outfit wasn't exactly my best argument. I had never seen Dolly perform. Ash laughed and told me that Dolly was very conservative, just tons of rhinestones and fringe. It was her boobs and platinum blonde hair that were over the top.

My outfit for our duet was going to be a super tight top, micro mini skirt, and thigh boots. I'd be wearing a knee-length body con dress with heels for the finale.

We dropped my stuff off at Ash's apartment. When we met the girls for lunch, I was in a pair of Ash's shortest shorts with a cropped tank top and sandals with three-inch heels. The boots I was wearing going to wear on stage had five-inch heels and the heels for the finale, six. I needed all the practice I could get. I was pretty sure the impression I made was close to the one I'd made at the wake, but for different reasons. My justification was I needed to be ready for when I went on stage. The reality was a little different, but I wasn't ready to admit that to anybody yet, not even myself.

The run-through for the Saturday Tribute show was almost more than I could handle. I had to try my number four times before I got through it.

While the other girls were working on their numbers, I got my introduction to Enrique, our makeup artist. He agreed with me that more subdued would be the better choice. I had natural features he could work with and going overboard would make me a cartoon character. Some drag queens needed that to cover up their deficiencies. I didn't.

"You and Ash, you could both transition so easily, you know." He was standing behind me looking at his work in the mirror, drawing my shoulder length hair out of the way so I could get a good look. It would be a lot heavier for the show, but I agreed, it would be difficult to tell I wasn't a woman from the audience, especially with my boobs and new haircut.

"Now, be sure to wash your face really well before you get here tomorrow. You'll be super quick, and I'll do you last, and I want a blank canvas for my art. You will be stunning, I guarantee it. Now go show Ellen what you did." He laughed and swatted me on the butt as I went back out front. Jules was just finishing "I Don't Want to Lose You." That was going to be a tough act for anyone to follow.

Everyone loved my makeup and agreed with Enrique that I just had a natural look to me that was going to sell extremely well.

Ellen asked me and Ash to go over our duets again and then sent us all on our way, reminding us not to be late. Shit, I had that lawyer thing at 2. I was going to be late for rehearsal and if it went long, might miss it all together.

That meant there was no way I could take my nail polish off and since it was a full rehearsal, I would need to wear my forms and my underwear for my costume to see the lawyer. The bra, panties and stockings and garter I could hide, but the boobs, not a chance. I couldn't even put my hair in its traditional ponytail because there would be no time to reset it for the show by the time I got there.

I knew who I was meeting, I just didn't know why. All I knew was it had something to do with Miki. I could speculate it was about her will and estate. That made the most sense. But the letter had said something about an interview. Maybe Miki had set me up for a job with a friend. That would be just like her, after all. Still taking care of me. Whoever was there was going to get an eye full. If it was a job interview and I blew it because of how I looked, I decided I didn't want to work there, anyway.

Ash was unusually quiet as we headed back to the apartment. It had been a long rehearsal, and we were both tired, so I didn't push it. I washed my face, and we crawled into bed. For the first time, all we did was kiss and cuddle.

"You're beautiful, you know that?"

"Thanks. I guess. I'm not sure what to make of this whole thing, really. It's just supposed to be for the tribute Saturday, but I think it's turning into more."

"I don't want you to go. After the tribute, I mean. You're so easy to be with. I watched you all day, getting more and more feminine as we went from shop to shop, just taking it in stride. No regrets, no worries. And then Enrique did your makeup; Jackie, I think I'm falling for you. If you leave, I don't know what I'll do."

"Me, too." I turned and kissed her sweetly. "But I need to find a job, and if my uncle takes the club, you and everybody else will, too."

"Was that supposed to be reassuring?" She chuckled and elbowed me in the ribs.

"Sorry. It's just a lot. I mean, just Sunday I showed up for a wake. Three days later, I'm in bed with a beautiful woman. She's trans. I've got my nails painted, my ears pierced, and I'm wearing panties. There's not a hair on my body below my nosed, and," I grabbed my chest with both hands, "I have boobs. I'm going to see some lawyer tomorrow pretty much as a woman, and I go on stage tomorrow night and sing in front of a real audience, in that outfit, sober."