What’s Inside A Girl*

He sat behind the table on the front row and shifted uncomfortably in unfamiliar territory. The pallid light washed his face in the darkness, making his nervous smile invisible even to himself. It was impossible to know what to think or feel.

The girl sat in his Chemistry classes at the Sorbonne for two terms and when she announced that she was leaving to pursue studies in Beijing, he took the courage to learn more about her before she was completely gone. She took interest in the manufacture of incendiary devices.

Fifteen minutes passed, he lit a cigarette and the lights dimmed as if on cue. Spotlights flooded the stage and there she was, shining like sequins came out of her ears. He gasped and the cigarette fell off his lips. That was when the music boomed. It wasn't big band or 40's show music. No. It was psychobilly.

“Whoa, there's some things, baby, I just can't swallow
Mama told me that girls are hollow.”

She wore a white and blue school uniform patched up with dozens of barbie dolls. When she turned, she began undoing the laces on her back, turning the soubrette into a star stripper. Under the uniform she was dressed as a man and the psychobilly “What’s Inside A Girl” rolled on.

"What's inside a girl? Somethin' tellin' me there's a whole another world.
You gotta pointy bra, a ten inch waist
Long black stockings all over the place
Boots, buckles, belts outside
Whatcha got in there you tryin' to hide?"

And lordy she could dance. Mimicking a sexy glove peel, her tux sleeves flew across the room. Her bosom quivered in a spectacular shimmy. She extended her arms and stepped out of the black suit. With a bump and grind the audience cheered. She wore a long black tie and pulled it down between her legs. What’s inside a girl was this tease of a woman, kicking her feet up and tossing coins into the audience, cross-dressing and mocking with her parody. She was tremendously beautiful and powerful.

"Well, you can't see it by satellite and baby, that's cheatin'
The President's callin' an emergency meetin'
The King of Siam sent a telegram
Sayin', "Wop bop a loop a lop a lop boom bam""

Their eyes met and she smiled impishly, amused at his shock. She mouthed “Boom!” and her laughter drowned in music and cheers.

He felt nostalgic for her burlesque after she left for China. There she managed a chance to perform with Mungbeam Burlesque to support her studies. He said he’d wait for her to come back. He sang the song in his mind, “In the bottom of your bottomless body pit, Oh baby, you got somethin' an' I gotta get it, Come on, baby, what's inside a girl?”

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*"What’s Inside A Girl" - From the song of the same title, written by Lux Interior and Poison Ivy Rorschach, performed by The Cramps.

PHOTO: "Nasty Canasta" by Leland Bobbe.

- I wrote this two months ago, for a writing competition because I wanted those luxury lingerie. I didn't win. But I'm still making those burlesque costumes.