Three sides to the coin Aug 19, 1982

 


If you look at her face, you could never imagine what she does for a living, more Madonna than prostitute, with a face so sweet that any boy would bring her home to meet the family.

And yet, around the edges something gives her away, something dark if not dishonest. I’m not sure if she knows how to lie.

Her tattoos tell a different story, markers as to where she’s been and with whom, all just a little dirty, except for the blue rose she had tattooed on her wrist.

Seven tattoos in all, perhaps indicating the number of men she married – although none signify her marriage to me.

All of this dead secret. She carries herself in public like any upstanding citizen, so utterly normal as to be boring, very much a mother.

In the clubs all this changes, whether on stage as she slowly strips, or at the bar where she seduces men into buying her drinks. She is a chameleon, altering herself to fit her environment, leaving me to wonder just who she really is.

At the camp site last month, she acted so completely domestic, while down by the pool, the other side of her came out, this gentle soul transformed into something alluring, showing off her tattoos to men with tattoos their own, and glowing when they admired her.

It reminded me of the porno scene back in LA more a decade ago when she craved the attention any men.

Last night, on the phone, she told me how difficult it is for her to bridge the gap, to become one of these or the other, a different part of her needing something different to find pleasure in, not to mention a third side from which she makes her living.


email to Al Sullivan

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