Talk twenty nine.
San Francisco, 27thJanuary
- For the time being, we are in California, so let’s indulge ourselves in the social life. For the time being we are going to enjoy our stay at Terenia and John’s hospitable home.
- John again assigned me some work. We’ll have some money for some extra expenses in Mexico.
- Now, I’m going to push into you some geographical data…
- Not too much, though. I’ve got it all in the Internet!
- But now we are sitting with a glass of wine in our hands and not surfing in the Net! Just listen for a while: California is the most populated, the richest and the third biggest (after Alaska and Texas) USA state. Four biggest cities are: Los Angeles, San Diego, San José and San Francisco. We’re are staying exactly in between those two latter ones.
- As you can see it today, winter can even be severe in California: the temperature might drop down to +5°C and the rain may be really biting cold. Why did such winter have to meet us here this year?! Hopefully, it’ll end soon.
- I’d like to draw your attention to the great change in Terenia snd John’s marriage.
- Has Terenia always had such a spontaneous character and a magnitude of positive energy?
- Ever since they retired, they’ve had much more time for themselves and for one another. John has been doing a lot sports activities, playing poker tournament and is still busy with his investments which due to the current crisis gives him a lot of work. Terenia went back to her Polish profession and passion – the painting.
- Over the years she’s changed her style and I like what she paints now. Her works are really excellent.
- What do you call her painting style?
- It’s abstraction expressed as „mixed media” or combined multiple techniques.
- In spite of the crisis she sells her works, and we all know that those are not items of first necessity.
- Her paintings are impressive, and having them at home on the walls one may have unlimited artistic associations. I like them a lot and we could have a small collection of them at home.
- We can’t afford such paintings. Did you see the prices in the gallery in Sausalito, after the other side of the Golden Gate[3]?
- Indeed, Sausalito is a very interesting place situated at the opposite side of San Francisco Bay. It’s famous for very high prices and first of all for a large number of art galleries.
- Look, how we are intellectually developing in the USA. Why are the Americans said to be ignorant in many areas, especially in those concerning culture?
- As far as my needs are concerned, they are culturally advanced enough.
- We’ve been lucky to be meeting educated people, true intellectuals.
- This time, thanks to Agata’s (Terenia’s niece), who’s my age peer, we have been at many jazz concerts, opera performances, met interesting people, and among them the writer Ron Schmidt.
- Agata had told us about him as a militant activist in LGBT (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Trans-gender). The book of his life is "Once-Removed". It’s a story about significant problems in life of homosexuals in a socially advanced country.
- He writes mainly about the problem of coming-out. The elderly man would take us around and tell the history of Castro[4] neighbourhood and...
- He was slightly boring, wasn’t he?
- Eventually, he’d show us those impressive Victorian houses in another part of the city.
- It’s important to remember that Castro is one of the first, the biggest, and most known gay neighbourhoods in the United States. Ever since it got transformed from a working class in the 60s and 70s, Castro’s been a symbol and source of lesbian, gay, and transgenic (LGBT) activism, and a place of many social and political events.
- Ron urged us to buy one of those beautiful houses about which he’ d been telling us so excitedly.
- But I’m back to my story: It was in Castro where Harvey Milk was active. He got assassinated on 27 November 1978 in San Francisco. He was an American politician who became the first openly gay man to be elected to public office in California when he won a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. He became interested in politics and LGBT issues as late as at the age of 40. In 2008 a film was made based on Milk’s biography. It was awarded with two Oscars.
- Ron’d take us around all historically LGBT important places in Castro. He wouldn’t miss any!
- With respect to the elderly, please! He’d earnestly talk about all that weaving into it the story of Castro another story - his long life’s. We’ll be able to talk more about Ron when we’ve been at his place for Sunday breakfast in a month’s time, and when we’ve had more information for the talk. He’s a very special man.
- Let’s talk a bit about Nadia and Ilja – our Russian friends met in California and later on in Sankt Petersburg. They’ve lived in California for over ten years.
- We got an invitation to their residence and beautiful garden in La Honda, by the Pacific Ocean. They moved in there a year ago, so there’s lot of work to do both on the house and in the garden. But the beauty of the place is exceptional. You could make a movie here – like The Secret Garden.
- After breakfast (with champagne) I felt like going to the ocean coast to enjoy the warmth of the Californian winter.
- Enough of enjoyment. It’s time to collect our stuff for our four-month trip to Mexico.
- Almost all of our American friends keep warning us that a Mexican drug mafia kidnaps tourist for ransom. I hope that in the places where we are going to be, there aren’t problems with drugs and mafias. Besides, who would like to pay a ransom for us! The mafia would make a mistake! Fortunately, they have information who’s worth kidnapping! What happened to “the mafia” of Alek’s and his entourage?
- You’ve strongly exaggerated! First, you’d call them cortège, and now a mafia! I can hear some dislike in your voice.
- I’ve got my reasons.
- As of now, let’s put the issue aside. In our best years together we’d go with Jarek and Alek to our local clubs and discos …
- How many were they? Those clubs and discos?
- Usually one. For none was able to survive longer than a couple of months. One of them, another ephemera, was located in a former local cinema, had a graceful name Seagull. Jarek and Alek were excellent dancers and they looked great on a dancing floor. It was at Seagull where Marcin spotted Alek and fell in love with him in the first sight.
- Was it mutual?
- I wouldn’t know when it became mutual. I only remember that they became a couple pretty soon. Marcin was a medical student and Alek studied economics. Both were outstanding students. They’d live together in a student dormitory.
- Their characters were so different!
- Basically, Marcin was much more sociable, always needing people around him, and constantly arranging social events and meetings. Additionally, he was a nice chatterbox and with his personal charm, he’d quickly win friends for himself. He’d have many of them and was able to sustain contacts with all of his friends.
- I didn’t notice such qualities in Alek.
- Because he didn’t have them. But he’d submit to the atmosphere and go for the idea created by Marcin.
- What was that they would do?
- They’d initiate many events, parties, outings and regular meeting all the friends and acquaintances.
- They were, sorry, you were quite a numerous group.
- I think, Marcin and Alek, at different times, would integrate over twenty people.
- All men?
- No! There always were one or two girls.
- What were the girls for?
- The boys were able to be make friends with everybody who accepted the rules of the group. Besides, there weren’t misogynists, they didn’t feel any dislike or disgust to women.
- It seems to me that the occurrence of the girls around them was caused by something else.
- I wouldn’t like to go any deeper into this serious issue right now, but too often is this the case that a girl falls in love with a gay man being sure that she is the only chance for him to let him get out of „the problem”.
- Did the case happen here?
- It did. But it didn’t concern Marcin or Alek, but one of their close friends. With a dramatic course, usual for such cases. As this had nothing to do with me, I don’t feel in a position of talking more about it.
- Have they ever concerned you? I mean, such problems of infatuated girls?
- I’ve got an idea, let’s talk about the subject when we have got to the point in which we’ll face the story of your and my homosexuality.
- Oh, it’s going to be very serious.
- Yes, it is. We’ll introduce some chronology. Now, I’ll only make a statement that having been surrounded by many girls and then women, I’d always done my best to be sincere with them. And regardless of their expectations I’d never promised them anything and taken advantage of any situation.
- Had done your best or you’d managed to? Did they know you were gay?
- I’d give clear signals. Then it was their problem whether they still wanted to be close to me. However, I must add here that the most important thing for me was not to hurt anybody, not to do any harm to anybody or not to take any advantage of anybody. I very much hope that it was like that and nobody, but literally nobody, can make such allegations.
- You are very serious about it. Somehow it must have been an issue for you.
- That’s why it’s worth talking about it a little bit longer.
[1] Golden Gate Bridge
[2] San Francisco Castro
[3] Golden Gate Bridge
[4] San Francisco Castro
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