See You In The Morning, Part 2

       It’s Halloween seven years ago at the Beaupain house on Magazine Street.  It was a large, but simple house on a corner lot with a veranda that greeted passers-by from either street.  There was a generous sitting area of the master bedroom on the second floor, but certainly not what one would think of as antebellum, unlike David’s home within walking distance on Prytania. The simpleness of the exterior was the perfect foil for the exuberant resident.  For Halloween, the house was dressed in bright lights and bold Mardi Gras colors much like the sea of people in costume, mostly gay men with about a fourth as many women.  The hostess adored gay men and built a circle of friends that was almost exclusively so.  She was a woman of style and low, drag queen humor.  She held regular salons which featured some of the brightest minds and talents in New Orleans.  They provided networks for artists to find patrons, or something more as well as a place where works in progress could be safely presented as a sort of try-out.  There were novelists and playwrights, stand-up comics and drag queens, even painters and sculptors were given a chance to display their latest work.  Then of course, there were handsome men who appreciated the arts without being inclined to create it.  These were men whose charm and endearing personalities gained them admission.  Charles and David were among this group.

      The two men were in line at one of the serving stations to get a cocktail when Boops approached them.

      “Well, boys, is this enough tiger for you?” she asked in her singular seductive manner to get a compliment.

     “If that’s all you have, Boops,” Charles, a twenty-something in the most curious drag Boops had ever seen, commented trying not to smile, “it will have to make do.”

      “You bitch!”  Boops protested.  Turning to the  man at the bar, she implored, “David, my older and wiser friend, you like my costume, don’t you?  You know who I’m supposed to be, don’t you?”

     David chuckled.  “Actually, Boops, I was just thinking how odd it is that you would throw a costume party and not dress up yourself!”

Boops’ face fell in disappointment and insult.  “Oh, you!  You’re worse than he is.  He may be too young to know better, but David, you?  I just knew you’d get it.  I’m Cher, mon cherie!”

    “Cher?” Charles was incredulous as he reached for Boops’ cocktail.  “That’s it, Boops, no more alcohol for you!”

     “Young man, I’ll thank you to keep your hands to yourself unless you want to grab something other than my glass.  I didn’t mean Cher as Cher, Twinkie!  I meant Cher as her television character Laverne.  Remember her show after she and Sonny split?” Boops asked with the hope of justifying her outfit.

       David paused for a moment before replying.  “Sure, Boops.  I remember now.  God, I had forgotten how hard that divorce was on her.”

      Boops was astounded and shook her head in disbelief.  “You two are quite a pair!  Smart-alecks, that’s what you are, with no appreciation of pop culture.  I suppose I better introduce you two so that you can get away from me.  David, I want you to meet my lovely friend, Charles Jeannette MacDonald.  Charles, this handsome and virile Nelson Eddy impersonator is my beloved David.  The two of you belong together.  I do declare you have the tackiest costumes at the party.”

       Now it was David’s turn to be astonished.  “That not what you said, Boops, when you phoned.  I remember you quite clearly and enthusiastically instructing me to dress as Nelson Eddy.  ‘It will be classic,’ you said.”

     Charles quickly added, “Boops, you know full-well you told me that doin’ Jeanette MacDonald drag would be a highlight of the party.  This was all you idea!”

Boops raised her chin as she braced her shoulders and stiffened her back.  “Here in the South, gentlemen, a lady’s words are nevah quoted back to her; especially where there has obviously been a gross misunderstanding, and I do mean gross in the most kind sense of the word.  The very idea of accusing your hostess of such a trick!”

     As a means to escape, David offered his arm to Charles saying, “May I escort you to the garden, Miss MacDonald?”

    “Now see, Charles, what a charmin’ gentleman my friend David is?”  Boops asked gleefully.  “Now off with y’all before I remember I hate you both for reminding me I’m old enough to remember who Jeannette and Nelson were!”

     As the men turned to leave, Boops added, “Be sure to check out my new gazebo.  It was very expensive.”