EMMA, THE LIFE OF ONE WOMAN

Emma, when I met her, had a very impressive family name.  It was the same name as that of a great British statesman.  She had picked it out for herself when she was about eight.  She did not like the name with which she was registered as it sounded very drab to her.  Moreover, it was not even her real name.  She never knew who her father was.  Her mother had had several men in her life concurrently when she was conceived, and nobody claimed paternity for her.

Emma’s mother did not even make an attempt determine who had fathered her.  Any family name was just a temporarily expedient.

Everyone that looked at this bright, charming, young girl quickly put a smile on his or her face, especially the men.  Emma enjoyed this.  She loved attention from men and tried hard to please them.  It was apparent to her that this made them happy, and she found that she too enjoyed the teasing and playfulness.

The lesson she learned early on was that to make men happy, give them what they want.  And when men enjoy being with you, they will say nice things, give you nice presents, and seek you out from among the other girls.

When, at the age of fifteen, she went to live with a middle-aged wrestler, she was no longer a virgin.  She never even remembered when she lost this status and identification.  She was never surprised by the things men wanted her to do.  She would do  everything and anything they asked, and she derived a degree of pleasure in playing out their games.

This wrestler had a rubber fetish.  He wanted her to wear rubber underwear.  They slept on a bed that had latex sheets.  They lived in London, on the fourth floor of an ancient building whose windows faced out on a busy street.  He asked her to wear  just an open raincoat over her naked body, and to go down on the street and walk back and forth while he watched her from the window.

She would let the breeze play with the garment, exposing parts of her body.  They both enjoyed this thrill.

After about a year of indulging his fetish, the wrestler left London for the continent to pursue his career.  Emma went back to her mother.

Her mother advised her to learn a trade, as she would someday have to fend for herself as she could not always depend on the "kindness" of men.  Emma agreed, and went to work in a garment factory learning to use a sewing machine.  Right from start the foreman noticed the quick learning, friendly girl who was working so efficiently.  Soon thereafter she moved in with him, making the rest of the women workers jealous, and making the work place uncomfortable.  But, she did learn a good deal about sewing, and decided to pursue this trade for awhile.   

Emma desired to make something of herself beyond being a seamstress.  She was ambitious and clever.  When the good charitable ladies, who tried to help young people to better their lives, suggested that Emma try something new, like becoming a nanny to some well-to-do family, she agreed.  They soon found a position for her in far off America, on the East Coast, near Boston.  The household consisted of a a doctor,  his wife who had just given birth to a little girl, and two teen-age boys. 

It was a good sounding proposition.  It had the promise of life in a new country, fair pay, and the chance to be useful.  And so she came to America, found everything as promised, and became a caregiver for the young child.  It didn't take long, however, for her to also become a sexual partner with all three men; the father and the two teen-age boys.

She found the arrangement to be pleasant and fun.  She took care of all the household details, helped raise the child, and pleased the men and herself - until the lady of the house found out, paid her off, and sent her away.

She had decided to go back to England, but she hesitated as she liked America.  Life was so much easier here.  She made up her mind to stay a little while longer, and to save up some money so she could be independent.

She found a good paying job in a garment factory, and decided this time to stay away from the men in the factory.  But, it did not work out.  She was too attractive, too sensual, and soon a scandal broke out again, and she was fired.

Depressed, Emma went alone to a movie house and saw a film about San Francisco with it’s free, bright, young people.

This was for her.  She made up her mind, and made her way to the City by the Golden Gate.  She found a hotel that she could just barely afford, bought a newspaper, and started to look for work.

She soon found an advertisement for a seamstress to work in a drapery shop.  The owner, a handsome bachelor, not only hired her immediately, but he took her to a fancy restaurant for dinner, and showed her the sights of the city.  He also took her home to his place, and to his bed.

It was all very pleasant and exciting.  They both genuinely liked each other.  The employer, a polished European gentleman, was fascinated  by this free unfettered  girl-woman, so willing to please, and making no demands on him.

She was impressed with him, his nice home, the way he treated her gently,  and with great respect and dignity.

They found a suitable apartment for her, very near to the drapery shop.  This complex was full of young single people.  There was even a swimming pool and a built in hot tub.

She found life in this city to be highly satisfying.  Since she didn’t display any jealousy, her boss who was a great "lady’s man," was able to indulge himself with other young, and sometimes famous women – spending time with her only when it was convenient.   She lived well, and thoroughly learned the drapery trade.  Soon, with her keen mind and common sense, she was running this establishment.

Most nights she was alone.  She met, and befriended, some of the other tenants, mostly male,  in this apartment complex.  She wrote many letters to her mother, sent her gifts, and sometimes money.  All was well in her world.

Until one morning.  She franticly phoned her boss to come and take her to the hospital.  She said that she had fallen down in the street, and that she had suffered many cuts and scrapes, and that she was bleeding.

He found her in her apartment, disheveled, bleeding, and black eyed.  Her body was scratched and etched as if someone had done it with a piece of broken glass, or the sharp edge of a knife.

He thought that she couldn’t possibly be in such a condition if she had fallen fully clothed in the street.  He observed that her garments were still hanging in their places, and he concluded that some perverted sadistic person must have cut her that way in her own apartment, and that she must have been having some sort of sexual relationship outside of "their arrangement."

He took her to the hospital and left her there.  And this was the end of their friendship and relationship.  She was soon paid off, and her job was terminated.  He thought that she had become a dangerous person to have around. 

She found another job, also for a drapery maker.  This shop was owned by a delicate, pale young man.  His father had died, and left him to take care of his possessive mother, and to run this well established business.

She found her niche.  She was needed to help this sometimes clueless and helpless young man.  By this time she knew the trade very well, and she took over completely;  maintaining and improving an already successful business.

She also began to teach her nominal boss about the more exciting things in life.  He was probably still a virgin at that time, and he fell in love with this charming and experienced young woman.

But she still kept up her various relationships with with other men in her apartment complex.  Of course, nothing of this was mentioned to her employer/boy friend.  

In an intimate moment she whispered the good/bad news in the ear of her boss that she was pregnant with his child.  She said that she hadn't had any relationships with any other man; surely not since she met him.

He did the only natural thing to do.  He proposed marriage, and she was married in a white dress in a quiet family ceremony.

She was happy and felt secure.  They had a pleasant home, nicely furnished.  Her belly grew, the business grew, and after about seven months, a boy was born, and she named him Gregory.

The child was blond, blue eyed, although both parents had dark hair.  She explained this fact by telling everyone that all her relatives in England were, indeed, blond and blue eyed.

And at last, tranquility came to her for a time.  This was the end of the infamous Height-Asbury days, and the beginning of the heyday of the now famous Castro district.

As Gregory grew he began to show traits of revolt.  It was impossible to keep him in school.  He began to earn money as a "donkey" – delivering drugs from the dealers to the clients.  Eventually, he became a dealer himself, and his parents lost all control of their son.

Emma was embarrassed.  She became morose and bitter.  She also put on weight, and lost her smile.  She left her husband, opened her own shop, but in her state of mind she couldn’t make a success of the business.

She was not surprised when the police came into her place and asked her to follow them to the station and identify a man  who had overdosed on drugs.  She immediately identified the man as Gregory.  She had his body cremated, and the ashes put in a brass urn that she kept in her bedroom.

From then on, her life became unbearable.  She began to hate the city that she felt robbed her of her son.  She could not stand to be around people.  She realized that she must get away, that she needed to start a new  life, and to do something useful.

Her mother was in England, in a charitable old people’s home.  That was no way for her to end up.  She must rescue her, and make her old age a little more pleasant.

She gave her business to an assistant and prepared to go home.

Before leaving she visited her doctor to pick up her medical records, x-rays, and everything pertaining to her health.  The Doctor examined her for the last time, found her perfectly healthy, and promised her a long pleasant life.

With one suitcase and her son’s ashes, she departed for the place of her birth and her childhood.

Good-bye sweet, charming, sensual, still beautiful Emma.  Hope you have found peace.