There was paint and canvases and oil stick everywhere. Jean would go off and leave me alone in Larry’s house. Larry had a lot of art and every single door to every room lockedautomatically behind you when you shut it. They forgot to tell me this and one day I was trapped in a room for hours.
In L.A. we used to go to Mr. Chow’s, where Jean would exchange art for dinner. Jean was friends with Tim Kelly, who was the son of Gene Kelly. Once we went over to Gene Kelly’s house to see Tim. It was a grand old Hollywood house and there was an Oscar on the mantelpiece. I was leaning over the bar with my ass in the air trying to get a drink and in walks Gene Kelly. I was floored. He was an idol of mine. Tim introduced us and I shook his hand. Gene Kelly apparently loved Jean and gave him his jacket from
Singing in the Rain.
Jean told me that Madonna had been there to visit him the week before I came. Madonna, he said, had asked him to take her on a shopping spree. He asked me why I never asked him to do this and I answered that it never occurred to me to ask him for such a thing.
Then I said, “Will you take me on a shopping spree?”
And he said, “No. I’m completely broke from Madonna’s shopping spree.”
MICHAEL STEWART
It does not take long to find a nice, sweet pair of arms. A kid’s arms. A boy who is even more of a child than she is. He is gentle. He has never felt the whack of a hand to the back of his neck. He has never felt a punch to the side of his face. He has never known his skeleton.
Suzanne meets Michael Stewart at the Berlin nightclub, where she is a bartender. He is a busboy at the Pyramid Club. Michael Stewart is a shy, light-skinned black man. He comes from a very nice Baptist middle-class family in Brooklyn.
When Suzanne is in the hospital with PID, which she contracted from Jean-Michel, Michael comes to visit every day. Suzanne is there for two weeks on IV antibiotics and he brings magazines, Coca-Cola and potato chips. They spend New Year’s Eve in the hospital together.
I’ll never forget how sweet and kind Michael Stewart was. I adored him as if he were my kid brother. He was gentle and quiet. When I was sick in the hospital he came to see me every day. He’d do all the things I could not do like pay my phone bills, etc. He was a little bit awed that I was Jean’s girlfriend.
THE BERLIN
Michael sits at the bar and asks Suzanne for a Coke and talks to Suzanne for hours. He comes in every night he can. He chews on toothpicks and eats the olives and cherries out of Suzanne’s bar tray.
They play tic-tac-toe and geography games. One night Suzanne leans over and kisses his forehead. She tells him he reminds her of her little brother. He tells her he has nowhere to live and she lets him live with her.
He asks her if he can use the shower and Suzanne says, “Sure.”
He asks her if he can drink some of the milk and Suzanne says, “Sure.”
He asks her if he should go out and buy the newspaper and Suzanne says, “Sure.”
He cleans the apartment while Suzanne is at work.
They sleep together and sometimes they make love. In the morning Suzanne says, “You remind me of my brother.”
Once in a while Suzanne disappears for days. She is still seeing Jean-Michel. This never stops.
A few weeks later Michael loses his job and moves back to his mother’s house on Clinton Avenue.
LUCKY STRIKE
Suzanne sees Michael at a club on 9th Street called Lucky Strike, where Madonna is a bartender. They have a few drinks. Suzanne tells him that she is sorry that she is always going back to Jean-Michel, but that she can’t help it. Michael is very sweet and gentle and just strokes her arm and says, “Yes, yes.”
Suzanne says, “You can come back and stay with me if you like.”
Michael says, “Yes, yes.”
After a few hours he leaves the bar and takes the LL subway to Brooklyn.
It is alleged by the police that Michael was writing graffiti, yet no graffiti or markers are found. Michael is
In L.A. we used to go to Mr. Chow’s, where Jean would exchange art for dinner. Jean was friends with Tim Kelly, who was the son of Gene Kelly. Once we went over to Gene Kelly’s house to see Tim. It was a grand old Hollywood house and there was an Oscar on the mantelpiece. I was leaning over the bar with my ass in the air trying to get a drink and in walks Gene Kelly. I was floored. He was an idol of mine. Tim introduced us and I shook his hand. Gene Kelly apparently loved Jean and gave him his jacket from
Singing in the Rain.
Jean told me that Madonna had been there to visit him the week before I came. Madonna, he said, had asked him to take her on a shopping spree. He asked me why I never asked him to do this and I answered that it never occurred to me to ask him for such a thing.
Then I said, “Will you take me on a shopping spree?”
And he said, “No. I’m completely broke from Madonna’s shopping spree.”
MICHAEL STEWART
It does not take long to find a nice, sweet pair of arms. A kid’s arms. A boy who is even more of a child than she is. He is gentle. He has never felt the whack of a hand to the back of his neck. He has never felt a punch to the side of his face. He has never known his skeleton.
Suzanne meets Michael Stewart at the Berlin nightclub, where she is a bartender. He is a busboy at the Pyramid Club. Michael Stewart is a shy, light-skinned black man. He comes from a very nice Baptist middle-class family in Brooklyn.
When Suzanne is in the hospital with PID, which she contracted from Jean-Michel, Michael comes to visit every day. Suzanne is there for two weeks on IV antibiotics and he brings magazines, Coca-Cola and potato chips. They spend New Year’s Eve in the hospital together.
I’ll never forget how sweet and kind Michael Stewart was. I adored him as if he were my kid brother. He was gentle and quiet. When I was sick in the hospital he came to see me every day. He’d do all the things I could not do like pay my phone bills, etc. He was a little bit awed that I was Jean’s girlfriend.
THE BERLIN
Michael sits at the bar and asks Suzanne for a Coke and talks to Suzanne for hours. He comes in every night he can. He chews on toothpicks and eats the olives and cherries out of Suzanne’s bar tray.
They play tic-tac-toe and geography games. One night Suzanne leans over and kisses his forehead. She tells him he reminds her of her little brother. He tells her he has nowhere to live and she lets him live with her.
He asks her if he can use the shower and Suzanne says, “Sure.”
He asks her if he can drink some of the milk and Suzanne says, “Sure.”
He asks her if he should go out and buy the newspaper and Suzanne says, “Sure.”
He cleans the apartment while Suzanne is at work.
They sleep together and sometimes they make love. In the morning Suzanne says, “You remind me of my brother.”
Once in a while Suzanne disappears for days. She is still seeing Jean-Michel. This never stops.
A few weeks later Michael loses his job and moves back to his mother’s house on Clinton Avenue.
LUCKY STRIKE
Suzanne sees Michael at a club on 9th Street called Lucky Strike, where Madonna is a bartender. They have a few drinks. Suzanne tells him that she is sorry that she is always going back to Jean-Michel, but that she can’t help it. Michael is very sweet and gentle and just strokes her arm and says, “Yes, yes.”
Suzanne says, “You can come back and stay with me if you like.”
Michael says, “Yes, yes.”
After a few hours he leaves the bar and takes the LL subway to Brooklyn.
It is alleged by the police that Michael was writing graffiti, yet no graffiti or markers are found. Michael is
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