T R A N S I T ION Position
THE DRAG QUEEN AND
MUMMY
The late star of Paris Is Burning and the mysteryman in her closet
Edward Conlon
The apartment on West 140th Street in
Harlem was filled with bolts of fabric,
feathers, sequins and beads, headdresses,
tailpieces, and elaborate gowns which
were thrifty facsimiles of exorbitant for-
eign fashions. A prior tenant was a drag
performer who also had a business as a
dress and costume designer, and she-po-
lite usage requires the feminine pro-
noun-required clothing for theatrical,
millinery, and everyday use. The apart-
ment was not large and, in addition to her
considerable personal effects, contained
the belongings of her boyfriend and his
brother. But whatever the clutter and
overcrowding, the remark by a sergeant
from the local precinct that "You could
lose a small child in there," was both a
truism and an understatement,becausethe
body of a grown man had been concealed
there for years.
The drag performer was named Do-
Dorian Corey rian Corey, and she thus inspired three
Brian Lantelme headlines in 1993, in even, two-month
4 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
THE
intervals-a coup for any entertainer,but
something of a triumph when the first
story was her obituary. Corey was a prin-
cipal subject of Paris Is Burning, a suc-
cessful and acclaimed documentary about
the drag balls of Harlem, and when she
died last August, at the age of fifty-six,
the New York Times ran a picture of her
in drag, the first and only time it has ever
done so. In October, two men went to
her apartment in hope of finding a cos-
tume for Halloween. Their search, led by
a friend of the deceased's, took them to a
large closet space, the size of a small bed-
room. Finding nothing to their imme-
diate satisfaction among the dresses and
costumes, they were intriguedby the sight
of a large, musty garmentbag. They asked
permission to open it and received casual
approvalto do so. Inside, they discovered
the mummified body of a man, bound up
and wrapped in plastic, folded into the
fetal position with a bullet hole in his
head. He was identifiedas a onetime Bronx
I
I

'r
i
 residentwho was lastseenby his brother
around1968. The incidentwas the sort
of gory but routine oddity that rates a
tabloidparagraph, buriedfarfromthe first
page. For some reason,it was not until
Decemberthat Dorian Corey was con-
nectedwith the story,when it madethe
gossipcolumnof theNewYorkPostbefore
beingpickedup by the wire services.Chi
Chi Valenti, a hostess and producerat
variousdowntownnightclubs,was quot-
ed saying "This makesher more legen-
daryin deaththan she was in life."
The word "legend"is one of the the-
matic compassesof ParisIs Burning,and
it is invoked in the dual sense of great
statureanddubiousreality.It takesits title
froma dragballof the samename,which
washeld in anElk'sClubon 129thStreet
in Harlem,andit too is a hub of doubled
andtripledmeanings:the capitolof black
Americaas the City of Light,its burning
suggestiveof a sudden fashionablede-
mand as well as a progressiveannihila-
tion. The legendsarethe eminences,gray
and otherwise,of the drag scene, who
arriveand endurein statusby force of
personalityandperformance. At the balls,
they "walk"in variouscategories,andthe
original"grandesdames"who modelled
themselveson figuresfromLubitschfilms
or Las Vegas floor shows became,over
time, only a smallpartof an eclecticpag-
eant of talentsand tastes.The old divas
whosecostumesforbademuchmovement
beyond the statuesqueentrance were
joinedby breakdancersandvoguers,who
fluidlymovedthroughthe histrionic,al-
most hieroglyphicposes of fashionpho-
tography.As the expansioncontinuedto
an egalitarianextreme,ostensiblymun-
dane categoriessuch as Executive,Col-
lege, and even Homeboy"Realness"are
6 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
lent pathosandbiteby the sensethatthey
representlives that areas out of reachto
the walkersas those in the rarefiedrealm
of celebrity.For some, the exclusionis
final, beyond mediation.Others perfect
theposein orderto rejectit, so thatwhich
for others is the laborof a lifetime be-
comes a light-operaticamusement,done
and dispensedwith in a moment. The
ironiesaredouble-edged,and cut deep.
WhenI grew up, you
wanted to look like
MarleneDietrich,Betty
Grable.I didn't know I
reallywanted to look
like LenaHome
The film was attackedby the African-
AmericanscholarBell Hooks as exploit-
ative,andthe immediateprospectof poor
black men who want to be wealthy and
famouswhite women suggests,at least,a
subcultureof acute maladjustment.But
many of the devotees of the more ag-
gressivelytheatricalcategoriesaresecure
in theirunderstanding thatthe walk, and
the life, is a performance,an artform,suf-
fusedwith a senseof fun andplay, how-
everseriousin purposeandexpertin craft.
The breachbetweenlife, on andoff-stage,
lendsa tensionthat is vibrantlyexplored:
an off-duty drag queen, unshaven,in a
t-shirtandjeans, might not look so dif-
ferentfrom an off-dutyfireman.Others
seek to put as much distanceas possible
between them and their originalcondi-
tion, through hormone treatmentsand
breastimplants,a medicaltransformation
towardfemalenesswhose radicalconclu-
sion is referred to as "the change."
 The ambitionsof the ball-goersveer
betweenbold dreamand pure delirium.
Somehavea talent;others,merelya wish.
The ratherseveredivide between those
who fail and those who do not seemsto
lie in whetheronewantsto do something,
or simply be something. Willie Ninja
sought celebrityas a dancerand chore-
ographer,andin largemeasurehe hasat-
tainedit in the fashionand musicindus-
tries.A slim, knobbyblonde namedVe-
nus Xtravaganza,on the other hand,
wantedto be a "richwhite girl," and a
famousactressor model;she alsowanted
to be "loved,takencareof, spoiled,"and
marriedin a church,wearingwhite. But
Venuswasequidistantfromthe worldsof
NormanRockwell and ParisMatch,and
as unlikelyto attainconventionalfameas
she was to makea conventionalhome. A
teenagerunaway,she admittedthat she
once hustled but demurelyinsisted the
dangersof that life persuadedher to put
it behindher.Shemightseea "veryhand-
someyounggentleman"on occasion,who
might give her some money "to buy a
dress,or someshoes,to makemyselfmore
beautiful."Most of the time-"99 per-
cent, or ah, 95"-there was no sex ex-
changedfor the money, and in any case,
sheinsisted,it wasno differentfromwhat
a housewifedoesfor a new washer-dryer.
While she mayhavebeen makingajoke
at the expenseof the camera,it would be
wrongto believethatshewasin anything
but deadlyearnest;in a culturesteepedin
the doubleentendre,it is the rarestate-
mentwhosemeaningis unmixed.A friend
tells of her unambiguousending:Venus
was strangledin a motel room, and days
passedbeforeher body was found.
In spite of its tough-mindedness,its
countlesslessons in hard luck, the ball
world sees the largerworld, at least in The detritus of a
potential,as a place of delicacyand ex- lifetime: Dorian's
quisitepromise.Throughoutthe tessel- apa. Inient on
latedpatternof the film, its fragmentsof West 140th St. in
livesbrokenor neverwhole, the motif of Harlem
indignantoptimismis almostperversely Brian Lantelme
repeated."Life hasn'tbeen fair to me,"
said one queen, relaxing in a negligee,
"Not yet."
Paris Is Burning treads the minefields
of race, class, and sex with a light and
stylish step, provoking without crude po-
lemic and letting the subjects tell of their
predicament with aching poignancy and
a sometimes refulgent wit. Its most com-
pelling presence is Dorian Corey. Almost
fifty at the time of the filming, she was a
generation older than most of the sub-
jects; given the velocity of the life-cycle
in that milieu, perhaps more than two
generations older. Tall and plump, light-
skinned,with a smooth and rueful, smoke-
burnished voice, she speaks, for the most
part, as she looks at the mirror, daubing
on eye shadow and rouge. Amid the van-
ities and mockeries, hers is a singularly
generous perspective, self-possessed and
self-assured but never dismissive or jeal-
 ousof hercompetitors.Coreysketchesan
astuteoverview of the cultureand cus-
toms of the balls,providinga lucidview
into its festivityand bitterfeuds.While
the youngercrowdis franklymercenary,
Coreyis refreshinglyretrograde,an old-
time Broadwaytrouperwith a rugged
workethic,a shrewdsenseof historyand
a knackfor pleasingthe crowd.The gen-
erationalpointsof referenceareas differ-
ent,in eraanddimension,asCindyCraw-
ford and SarahVaughn.
"With the currentchildren,the chil-
drenthatareyoung,they'vegone to tele-
vision,you know,"she muses."I'vebeen
to severalballsandthey actuallyhad cat-
egories-'Dynasty!'You know,theywant
you to try to look like Alexis, or Crystal.
I guessthat'sjust a statementof the times.
When I grewup,you wantedto look like
MarleneDietrich, Betty Grable.Unfor-
tunately,I didn'tknow thatI reallywant-
ed to look like LenaHome. When I grew
up, of course,you know, blackstarswere
stigmatized.Nobodywantedto look like
LenaHome. Everybodywantedto look
like MarilynMonroe."
The criticism,or connoisseurship,of
the gay life uptown is never madefrom
anarrogantremove,asthe stakesandrisks
are ones she has undertakenherself:
"When you're undetectable,when they
can walk out of that ballroominto the
sunlight,and onto the subway,and get
home, andstill have all their clothesand
no bloodrunningoff theirbodies-those
arethe femmerealnessqueens."And the
frivolity,while undeniable,is also hard-
won: "Daytimes,if they go out they're
only goingoutto tryto hustleupa quarter
or two, to get theirthingsfor the ball, or
go to littlejobs. A lot of them havelittle
jobs,theywork-don't thinkthey'relazy.
8 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
In New York City, you work or you
starve. You work, some kind of work,
legal or otherwise, but you have to work
to sustain yourself."
But Corey also has an acuity of insight
that makes many of her observations res-
onate beyond the world of the balls. She
translates in a way that the street corner
carollers of "All I want for Christmas is
my two, front tits" do not. "If you have
on a label, it means that you've got wealth,
when it doesn't really. Because any shop-
lifter can get a label," she said, noting a
trend that was hardly confined to her own
subculture."(There) was a time when you
could spend a great deal of time making
outfits, and preparingfor something. Now
they come very quickly. And the moods
change, very quickly. But I come from
the old school of big costumes-feathers
and beads. And they don't have that any-
more. Now its all about designers. And
it's not about what you create, it's about
what you can acquire."
Jennie Livingston, who produced and
directed Paris Is Burning, recalls meeting
Dorian Corey in 1985 or 1986, just after
moving to New York after graduating
from Yale. She noticed the dancers in
Washington Square Park and, intrigued,
began to go to the balls. She began filming
in 1987, in part at Dorian's apartment at
150th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue,
which Livingston recalls as "quite a
neighborhood": "The first shoot we did,
there was a gun battle right outside. And
there were crew members in the van, and
they had to go down to the floor of the
van so they wouldn't get caught in the
crossfire."Corey moved to another apart-
ment, ten blocks down, around 1988, and
Livingston was relieved to continue her
visits in less hazardousterritory. "We got
to be friends,and I'd go up to her place
to play scrabble,which was something
she likedquitea bit. Shealwayshada TV
set or two going on. She was alwaysone
of the moreentertainingpeopleI've met,
she was greatto hang out with."
Dorian Corey studiedat the Parsons
School of Design, and had a successful
businessas a dressmakerand costumer,
sellingto boththe ballworldandthe local
community.LoisTaylor,anotherfriend,
"Didn'twe meet last
night at Riker's
Island?"
saidthat she was an exceptionalgraphic
artist.In her vivid phrase,"Doriancould
painther ass off." But Corey considered
herselfan entertainerfirst,andfor several
years she travelledall over the country
with a drag show called the Pearl Box
Revue.Shedancedwith a boaconstrictor,
and laterregaledfriendswith anecdotes
of the suddenmoods and inconvenient
deathsof the snakes.Jessie Torres, an-
other friend, managedto communicate
the impressionit must have made: "It
would bite her, affectionately.She was
bleeding,but it was partof the act."
Dorian performed most often at
Sally'sII, a TimesSquaredragclub,where
she lip-synchedand sometimesservedas
mistressof ceremonies.Betweensongs,said
Livingston,she did "a great,slightly in-
sulting sort of patter,a kind of African-
Americanverbal eloquence with a gay
camp sensibility, one-upping someone
before they got you." The lush, dark
satiresof the forties and fifties, such as
SunsetBoulevardand All AboutEve, could
be quoted at length, and a heckler, or
someone who merely caught her eye,
THE DRAG
mightbeasked,"Didn'twe meetlastnight
at RikersIsland?"
Sally'sis on West 43rd Street,across
fromthe New YorkTimesandnext to the
Hotel Carter,which advertisesits $49
nightly rate as "cheaperthan most cab
rides."On the stairswhich leadup to the
bar,thereis theatricalmemorabiliaanda
programfor the next week's entertain-
ment, which features Go-Go Boys,
MotherHerselfSally,andDorianCorey's
Drag Doll Revue.Aroundthe dark,cir-
cularbar,red-litfrom above,the patrons
were roughly, evenly divided between
drag queens and their admirers.Some
queens succeeded admirably in their
"realness,"elegantor funky but impec-
cablyfeminine;otherswere aging endo-
morphsin helmets of platinumblonde,
with gothic mascaraand powdercaking
about the dewlaps.The sartorialmales
werejust as diverse,a "gorgeousmosaic"
sent up from central casting: a young
toughin a white t-shirt'andleatherjacket,
a classic Brooklyn cornerboy with-
"Heya doin'!"-accent to match; two
athleticyoung blackmen, in sweatpants
andwindbreakers, who looked like high
schoolfootballcoaches;a suitedexecutive
and a goateedbohemian;a middle-aged
manwith a long beardand thick glasses,
in a white shirtandblackgabardinesuit,
with an anomalousblue baseballcap:an
OrthodoxJew disguisedas a Metsfan, or
a Metsfandisguisedas an OrthodoxJew.
The music was a deafeningalternation
betweenbump-and-grind disco and sen-
timentalballads.Whitney Houstonwas
a favorite,aswas"AWhole New World,"
the themesongfromAladdin,andperhaps
Sally'saswell. Below the baris the stage,
with gold tinsel on the curtainand gold
glitter-dustedrecordssuspendedfromthe
QUEEN AND THE MUMMY 9
 ceiling. White plasticpicnic chairsline
the peeling walls and surrounda dozen-
odd fiberboardtables.The atmosphereis
both seedyand earnest,its almostcomi-
callyoverripedecadenceundercutwith an
insistent,stage-struckidealism.
Raphaela, husky-voiced and Latin,
with long, straightblackhairanda black
miniskirt,waspointedout asanold friend
of Dorian's.Raphaelastruttedwith de-
ceptivespeed,and had finisheda lap and
a half aroundthe barbeforeI caughtup
with her. A tap on the shoulderbrought
a sensuous,polysyllabic"Hello!"in avoice
that droppedhalf an octave when press
credentialswere rapidlypresented:"Oh.
Sure."SheknewDorianforovertenyears,
andrecallsheras"Fabulous!" When asked
whatDorian'sfavoritesongwas,shebelt-
ed out, "I ... can't stop thinkin'about
you, baby!" The conversation ended
somewhat abruptly,as Raphaelagrew
somewhatteary-eyed,andalsoattempted
to frisk the interviewer,"to make sure
you'renot a cop."
Jessie Torres, who lived with the
eponymousSallyfor over ten years,now
managesthe club. She was a close friend
of Corey,"notfamily,butoneof thegirls."
She remembersher as prodigiouslytal-
ented,kind-hearted,andengaging:"You
would be somewhere serious and she
would crackyou up. She had the gift of
the gab.Shewas a headliner,evenbefore
ParisIsBurning. Shewaswhatpeoplecame
to see." Her costumescombinedexpert
skill and extravagantfantasy,andJessie
recalls "dresseslike chandeliers,"cen-
taurs, wolf-women, and Marie Antoi-
nette, completewith guillotine."When
people come to a dragshow, they don't
want to see a dressthat couldbe bought
on 34th Street."Offstage,aswell, Dorian
10 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
could not be takenlightly: "Shelived in
a hardcoreneighborhood,andhadto take
careof herself."
"Therewas definitelyan edge, a hard
edge," agreedLivingston."The life she
led was not easy although she made a
greatgo of it, and had everythingpretty
well worked out, particularlycompared
to otherpeople in that world. She'dsur-
vived and gone on and found a way of
living the way shewantedto live. Dorian
hada lot of talentandan abilityto parlay
her-I don'tknow if it's a needor a pro-
pensity,howeveryou wantto sayit-she
certainlywasn'ttransgender in a waythat
Venuswas transgender, but to parlayher
campsensibilityandherlove fordraginto
survival.Not aneasything to do. Shewas
a hardperson,becauseshe'dbeenthrough
some hardthings, and she said a lot of
nastythings behindpeoples'backs-you
wonderedwhat she saidaboutyou when
you leftthe room.ThatI thinkgoesalong
with the wit, the pickingthe worldapart,
asa way of remainingdignified.Andclear
aboutwho you are."
Who she was, originally,was Fred-
erickLegg, a boy raisedin relativecom-
fort on a farmoutsideof Buffalo.Asked
if there was any contactwith the Legg
family,Livingstonsaid,"Not much, not
much.I thinkthe cordhadbeen cut. She
talked about 'the farm,' and the wood
stove,andthe memories,becauseshe was
not originallyan urbanperson.But she
didn'ttalkto me aboutparticularpeople,
it was somethingshe definitelyput be-
hindher.Therearepeoplewho canwalk
on backhome and say 'Hi, what do you
thinkof my tits andmy spangledgown?'
And there are people who can't. Most
people can't."
Forthe lastelevenyears,shelivedwith

a mannamedLeon,a thirty-fiveyearold
employeeof the trophyshop,which sup-
plies awardsfor the balls.They met at a
barnearTimes Square,andmovedin to-
gethernot long after.In the wordsof one
friend,theywere"anunlikelycouple.An
odd match.But they were together,and
therewasa homethere,andsomecomfort
there." There was a slight tremble in
Leon'svoice when he spoke of Dorian,
and most of his answersdid not extend
beyond one or two words. He recalled
that her favoritesingerwas EarthaKitt,
butcouldnot remembera particular song,
THE DRAG
Dorian lip-synch-
ing to Regina
Bell's "If I Could"
at her final per-
folrunance, May 8,
1993
Brian Lantelme
or anyjokes she told on stage."I moved
in with Dorianbeforemy parentsmoved
out of the city," he said. "She always
helpedme out when I wasdown andout,
you know, when I neededcarfareto get
to work and all. I loved Dorian very
much."
Dorian Corey was diagnosed with
AIDS not long beforethe releaseof Paris
Is Burning,and though she went on one
last tour in the wake of publicityfor the
film, she was hospitalizedintermittently
duringthe three yearsbefore her death.
Livingstonwas disturbedby the lack of
QUEEN AND THE MUMMY 11
 visitors when she was sick, but Lois Tay-
lor, who said she was the reigning Mother
of the House of Corey, said that she want-
ed still less, preferring to be left alone.
They agreed that her treatment at the
hospital was "appalling," with the strain
of terminal illness exacerbated by what
they considered callous treatment by her
physicians. Nor was Dorian a tractable
patient. Taylor said she often had to
"outslick" her just to get her to speak
with her doctor. She continued to drink,
and Livingston was torn between the de-
sire to make her kick a bad habit and the
wish to see her as comfortable as possible
in her last days. When she asked for a
prescription for tranquilizers, in the hope
that Corey would switch to a less toxic
balm for her nerves, she was told, "You
know, that's habit-forming." A promised
move to a specialized AIDS unit never
materialized.
In August of 1993 she slipped into a
coma and died several days later. After
her cremation, a memorial service was
hosted by Sally and Jessie Torres at the
club. "Dorian was just there for a lot of
people," said Torres. "We played a cou-
ple of songs in her honor-Patti Labelle,
'You Are My Friend,' Regina Belle, 'If I
Could.' People from all over came, from
all walks. She was very well-liked, and
had a wit about her, a humor. She was
very theatrical, she could do anything.
She was a very specialperson, very special.
Dorian was Dorian, just legendary."
Two months later, after two men ex-
pressedan interest in having a look around
Dorian's apartment for Halloween cos-
tumes, Lois Taylor agreed to show them
around.Taylor saidthat they were straight
men, looking for a black cape for a vam-
pire costume. In the closet, they came
12 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
across "one of those old-time cloth bags
that you put suits in and fold it over. It
was dark blue with checks on it, one of
those old-time bags." Taylor tried to pick
it up, but was unable to: "And I couldn't,
you know, because I'm only 135 pounds!
And I went to lift the bag, and I couldn't!
You know, because I knew Dorian had
some heavy, heavy stuff up there in that
closet. And I just said, 'Honey, well just
go on and cut the bag.' You know what
I'm saying? And he cut the bag, and he
says, 'This is a lot of plastic here.' So I
say, 'Maybe its one of her beaded gowns,'
The news that Dorian
Coreymay have been
in possession of a
body for almost half
her life was greeted
with uniformshock
'cause, I mean, she's got some tremendous
beaded gowns. I didn't know what the
hell was in there. So then he stuck it, and
then he cut the thing, and then he says,
'There's a scent!' He says, 'I don't know.
Is there a dead dog, or what?' And I said
'Dead dog!' and I ran like hell. And then,
honey, he says, 'Well, I don't know what
it is.' And then he identified himself as a
policeman. And I says, "Ohhhh!" So he
says, 'Well, I'm going to call the pre-
cinct.' And I say, 'Sure, go ahead, do it.'
That's when they discovered it. I probably
should have gone back there to look at
it, because I would have saw something
that I never would have got nowhere in
my life.
"After that, they forgot about the cos-
tumes."
 The news that Dorian Corey may have
been in possession of a corpse for almost
half her life was greeted with uniform
shock. Rumors then began to spread in
manner befitting a society skilled in ex-
travagance:there was talk of a diary that
explained the event, and a deathbed note.
At Sally's, the doorman said, "You know
they were lovers, right? He was a shady
guy, used to beat her up." He then re-
marked that the body had been dead two
or three years. When it was asserted that
ten times that amount of time may have
passed since the death, it did not seem to
unsettle his account. Chi Chi Valenti told
a tale that cast Dorian as a blend of Doug-
las Fairbanks and Gracie Allen, dashing
but flighty, handily foiling a burglary but
too busy dressing for a show to bother
with the clean-up. Among her friends, an
initial amazement was often followed by
an avowal that whatever happened, Do-
rian must have been richly provoked.
"God only knows what he did. Dorian
never mentioned a word to me. If she did
do it, he had to push her," said Lois Tay-
lor. "The whole thing is," said Jessie,
"Dorian was not a violent person but,
excuse my expression, she was not going
to be fucked with, either."
"I guess anyone I know could possibly
be a murderer, could possibly be framed
for murder," said Livingston. "I guess
anyone in this city, in self-defense, could
do just about anything. It struck me al-
ways as more likely that she would be
framed than she would commit this mur-
der and then carrythis thing around. She
always struck me as such a normal, bal-
anced person who was in control of her
life. I certainly don't remember Dorian as
a perfect person, but this is beyond my
picture of who she is or could have been."
THE DRAG
"I don't know if she had a gun," she
continued. "I wouldn't be surprised.I
think actuallythat when the gun battle
erupted,when we were filmingin 1987,
thatshe might havesaidsomethingabout
havinga gun. I would have had a gun if
I lived in thatbuilding."
Jessieconfirmedthat Doriandid own
a handgun."One time she was going on
stage,and she told me to hold this little
eveningbag,"she said."When she gave
it to me, my handwent down,andI said,
'What the fuck do you got in here?'It
was a little .22. She would have these
jokes, 'Someone'sgonna mess with me,
I'm gonna shoot 'em up with lead.'We
had a standingjoke then, that the thing
was rusty,and it would neverwork."
When a detectivesaidthathe hadbeen
told, in the course of his investigation,
that Corey "hada temperwhen she hit
the bottle,"the prospectsof her unblem-
ishedinnocenceseemedstill moredoubt-
ful. One can watchParisIs Burningover
and over without the slightest, subtlest
hint of violencein DorianCorey,or du-
plicity, or fear.But she was, afterall, an
actress.The closest she came to what
might be consideredcommentaryon the
situationis the last scene of the film, as
she sits in front of the mirror,applying
colorsto her face:"I alwayshadhopesof
being a big star.Then I look-as you get
older,you aim a little lower andyou say,
'Well, you still might make an impres-
sion.' Everybodywants to leave some-
thing behind them, some impression,a
markupon the world. Then you think,
you'veleft a markuponthe worldjust by
getting throughit. And if a few people
rememberyourname,you'veleft a mark.
You don'thaveto bendthe whole world.
It's betterto just enjoy it. Pay your dues
QUEEN AND THE MUMMY 13

Drag Queen City: and enjoy it. If you shoot an arrow and
Sally's II it goes real high, hooray for you."
Model: Monica Mugler.
Photo: Brian Lantelme
* * i by the loss of flesh. Pertinent facts are
If Dorian Corey killed a man fifteen years
ago, there would have been over 25,000
homicides in New York City between
that time and the present. If the death was
in 1968, which appears to be the better
estimate,there would have been more than
40,000. In that context, the event might
seem a historical curiosity, like the van-
ished settlersof Roanoke, an event in need
14 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
of explanation, not a verdict. There is no
statute of limitations for murder, how-
ever, and the police were obliged to pro-
ceed as if the crime had been committed
yesterday.
They began with the elementary in-
formation: Dorian Corey moved from
150th Street to 140th Street in the late
eighties, and a dead man was found in the
apartmenton 140th Street.These two facts
bred a sizable family of possibilities, and
while some were more or less likely than
others, the entire episode had long de-
parted from the realm of the probable.
There was not one mystery but several,
and the first-the identity of the dead
man-was not the least difficult.
The photographic record of Dorian
Corey is extensive, flattering, and fond, a
wealth of old snapshots and glossies, and
hours of documentary footage. The only
known picture of the man found in her
apartment is a polaroid, which has the
grisly universality of a mementomoriand
the clinical circumscription of unique
misfortune. The body is set against a black
background, posed in half-profile, from
the chest up, hunched over as if to listen
closely. The complexion is purple and
yellow, the nose and ears are nibs of car-
tilage, and a slight overbite is exaggerated
noted on an information sheet below: the
body is of a black male, 5'10", 140 pounds,
wearing blue and white boxer shorts. The
case is one of many in a red ledger in the
office of Raoul Figueroa, a licensed mor-
tician and a detective in the Missing Per-
sons Squad of the New York City Police
Department.
Many of the other pictures in the ledg-
er are as gruesome, though some had en-
duredfurtherindignityafter death, and
ashe turnedthepages,Figueroaexplained
the reasons for bloat or discoloration,
dents, cuts or "that shiny spot" with
economyandcalm.Wheneverthe viewer
might adjustto the faces,in the dulling
samenessof theirestate,somefreshhorror
would disruptwhatevertentativeaccli-
mationhad been made. An old woman
who hadsufferedmuchfrom"whattime
and water does" was accompaniedby a
circulardistributedby her family,which
showed a smiling, well-coiffed grand-
motherin a Sundaydress."Alzheimers,"
saidFigueroa."Sheeitherjumpedor fell
in the water.There'snothing to suggest
a homicide.It happens."Foranothercase,
therewasno photograph:"Thisis a torso.
There'sno sensein takinga picturehere
becauseit would not help. The doctor
sayshe might be anywherefrom sixteen
to twenty-two,I thinkhe mightbe youn-
ger, so I cover everything.You'll notice
he's a male, most likely black, could be
dark-skinnedHispanic. And that's it.
Somebodythrewhim in thewater.Where
are his arms,head and feet? I still have
everyhope thatI will get him ID'd. You
never know." While the rate of identi-
ficationis generallyhigh, factorssuch as
prolonged homelessnessor illegal im-
migrationdiminishthe prospectsfor suc-
cess. In general,said Figueroa,men are
harderto identify than women because
"women normallyhave a close attach-
ment to somebody.They can be on the
street-drug addicts,prostitutes-they
formsomeclose attachment.Veryrare-
you do haveit-but its veryrarethatthey
completelycut all ties. Men, on the other
hand, they're macho, they take off and
they may call their mothertwice a year,
THE DRAG
Christmas,Easter, stuff like that. The rest
of the time they could be anywhere on
earth."
The man from Dorian Corey's apart-
ment presented formidable technical and
logistical difficulties. Though a body can
be identified through dental or medical
records, hospitals do not ordinarily keep
such information after six years, and ini-
tial estimates of this case put the time of
death as much as fifteen years before. No
witness to the event was likely to come
forward.And fingerprints,which were the
most promising means of identification,
would be a macabre challenge to obtain.
"So I cut the fingers below the second
joint, and then it took me several days to
work on it because, technically, even
Fluid in the body
settled, rather than
evaporating. "There
was all this muck"
though it says 'mummified'-he was in a
mummified state, but in a soupy sort of
mummified state," he explained. The
plastic prevented the loss of moisture nec-
essary for true mummification, and fluid
in the body settled, rather than evaporat-
ing. "There was all this muck, many
pounds of muck. You have to clean it off,
but you gotta do it soft because you don't
want to destroy it, it's a painstaking sort
of process. The minute it gets destroyed,
you do the wrong thing, it's gone forever,
and then you got nothing to work with.
"So I was working on secondary skin,
the lower one, beneath what you see. Sec-
ondary skin slippage-you've seen a float-
er come out of the water, you've seen the
QUEEN AND THE MUMMY 15
hand,like a glove, comingoff?That'sthe
slippage.The secondaryskin, it's not as
pronouncedas your regularskin. It's a
twin of whatyou mightlose in a sunburn,
or regularwear and tear.
"So I hadto come up with something
to try to be ableto dealwith the fingers,
becauseof the skin, it was-we all have
microorganisms, thateitherwerenearthe
body when he was enclosed, or on the
body itself. They will eat through the
skin,leavingthesemicro-littleholes,that
you can'treallysee but where you can't
injectanythingbecauseits gonnaleakout.
Very slowly, but it leaks out. So there's
not much you can do. If you try to put
ink on thatit will not adhereto the skin.
It was a problem,andI endedup-I can't
give away secretsbecause,well, it's ben-
eficialto us to keep it moreor less secret.
But I workedout something,and I was
able to close those holes. Then drying,
which is a common-knownthing with
acetoneanda varietyof otherthings,dry-
ing the skin,thenusinga littlebit of heat.
You might have to soften it, put it in
specialliquidsto softenit. And I was able
to securethe print."
To do so, Figueroaput the skinon his
own fingers,like a glove, over the latex
gloves he wears, inked them and rolled
themfor the print.His successwasbetter
thanhe expected,andhe was ableto get
printsfrom all ten fingers.A matchwas
madewith one RobertWells, who was
bornin December,1938, and arrestedin
the Bronx in 1963. A sisterwas located
in Fairmont,North Carolina,who in-
formedhim thathis realnamewasRobert
Worley. Anotherbrother,who lived in
Harlem, told Figueroathat he had not
seen his brothersince 1968.
16 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
"He seemedlike a very nice individ-
ual,verycourteous,verydecent,"saidFi-
gueroa."He was surprisedthatwe found
[his brother'sbody]. He used to live in
the Bronx, he lived with him, and he
disappeared. The weirdthing, he was liv-
ing not too farfromwhere the bodywas
found.He spokewith the restof the fam-
ily andhe gaveuspermissionto buryhim.
He says, 'We know where he's at, we
know what happenedto him."'
Were it not for his arrest,therewould
be no usefulsocialrecordof RobertWor-
ley. Familyandfriendswouldbe deprived
of the consolationof at least knowing
when to mourn,andwhy. A law-abiding
citizenin a like circumstance would sim-
be
ply assigned a number and put in the
ground.The occasionwhich enabledthe
stateto informthe Worleyfamilyof their
brother'sdemiseoccurredon March27,
1963, when he was arrestedfor rape.
Foranyonefamiliarwith the criminal
justicesystemin New York City, to hear
the number347/63, andknow thatit re-
fersto an Aprilindictmentin the Bronx,
is to be sent into a raptureof nostalgia.
347 indictmentsby April suggestsa rate
of just over one thousandper year. In
1993, therewere over 9000, andthe rec-
ord, set in 1990, was 10,892. In 1963,
New York City was saferthanit is today
in mostmeaningfulandmeasurable ways,
with the compellingexceptionof sexual
offenses.The abuseof childrenandcrimes
occurringwithin the home were rarely
exposedto publicview. Rape,in partic-
ular,has undergonea dramaticlegal and
social transformation.The entire cate-
gory of acquaintancerapewas virtually
exemptfrom prosecution,andwholesale
classesof victims,from prostitutesto di-
 4
I i
vorcees, might not have been considered
presentable to a jury. At the same time,
those rapeswhich were prosecuted might
be pursued with great vigor, especially
when a woman's "virtue" as well as her
body had been subject to violence and
violation. In several states, generally
southern ones, rape was a capital crime.
Linda Fairstein, Chief of the Sex
Crimes Unit of the Manhattan District
Attorney's Office, said that the most sa-
lient reform of the rape statute was the
abolition, in 1972, of the corroboration
requirement. Three elements of the crime
had to be established independently of the
claims of the victim: the identification of
the assailant;the sexual nature of the of-
THE DRAG QUEEN AND THE MUMMY
fense, usuallythroughmedicalevidence; Are we not men?
andthe useofforce,eitherthroughvisible The crew at
injuryor the recoveryof a weapon. "If Sally's II
all three of those elementswere not in- BrianLantelme
dependentlyproved,then the case could
not go forward.Forexample,as the New
YorkTimesprintedin 1970, more thana
1000 men were arrestedin New York
City for sexualassault,andonly eighteen
were convictedof the crime. The over-
whelmingnumberof cases,before1972,
never got pastthe arrestphase."
Accordingto courtdocuments,Wor-
ley forceda womaninto the vacantstore
below his apartmentand raped her. It
might be supposedthat they were ac-
quaintedbeforethe incident:the woman
17
lived right aroundthe cornerfrom him, was able to offer the following observa-
andthe arrestoccurredwithin hoursafter tions:"A confessiondoesn'tautomatical-
the crime.Worleywaschargedwith kid- ly satisfyall the requirements.It sounds
napping,assault,and having intercourse like he's admittingthat he's the guy, but
with "a female,not his wife, againsther he'snot admittingforce.My guesswould
will andwithoutherconsent."The wom- be that it's a bettercase than many if it
an was employedas a nurse'saide, and was indictedandgot into the system,but
she had a commonEnglishname,which it musthave been lackingsomethingfor
makesit likely thatshe, too, wasAfrican- thereto be that kind of pleabargain.For
American.Worley gavehis "truename" the time, the bail is probablyhigh. The
as "RobertWells," and stated that his whole thing reallydependson an evalu-
parentswere dead,which was also false. ationof the victimandher story.Wheth-
His occupationis listedas "finisher,"his er or not they knew eachotherwould be
raceas "C"for "colored."In an affidavit, an issue.Is she somebodywho was drink-
Detective RobertRose wrote that "the ing with him at that location?That case
defendantstated that he did perpetrate is morelikely to be pleadeddown thanif
acts of sexual intercoursewith the de- they'd never seen each other beforeand
ponentat the abovelocation.He alsostat- he just pulled her off the street in his
ed that he had been drinkingwine and drunkenstate.There are too manyvari-
didn't know what happened to him." ablesmissingfor me to say much, but I
There was no record of any prior arrests. would say that there was certainlysome
His bail was originally set at $3500 and merit to the case and it sounds,with an
then reduced to $1500. Three weeks after assaultcharge,that he certainlysmacked
his arrest,he pleaded guilty to assault,and her aroundat some point. It might well
was sentenced to two to four years in state have started-I'm guessingthis because
prison, of which, his brother recalls, he of proximityof location-as an evening
served almost the full term. drinkingtogether,and that'swhy it was
Worley was represented by the Legal pled down. That's simply an educated,
Aid Society, and there are three different experienced guess."
attorneys of record at arraignment, plea, Frederick Worley is a wiry man of
and sentencing. None are listed in the medium height in his mid-sixties, with
most prominent directoryof attorneys,and thick glasses and a broad, gap-toothed
neither is the prosecutor and the judge. smile. We spoke in a vacant apartmentin
They may have retired, or they might not the Harlem building where he is super-
practice law, or they might practice, but intendent, as he awaited a prospective ten-
not at a law firm. They also might be ant. He wore a corduroy baseballcap, and
dead. According to police records, there a sweatshirt with a picture of a bando-
have been two detectives named Robert liered Mickey Mouse with pistols blazing.
Rose. One was eight years old in 1963, His speech was measured and judicious,
and the other died in 1991. with sly, suggestive pauses, and his voice
While the information in the court file rose and fell in southern-inflected,
is too sparse to permit all but the most preacherly rhythms. Mr. Worley and his
speculative interpretation, Ms. Fairstein six brothersand sistersarefrom Fairmont,

18 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
a small town in the cotton and tobacco
countryin the southeastcornerof North
Carolina.Fourof the Worleys came up
to New York City, but Frederickis the
only living siblingwho remained."Ihad
losttrackso manyyearsago.At sometime
I hadsomenotionthatsomethingwasn't
quiterightwith his lifestyle,but I didn't
knowwhich way he went. My sister,one
of my sistersand I, who lives in North
Carolina,we resignedto the ideathatpos-
sibly he was dead," he said. Bobby, as they
called him, had complainedof passing
blood in his urine, and his brothersand
sistersfelt it might lead to a seriousor
even fatal medicalproblem.When de-
tectivescalled his sister,he went to the
localprecinctto "piecethingstogetheras
best we could. But there'sa lot of gaps
becauseof the fact that, like, he fell off
the face of the earth."
Mr. Worley left Fairmont in 1956,
and Bobby followed him sometime later
on: "I was twenty-six at that time, so he
was seventeen, right? He might still have
been-what was he doing at that time?
Just out of school? By the time he'd
reached a certain age, I'm courting, get-
ting myself marriedand getting out. I was
a young man with a wife and child, need-
ed to work, so I came to New York." For
ten years, the elder Worley worked in a
Bronx lumberyard, rising to the position
of foreman, and then he became an in-
surancesalesman. "In fact, I still sell some
when I'm industrious enough," he said.
Since 1985, he has been working at the
building on 158th Street, as superinten-
dent and managing agent.
The difference in age between the two
brothers, and the distance in time from
their last meeting, made recollection dif-
ficult. "I don't recall exactly when I
THE DRAG
learnedwhenhe hadcometo New York,"
he explained."I think I learnedthrough
correspondence backwith the family.At
that time, my mother and father were
living. You know how it is, when Mom
andPopswereliving, the correspondence
is moreregularthan when they passon.
"Well, he was the babyof the family.
I don'tremember-he was like anyother
kid growingup. Afterall, we were born
into a family that had a no-nonsensefa-
ther, and a no-nonsense mother. And
when you're born into a situationlike
that,you got it going andcoming.So you
haveto, got to prettymuchkeepyourself
in line. However,I do remembera letter
frommy mother.He worriedmy mother
quitea bit, beforehe left North Carolina.
He got intoafew littlescrapesdownthere,
I neverreallyknewhow serioustheywere
or anythinglike that.But I knowthatshe
finallywroteme, andI wroteto herwhen
I found out abouther spendingmoney,
getting him out of little scratcheshere
andthere...."
Askedif it was anythingas seriousas,
for example,stealingcars,he responded
with an emphatic denial: "My father
wouldhavewhuppedhim!What I would
have calledmischievousthings, like get-
ting into fights, a little public drunken-
ness, becauseyou know that for many
years,NorthCarolinawasa drystate.And
if you drankpublicly,you were going to
the caboose,right.Shemusthavepaidfor
him to get out of a few things like that,
right. At this time, she was in declining
health,andI told her, 'You mustturnthis
boy loose. Lethimgo. He's got to runhis
course.' You couldn't tell her that, she's
gotta make up her mind. She's gotta cut
this kid off the string. Finally, I remem-
ber, she wrote me a letter. She told me,
QUEEN AND THE MUMMY 19
she said,'You know something?I finally
put Bobbyin the handsof God."
"Well, you will neverguesshow hap-
py that made me, becausetruly, I don't
knowwhatyourattitudetowardGod the
Creatoris, and I'm not aboutto askyou
that, but I felt that that was reallywhat
she should do. Becauseyou can't make
anyoneover.If a personis inclineda cer-
tain way, that personmust come to see
the errorof theirwaysin orderto change
the errorof their ways. She finally told
Lifein New YorkCity
could not have been
moredifferentfrom
Fairmont,North
Carolina
me that she had given him up. And it
musthavebeenafterthatthathe cameto
New York. That's what might have
promptedhim getting out from down
there, that she wasn't going to bat no
morefor him. So this put him constantly
on the run. Of course,that'sonly a guess
on my part."
When askedif he knew anything about
the name "Robert Wells," Mr. Worley
laughed: "I would suggest that he had
gotten into some kind of trouble." He was
told that Bobby had been arrestedfor rape,
but didn't know any of the circumstances.
He vaguely recalls something about pris-
on at Dannemora, but he did not discuss
it with his brother, who lived with him
for some six months to a year after his
release. It was not a pleasant time for ei-
ther of them: "I could tell that his lifestyle
wasn't something that was gonna set well
with me and my family. But he stayed on
20 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
with me until he finally ... moved on.
He at thattimewas drinking.I would say
borderlinealcoholism.He was drinking
vodka, straightfrom the bottle. He got
so inebriatedone night, when he came
home, my wife had-we had a low-boy
radiatorand our childrenwere going to
school at the time, and she had laid a
sweateron the radiator.He camein dur-
ing the nightandI guesshe wasso stewed
he thought he was in the bathroom.
'Well,' I said,'Hey, no. No! This is not
going to makeit."'
Between the drinkingand his unem-
ployment,relationsbetweenthe brothers
were strained. Bobby went out with
friends,but Frednevermet them. When
Bobbyfinallydid landajob, his firstpri-
oritieswere not practicalones: "He saw
this woman that he just had to have, ap-
parently,and when he got his firstpay,
he went straightto her.In the meantime,
he didn'tgive me anyof the moneyI had
given him, and I approachedhim about
it in the basementof my buildingthere.
And,oh, he startedtellingme, 'Theytook
the restof the moneyout of my pay!'And
I said,'Well, where'syourpaystub?''Oh,
I didn't get one!' And I said, okay, fine.
To makea long storyshort,shortlyafter
thatI toldhim, I said,'Listen,don'tworry
aboutpayingme any money. Saveyour-
self somemoney,get yourselfa place.Be-
cause my apartmentis for me and my
family, and this is the way it has to be.
You musthaveyourown place.'So it was
afterthatthathe droppedout of sight on
me and I didn't know which way he
went."
The life which Bobbyled, andthe life
which manyseemedto leadin New York
City, could not havebeen moredifferent
from the one Frederick Worley knew in
North Carolina. A small town in a rich,
agriculturalregion, Fairmontwas the kind
of place "where teachers are very familiar
with the families of the children they are
teaching. Parentswill still tell you, 'Look,
you have any problem with him, we'll
take care of it. And let me know!' It's a
nice quiet town, not a lot of notoriety.
People arebasically church-going people,
a lot of them living quite well, nice houses
with two cars in the garage. Doing better
than I am!"
Mr. Worley's father was an engineer,
in his words, who made ice for the town.
His mother died in 1964, and his father
died some twelve years later. "Generally,
we came up in an area where any adult
could speakto us, and we recognized that,
because God forbid, an adult would speak
THE
to me and I gave that adulta hardtime, Brian Lantelme
andmy fatherfoundit out! It was to the
woodshed!When we came along, this
word 'child-abuse'had not been coined.
In those daysif you got out of line you
got whatyou hadcomingto you, andthat
was it."
LindaWorley Thompson'srecollec-
tions of her brotherare less recentthan
Frederick's,and more affectionate.The
last time she saw Bobby was in 1962,
beforehis drinkingandlegaltroublesbe-
gan, and her regretswere untaintedby
bitterexperiences with his later,lesserself.
In a letter,she saidthatBobbygraduated
from RosenwaldHigh School in 1957,
that he was an activestudentwith excel-
lent grades,and that he enjoyedsports,
especiallybasketball."He loved music
very much and played in the band. He
DRAG QUEEN AND THE MUMMY 21
 wanted to be a musicianone day," she And that'sreallywhere his troublestart-
said, and her "fondest memorieswere ed. My father,he was a strictdisciplinar-
when he wouldtalkaboutdifferentthings ian.Andhe would let the boysknow that
thatmight affecthim reachinghis goal." they would haveto do rightto stayin his
Bobby was spirited,she said, rambunc- house.Well, a lot of times,I don'tknow
tious anddriven,andwas "definitelynot whatBobbywouldbe doing,buthe would
a Mama'sboy," although "my mother be gonea lot. Accordingto whatmy older
wouldalwayshelphim get whathe want- brothersaid, he would be with his girl-
ed."He was an assiduousworkerandhad friend.She would send for him. And so
jobs in the tobaccowarehousesand as a he starteddoing things that my mother
veterinarian'sassistant.After he left for and fatherdidn't agree with. And they
New York,he would sometimesslipinto triedto help him, but then theyjust had
town for a visit with his mother,and he to turnhim loose, let him go. Becausehe
would alsocall or write.Mrs.Thompson had sort of a wild streakin him. And it
did not evade mention of his problems, washardto get him,you couldn'tget him
but treatedthem with a certaintact and under control. But he was so smartin
indirection.He had a temper,she said, high school!He wasvery good in school,
andhe "nevercausedtrouble,butif some- but then when he got out, I don'tknow,
one botheredhim, he would fight." At he just startedgetting into trouble."
the end of his daysin Fairmont,"I feel "This girl said he did something to
that Bobbywas very disappointedat life her.In Fairmont.That'swhy hejust left.
and decidedto go away to make a new But the girl, she was alwayscallinghim,
life for himself." alwayswantedhim aroundher.Andwhen
On the telephone, she elaborated on they had a falling out, she accusedhim
the good qualitiesand ominous trends. of doing somethingto her."
Her son, Eric,was five when Bobbyleft, Bobby left Fairmontto escape one
but his memoriesof his uncle aretender girlfriend,but she was not the only one
andwarm."Bobbywould spenda lot of he left. Therewas another,by whom he
time with Eric,"she said."He seemedto hada daughter,who nevermetherfather.
carea lot abouthim."Ericrecalleda time "Shedidnot knowone thing abouthim,"
when he was aroundfive yearsold, and continuedMrs. Thompson."When she
he "somehow"threw out Bobby'shigh foundouthe wasdead,shewasveryupset,
school classring. The boy was terrified, becauseshe never got a chanceto know
buthisunclewaskindandunderstanding. him as a father.And, of course,she has
"He does have fond memoriesof him, three children.Shejust wished that she
becausehe wouldtakethetimewith him," could have had a relationshipwith him.
she said. "But he was like that during He hadthe desireto do somethingin life,
thoseyears.Then somethinghappenedto but some way, some how, he got off
him. track...."
"Atmy recollection,Bobbywasa good
person but he would, well, he got in-
volved with girls. I don't know. While
he was in high school, I was in college. As of thiswriting,DetectiveJohn Roe of
Womenseemedto be-hejust lovedgirls. the 26th Precinctstatedthatthe homicide

22 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
of Robert Worley is still an open case. As
such, a full and frank discussion was not
possible for legal reasons, as well as fre-
quent practical ones ("Not today, I got a
fresh double murder").Roe conceded that
Worley's death probably occurred not
long after his disappearance,and he said
that he was convinced that Dorian Corey
knew of the body. To me, this knowledge
A black drag queen in
possession of a
cadaver could not
expect more
sympathetic treatment
fromthe police than
fromsociety at large
strongly suggests responsibility. The the-
ories that depend on proxies and over-
sights-that the body was there when she
moved in, that she was "protecting"
someone, and so on-began to seem des-
perately wishful and elaborate, although
the ultimate conjecture-that Corey killed
Worley, and brought the body with her
when she moved-is hardly a prosaic de-
flation of the event. My initial guess was
that it was a street pick-up that turned
into a robberyattempt. Eventually, some-
one told me that something like that did
occur, and though I found it persuasive,
the information was of a piece with the
rest of what I heard-speculative, sketchy,
and never better than second-hand.
Jessie Torres said that in her last days,
Dorian began to tell Sally about her se-
cret, on the phone, over two or three calls.
Although Sally's health was fair at the
time, she would die three months after
Dorian. During one such call, Sally asked
Jessie to listen in on the extension. "God
THE DRAG
forgive me," saidJessie, "And may she
rest in peace, I said, 'Sally,that AZT is
eatingthat queen'smind up.' She was in
a delirioussituation.I saidit was impos-
sible-she lived in two differentplaces-
why would she?Girlsdo havea tendency
to exaggerate."
Until October,all practicaland rea-
sonablebelief dictatedagainstthe story,
andJessieassumedit to be a melancholy
delusion.Afterthe discoveryof the body,
the lesserdetailsof the accountconverged
in supportof its implausiblepremise."In
Harlemthereareguysthatwe would call
take-off artists,"she explained. "They
would come aroundandjust wantto take
from the queensthe little bit you have.
Fromwhat I'm told, this is the situation.
He hadrobbedherbefore,fromwhat I'd
heard.He was known in the neighbor-
hood as a junkie. If he knew you had a
littlebit of money,he wouldcomearound
here, come aroundthere with the atti-
tude,'Fuckyou,you-allarefaggots.'Fuck
you bitch!He'd takewomen off too. See-
ing that society frowns on junkies, they
feel, you know, they could frown on us.
I couldimagine.I havebeen in situations
like that-guys who say, 'Go ahead,call
the police, you faggot!' He had taken
things from her a couple of times. One
time, she was fed up. And she was not
havingit."
While there is no reasonto dispute
the sincerityof the confession,Dorianwas
sufferingfroma neurologicalimpairment
andrecallinganeventof perhapstwenty-
five yearsbefore, an event which itself
may have occurredin a chaotic instant,
amida welterof terror,fury,anddismay.
The accountthat Jessie overheardmay
differsubstantially fromwhatin facttran-
spired.Then again,it maynot. If Dorian
was entirelyjustifiedin her actions,she
QUEEN AND THE MUMMY 23
remainedablackdragqueenin possession
of a cadaver,and did not expect more
sympathetictreatmentfrom the police
than she would from societyat large.At
the sametime, it is unknownwhat force,
still less lethal force, might have been
called for; it is likely that her gun was
unlicensed,andshe mayhavebeenreluc-
tantto callthe authoritiesbecauseof some
additionalculpability.Robert Worley's
version of the incident will never be
known.
The greaterwonder, and one which
will abide,is why she never disposedof
the body.Those who understandherpo-
sition are unlikely to make public their
own. As a movie buff,Dorianknew that
it is the raremysterywhere some clue,
sometrickof the plot does not betraythe
identityof the killer. In a way, she read
the situation correctly, leaving well
enough alone until she was unavailable
for comment.The Corey-Worleymys-
teryendedwith a twist thatshe couldnot
predict,though one she would have ap-
preciated,asshoppersin herclosetwanted
a vampirecostumeandgot a mummyin-
stead.The ironies,at least, were to her
taste.
* * 0 were awareof it until both were gone.
Over half a centuryago, in placesin the
countrysideto the northandthe southof
the city,two womenheldchildrenwhom
they cannot have expected would ever
meet. Nor couldthey have imaginedthe
24 TRANSITION ISSUE 65
way eachlife would takeshape,andwere
they to seephotographsof theirsons,one
shrunkenand stiff on a morgueslab,the
otherwith breastsand a blondewig, gy-
ratingbeneatha live boa constrictor,it
wouldbe difficultto guesswhich woman
wouldbe moreshocked.CoreyandWor-
ley were blackmen without much mon-
ey, closein age,who movedto New York
City fromruralareas.As victimsof AIDS
and homicide,they embodytwo of the
main statisticalbasesfor abbreviatedlife
expectancyin Harlem.Worley was bur-
ied in Potter'sField,on HartIslandin the
westernLongIslandSound,in a common
grave.Coreywas cremated,andherashes
werescattered offCityIslandin theBronx.
The two islandsare separatedby half a
mile of water.
Thereseemsto be an instructivelike-
ness between them but their moraland
materialresemblanceis tangential,shift-
ing. There aretravels,changesof name.
One wassentto prisonfor a crimeagainst
a woman,andthe othermadea living as
a femaleimpersonator. When Coreyleft,
Worley came back. The relationis ar-
rhythmic, oblique, like the pattern of
dropletsthat fall from a tap. The inter-
sectionof their lives was brief,andnone
They left behindunanswerable questions,
painedandfond memories,loved ones in
mourning.One left a legend;the othera
child. And for worse and for better,to-
getherandapart,eachmadea markupon
the world.