It was our senior football trip and we had just witnessed the Oklahoma Sooners thump the Auburn Tigers. We were now on Bourbon Street. Our coaches told us to meet at the bus in 3 hours or catch the trolley to our hotel if we should happen to miss the bus. They went one way and we went another. We immediately bought a Hurricane from one of the sidewalk vendors. Rum and fruit juice. This got us started. The concentration and multitude of bars, strip clubs, and clubs with live jazz and rock-n-roll music along the street was overwhelming. Each establishment had people trying to lure us into them. There was a live jazz band literally walking down the middle of the street. There were people everywhere. For an almost 18 year old from West Virginia this was a real New Year’s Day education.
As we walked along, one man grabbed my arm and invited me into the Cabaret Club. Without thinking, I went in. The rest of the guys continued down the street not realizing that I had left them. The club was larger than I expected. At the very back was a stage with a red curtain. There was a long bar down each side of the club with a runway in the middle coming out from the stage. There were very few lights except those around the stage and along the runway. There were posters from musicals all along the walls. The man sat me down at the end of the runway in one of the few seats available and told a waiter to bring me a Jax beer.
“That will be $10 young man.” I thought it was too much, but I didn’t dare argue. I gave him the money and he disappeared out the front door seeking other innocent victims. A woman brought me my beer and said she would be back. At the time I didn’t think much about it but she had a very deep voice.
The next thing I know the curtain on the stage was pulled back and I heard the music from my favorite musical, West Side Story. There was an actual band playing the music at the very back of the stage. They were very good. A spotlight hit the stage and focused on the very scantily clad women dancing and singing to “I Want to Live in America.” They then broke into several other show-tune songs as they paraded up the runway right in front of me and then back to the stage. Each girl that stopped and danced in front of me winked. I had never experienced anything like this before.
As the waitress brought me my fourth Jax, I felt someone tap me on the shoulder. It was Charlie, one of our offensive linemen.
“Where the hell have you been? We’ve been looking all over for you and they charged me $5 just to come in and look for you.”
“Well, I’ve been here the whole time. Sorry. But I love the girls, the singing, and the dancing. This is a great place!”
Charlie looked at me, "How many of those beers have you had?"
He laughed a little bit, and continued, “Well Mr. Quarterback and Mr. Smartest Guy in the School, first of all I want to thank you for telling me where to block each time we came up to the line of scrimmage this past season. It was helpful to me and the team and I really mean that. But now, I’m going to return the favor and help educate you.” He paused a second, “you see those girls on stage that you like so very much. Well, they are not girls. They are all guys!”
I protested, “That can’t be. That just can’t be.”
“Look closely Mr. Quarterback.”
I looked as one girl came dancing up to the end of the runway. I looked closely just as Charlie had told me to do. My jaw dropped and my eyes must have doubled in size. Charlie laughed out loud.
“I can’t believe that. How do they do that? They look just like girls!”
My waitress, who must have heard our conversation, touched my hand and teased, “Honey, I’m a man on the outside but a woman through and through. Would you like to come home with me?”
My faced turned every shade of red. I don’t think I’ve ever been that embarrassed. I would never live this down.
The best I could respond to the waitress was, “No thank you mam.”
She laughed, “Sweetie, I’ll have the band play you a song that you need to listen to.” She walked down to the stage and said something to the band and the girls on stage. I heard the band start to play “Lola.” All of the girls on stage and everyone in the club began to sing along. Still red in the face, I decided that a strategic withdrawal from the Cabaret Club was necessary. Charlie promised not to tell the rest of my teammates what happened that New Year’s Day and how this young, naive kid had his eyes opened to a much bigger world. To this day, Charlie has kept his word.
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