Monica

	Note to readers: This article is part of "Robin's Personal Memories Project"
	The information on this page is from my personal history and memories and should NOT be used for any reason other than reading enjoyment

I first met her through a mutual friend, loRRett; They worked together at a massage parlor in Berkeley. She went by "Lee" but her name was Monica. She was a lady of talent: she was an artist.

Her boyfriend was a dope dealer and he physically abused her on a regular basis. We used to joke that he would hit her because the name of the day ended in "Y".

I met with the two of them after work to discuss the idea of Lee disappearing from her condition. I told er that if she wanted to vanish, she would have to walk away from everything for several weeks. She indicated she wasn't ready to do that "right now", and went back to her life, such as it was.

We stayed in touch, having an occasional meeting for coffee.

And then her call came in.

I told her I would be parked in her driveway. Walk out the front door, take your purse and nothing else.

Lee told a story of how her boyfriend had gone out the previous night to a party. In the morning, his "stash disappeared, and she had taken it. The interrogation included being beaten with a piece of broomstick and having cigarette burns to her body. He yanked her around the house and broke her wrist. When he passed out, she called me.

I drove her to Mountain View. A stop by the local "Doc-in-the-Box"got a splint for her wrist, ointments for the burns, sleeping and pain pill prescriptions. At that time, the back bedroom in the Wyandotte house was actually a "bedroom". We fed her, gave her hot chocolate and put her to bed.

For the next few days, she would spend long periods of sleep, interrupted by a quick trip to the bathroom, the refrigerator, slam down a few pills and return to her bed. Suddenly this cycle changed: she would spend long periods of time sitting on the side of the bed, head in her hands, crying. When approached, she would wave you away.

About the fifth day, she was sitting on the edge of the bed and laughing.

I entered the room and asked if she was all right.

She looked at me and burst into all out laughter. "I am battered, beaten and burned. Where do I go to be safe? An S and M club!!"

Recovery

She spent another week trying to decide what she wanted to be and do - post boyfriend. We went to a local artists supply shop and I bought artists paints, canvasses and an easel. She would spend daylight hours sitting in the sun and drawing and painting. She decided she wanted to paint professionally. I told her I would be willing to help as I could see the talent she possessed. I loaned her a little money and we went to my bank and opened a joint account. "We" decided that her hall mark would be that every work would be branded with her name, so they became titled: "Mysterious-lee", "Dominant-lee", "Dream-a-lee" etc.

She spent another few weeks with us. I hired her for her artistic skills and she produced all of the artwork for the 1999 Chain Store catalog and artwork for many of our ads for the club and our events.

Robin's Fantasy

Robins fantasy painting

Lee also presented me with a painting entitled, "Robin's Fantasy". It hung above the fireplace mantle in my living room on Wyandotte Street in Mountain View.

It represents a scary thought that I have had for years. I would like to "adopt" two kids aged ten; one boy and one girl. I wish to home school them and teach them "EVERYTHING" I know. When they reach twenty-one of age, at which time I will turn them lose on the world.

"Robin's Fantasy" was never finished. The piece depicts me, sitting on a throne. I am a Leo, a sun sign. My extended right hand was to depict me releasing two doves to the sky; one with a blue ribbon, the other a pink ribbon.

That painting was lost to me in 2018, but I still have a photo of it. I still maintain that fantasy.

Aftermath

About two months after "her rescue", she contacted the boyfriend to pick up some of her belongings. He did the, "I love you, Baby, and I will never hurt you like that again," routine.

Another month went by and she moved back in with him.

About a week later. I got a call from the Emeryville Police. It seems her body was found in the in the salt marshes where highways 880 and 80 merge, right next to the entrance to the San Francisco Bay Bridge. She was nude, wrapped with barb wire. She had drug injected into her and then wrapped in a blanket.

I believe she was murdered - she was afraid of needles.

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