I had few friends in High School. I didn't have any friends until I was a Junior in High School. Most of my friends were younger than me by one or two years. When I finally graduated (another story altogether) I still spent a lot of time with my friends in High School.
There were a group of girls that were a couple of years younger than me. I knew most of them. Claire was the one I was closest to. It had been about thirty years and I had lost touch with Claire. Through a mutual friend (one of those girls by the name of Wendy) I finally got in touch with her and decided to go over to her house.
The High School that we went to was in La Verne, CA. Claire lived in Pomona, which was just south of La Verne. We had a nice talk and it was amazing to me that Claire was in many ways the same person I knew in High School. While we were talking Claire told me about another friend of ours named Patty Partin.
La Verne was a pretty small town in the early 70s, and our High School was small also. I remember Patty's sister when I started 7th grade. I think her name was Pam. Her sister and another 8th grade girl took my glasses and put makeup on the lenses. It was a way to initiate me into Middle School. Surprisingly I understood the initiation to be a good thing. I liked the attention, but I was pretty sure that they did it because they liked my older brother and wanted to get his attention. It didn't work. I thought that Pam was the most beautiful girl I had ever met, so I was sure that any chance to get to know her was pretty nil.
After I graduated from High School I had gotten a job at the bank in LA that my Mother worked for. Since I lived at home and had no or few expenses I was flush with money. I was building a nice record collection. One night after dropping by my friend Hans' house I ended up at Patty's house. These are interesting details to me since I don't recall very many specific details from that long ago (it was about 35 years ago now). Hans was at his house with some friends of his and they were involved with some, let's say unsavory activity. I wasn't invited, so I left and like I said I ended up at Patty's house.
I would guess that Patty was 16 or 17 at the time. I wasn't normally friends with Patty, and I never spent any time alone with her before or after. I assume I was alone with her, but I can't imagine why I would have gone there alone. That is the strange thing about memory. I remember being at Hans' house, and I remember being at Patty's, but I can't remember the time between.
The most memorable thing about that night wasn't Patty (by the way, I thought she was as pretty as her sister, but I believe she didn't think so). The most memorable thing was that Patty and I sat on her bed and she played David Bowie albums for me. Ziggy Stardust would have been out by then, and I bet I heard it there since I knew the album very well, but I don't think I heard it again for many years after. I did go out and buy Hunky Dory and listened to it exclusively for about 2 months every night.
I hadn't quite forgotten about Patty, but Claire had jogged my memory. Claire told me that Patty's bones may have been found in Death Valley, and that she had been involved in some cult. That was all that she remembered, but if I wanted to know more I should ask Wendy. That piqued my curiosity, so later when I was at home I emailed Wendy and asked her about Patty. Wendy told me to Google 'Nury Alexander' and 'Blue Scout'. When I did this I found the whole story. Now I won't bore you with the rest of her story. Other people have documented that much more thoroughly.
The thing is, that is not the Patty I knew. Patty was pretty much like all of the other girls I knew. She was maybe a little more starry eyed. In many ways the Patty I knew was not the same girl that lived that other life. A few years later the bones that were found in Death Valley were confirmed to be Patty. I was sad then.
Right after Claire told me about Patty I wrote this poem.
Patty Partin
where are you Patty
slip into the mist
silent now are you
or live another
life away our heart
string touch you
