Page 87 of And Still Her Voice
On the ride home, I thought about what I’d just witnessed. My takeaway, besides the police scare, was that the whole sceneat the coffee shop reminded me of the women of Diggers doing the same work while the dudes took all the credit. And it wasn’t just the white man. The Spanish took from the Tongvas and the Mexicans. George had taken from my grandmother and my family. Men throughout history just took from women what they wanted, lording their power over anyone who might have seemed weaker. And then I thought about my role in the band. The lyrics I’d written, the song’s I’d scored—all the credit going to a dude. That would have to change if I were to ever go back.
***
John called from New York just before Christmas to see when I was coming back. They missed their “girl.” Rather, they needed someone to make coffee, write their songs, and clean up after them. Besides, Duncan had left the band and they needed me, John said, and the new albumBumpy Roads Livewas coming out, an album with a few of the songs I’d written. They were to begin their 1970 tour at the Fillmore East in New York and needed me for vocals and keyboards and some studio time to overdub. In other words, they needed me to clean up someone else’s mess, again.
I’d go back, but I wanted to see some changes. John assured me there would be. It was also an excuse for me to leave home again. I flew out before the New Year, but I told my family I’d be back in February for a couple of concerts coming up in California.
***
The day after the February 23, 1970, concert in San Francisco, Patty went into labor. I flew into Los Angeles to meet my new niece who was beautiful as far as newborns go. I’d picked up some flowers in the hospital gift shop.
“What’s her name?” I asked, placing the flowers into a plastic water glass.
“Lindsay Teresa. Teresa after Mom.”
“Nice.”
“Yeah, hopefully, that will soften Mom up a bit—welcome me back into the fold like you,” Patty said.
“Really? So, I’m the prodigal daughter and I didn’t even have to give her a grandchild? Groovy.”
We both laughed.
“I’m not so sure about the name Lindsay, but Teresa is definitely a saint’s name.”
She nodded. “And she should be happy that we finally got married, so we wouldn’t bring a ‘bastard’ into the world.”
I laughed. “Congratulations on both accomplishments.”
“Someday we’ll take that honeymoon to Hawaii and stay in that pink hotel,” Patty said.
“The Royal Hawaiian?”
“Yes, and lay out at the pool and order buckets of Mai Tais.”
I wished that for her. Even though my sister lived in a fantasy world with no clue about how the real world worked, who was I to judge? We’d both learn what we needed to know as we took our different paths along our life journeys.
“That does sound like a dream,” I said and then kissed baby and mother before saying goodbye.
“How long are you sticking around this time?” she asked.
“I’m not sure, but I’ll come visit.”
***
That evening I met up with Teddie. Chilly, sitting out on her porch, she shivered. “It’s just nerves,” she told me. “Tomorrow is going to be a big day.”
They were getting ready for the march the next day and expected thousands of protestors. “There’s so much that can go wrong.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a part of trouble.
“Remember how I told you there was a plan in place. A letter got sent to the Berets telling them that the women and some of the younger men have resigned.”
“Seriously?” I asked.
“Yeah, we let them know how we felt that we were treated as less than nothing.”
“Way to go, prima! Way to stand up for yourselves and fight.”
