"C'mon in here," Pietro's voice echoed down the hall, the sound of his footsteps following shortly after. And the sound of another, smaller pair of feet. "Gonna take you to meet China. She's my girl and can teach you a thing or two. Be sure you listen."
"Yes sir."
China shook her head. The voice of a child. Why was Pietro so into bringing in teenagers lately? She turned from her vanity mirror to greet the pair in the doorway. Her eyes widened ever so slightly, it might've been imaginary, at the boy standing there in front of her. He was the youngest yet. The kid wasn't even 16, China'd be willing to stake her life on it.
"China!" Pietro greeted, coming to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Want you to meet someone! This is Angel."
"Hello," the boy said softly, almost shyly, to the middle aged drag queen.
"Angel, huh?" China repeated, not unkindly, looking the kid over then turning to glare at her lover. "That your real name?"
"Yes. . .uh. . .ma'am," the boy stammered awkwardly.
"It's good," China said, rolling her eyes and smiling slightly at the teenager's formality. "You wanna keep it?"
"Huh?"
"For your drag name, honey. You're lucky, your name can go either way."
"Oh. . .umm. . ." Angel hadn't really thought about that. "What do you think?"
"I think it's perfect. Just Angel, no last name, no explanation. We'll make you the sweet one. Won't be hard with that face."
"Gonna leave you here in China's hands," Pietro told Angel. "She can teach you everything you need to know."
Angel nodded. "Thanks," she said with a small smile in which China read both excitement and apprehension.
"You dance before?" China asked the boy.
"Yes ma'am, since I was little. Never on stage."
"Ok," the older drag queen sighed. "Ever worn makeup?"
"Only a little," the kid admitted. "Stole my mama's a coupla times."
"Well, you'll have to buy your own. Go to the Make up Center. It's on 55th. Ask them for a Ben Nye student kit in your colors. They'll be able to match you pretty easy, think you're probably a medium olive," she said, scrutinizing the child's face more closely. Rummaging around a bit, she pulled a small pot of grease paint from the tacklebox on the floor and took the lid off one handed. Rubbing one finger over the flat surface of the makeup in a practiced gesture, she quickly warmed the foundation and smoothed a little over Angel's cheek. "Yep," she said, triumphantly. "Medium olive, just what I thought." She stepped out of the way so that Angel could see the result. "Want me to do more?"
Angel nodded, an excited grin on her face. "Yes, please."
China smiled. Cute kid. "You've got good manners, Miss Angel," she said, rubbing her finger over the makeup's surface again. "S'good to see. Lot of the girls around here haven't got any. Let's see what we can do with this sweet face of yours."
Within an hour, China had finished. Angel wasn't sure she'd ever sat still that long in her life, but she hadn't minded in the slightest. She'd somehow managed to avoid looking in the mirror the entire time the older drag queen had been working on her face.
"Don't look just yet," China advised, going to the closet and retrieving a dark wig styled into a smooth bob. "Not done quite yet." She also grabbed a bright pink feather boa, shot through with silver mylar before returning to the child. "Hair is very important," she advised, showing Angel how to help her put the wig on. She smiled at the kid's finished look, then wound the boa around Angel's shoulders, covering her street clothes. "Now you can look," she said, turning the boy toward the mirror. A young sweet faced woman stared back at them, dark eyes rimmed in smoky black liner and enhanced with bright colored shadow. A soft pink glitter effect stood out on her temples and cheek bones and her lips were drawn out slightly from their natural position, painted in a delicate coral. Angel didn't recognize herself.
"Holy shit," Angel breathed, a wide grin blooming across her face. "I mean . . . sorry, ma'am," she recanted, her grin fading, but only for a second.
China laughed, both at the child's excitement and chagrin. "Don't have to apologize for swearing, Miss Angel," she said, smoothing an imaginary flyaway on the teenager's wig. "Fact, you might have to work hard to outdo some of the other girls around here. N'if you can dance at all, you're going to have men falling at your feet."
"Really?" Angel asked wide eyed, scrutinizing the face in the mirror a little more closely.
"Be careful," China warned, thinking of the way Pietro'd been talking lately about 'making extra money.' "There're men who'd take advantage of a sweet young thing like you."
Angel nodded. "I will. Thank you, ma'am," she said, eyes so wide China had to laugh.
"And stop calling me ma'am. Make me feel old,"
China chided gently.
"Yes, ma. . . China." Angel replied with
a soft smile.
"We'll have to get you some clothes too," China said, looking Angel over. "Bet you're about an 8 or a 10. There's bound to be something that'll fit you in the back 'til you're making enough money to buy some of your own. Think I know just what to do." China went quickly to the back storeroom and brought back a slightly worn red dress with fringe all over it. "Flapper look," she said, handing the dress to Angel. "We'll get you a headband and some cute shoes and get you doing a little Josephine Baker thing." She grinned, handing over a stuffed bra. "Minus the bananas of course."
Angel frowned in confusion, but took the items from China, standing and draping both the dress and the bra over the back of the chair.
"I'll go out if you want to change," China said, thumbing over her shoulder at the door.
"No, s'ok," Angel replied, unbuttoning her pants.
She needed help with the bra, but China had expected that. Within another 20 minutes, mostly of tutorial on how to put on fishnets without running a finger through the mesh, Angel was ready. She stood uncertainly wobbling on the pair of stilettos China had brought her, knees sticking out at odd angles like a newborn colt.
China whistled low, appreciatively. "Angel-girl, you look great," she said, grinning. "Men won't know what hit 'em. Just gotta learn to walk in the shoes. Practice. You can do it here if you want to."
Angel nodded, looking at the mirror, unable to take her eyes off herself. China smiled again, recognizing the look in the teen's eyes. "Finally look like you feel?" the older drag queen asked.
"Huh?" Angel asked, tearing her eyes from the mirror to give China a confused glance.
"I asked if you finally look on the outside the way you feel on the inside." China repeated softly.
Angel paused a long moment, staring at her reflection. "Yeah," she answered, nodding. A small smile made its way across her face. "Yeah, I do."