“The forecast calls for showers and thundershowers most of the day,” Valia said.
“Great, let’s pass on the shower and head out for the day,” Greta replied, digging deep into a bag to pull out a pair of baseball caps. “For your head, for you head,” Greta said as if Valia did not know what they were for.
“Oh this is going to be a fun day,” Valia replied as she selected the clothes for them to wear.
Greta decided to drive. On the way out she stopped at a Sports Authority where she purchased two hooded raincoats in bright yellow before they headed over to the first stop of the day, Starbucks. With a latte in hand, she then drove to the Botanic Gardens. They parked the car, finished their lattes in the car, donned their raincoats and strolled through the front gate. After paying the price of admission, Greta headed down the children’s secret path to begin the visit. “We look like little school girls in these raincoats, so it seems appropriate,” she laughed.
Due to the inclement weather, the site was not the least bit crowded. Greta could see that Valia was overwhelmingly happy. “Are you sure you are not a plant on your world?” she asked. Valia just smiled and reached down to grab a handful of soil at the Soil Station. She brought it to her nose and inhaled deeply. “I love the smell of Earth,” Valia said, offering Greta a smell.
“That does smell marvelous, but it is making me horny,” Greta laughed.
“Everything makes you horny.”
From this area they moved along to the next attraction. The walkways were gardens in themselves with various themes. They were walking along the El Pomar Waterway when they received their first greeting from the Mexican needle grass. “You are both so beautiful you could live in these gardens,” they said.
“It’s a cinch everyone else in the garden knows we are coming,” Greta giggled.
In the Romantic Gardens, they were greeted quietly by one plant species after another. Greta found the greeting from the containers of angel’s trumpets delightful, sounding like a quiet concert of trumpets.
There was a break in the weather long enough to allow the sun to peak out as they moved through Anna’s overlook, but that ended as quickly as it began before the rain started to fall again.
They spent most of the day slowly moving along one walk after another on the way to the next garden, the rain turning on and off at times allowing the sun to peak through. It was in the Water Garden that Valia started humming a tune Greta had never heard before. When the water lily’s joined in she knew it was a new tune Valia was composing. When they entered the Tropical Conservatory, as was the case the first time Greta took Valia to a conservatory in Chicago, the wash of moist, humid air overwhelmed them, along with the wealth of oxygen and the simultaneous greeting from each of the thousand plus species in the building. After spending enough time to see everyone in the building, Valia once again began humming the tune she started in the Water Garden, only now it was much more refined, and once the vast number of species joined in to accompany her, it was like listening to an alien symphony, dreamy, hypnotic, and you could dance to it. “My Misty World,” Valia said, “I will let you add the lyrics.”
“I will with a little help from my friends, and soon,” Greta replied.
Just then, they heard someone clapping their hands before a woman’s voice shouted “Bravo.” Walking out from behind a tree was a middle age woman with long dark hair, wearing what appeared to be a man’s sport coat that was obviously too large for her since she had the sleeves thoroughly cuffed up, and under that a long white button down shirt. She was barefoot, and after seeing Janis barefoot in San Francisco, Greta wondered if this applause was from the beyond as well.
“You’re looking at my bare feet,” the woman said, “I like to feel them in the earth, get a bunch of it up under my nails, reminds me of where this will end up one day,” she said touching her body.
“You look so darn familiar, have we met?” Greta asked.
“You know I had a feeling that we’d meet before you ever broke into that utterly amazing tune, which I find hard to believe was being done solely by voice, but there ain’t no band around that I can see.” “My name is Patti, Patti Smith.”
“Of course, how stupid of me, we saw you perform in D.C. this summer,” Greta replied. “I am Greta, and this is Valia.”
“Hi, pleasure to meet you.” Patti said. “You must let me cover that song if you ever record it, I mean that was such an amazing sound.”
“Yeah, well I have to put lyrics to it first,” Greta replied feeling somewhat overwhelmed by Patti’s presence.
“Not lyrics my dear, think poetry instead, your thoughts, your dreams, your life experiences getting all twisted up inside and coming out as artistic babble, that is a much better approach.”
“Oh, I’ve read your work, and I could never write like that,” Greta said.
“Sure you can,” Patti replied, “it just has to come from here,” she said touching Greta’s heart, “through here,” she continued touching her head. “How long did it take Valia to write that incredible tune?”
“Exactly fifteen earth minutes and seventeen seconds,” Valia smiled.
“Wow.”
The three of them left the tropical building together, discussing art, and music, politics and the earth. Patti was genuinely happy to be in the presence of the twins, especially after hearing they had been in D.C. at the demonstration. “There is a definite change taking place in this country, I cannot quite put a finger on it, but in the past few weeks, it is happening,” Patti said. “People are waking up, finally, after being brain dead fucking asleep for the past seven years.”
“Yes, we had noticed, nice to know we had a little something to do with it,” Greta smiled.
“If you really want to make a difference, follow that dream and make that musical career happen,” Patti said. “There is no better way to reach the masses, and it is such an awesome feeling being onstage.”
“We will,” Valia replied.
“When will we see a Patti Smith room at the Hotel Monaco?” Greta asked.
“Haaaa,” Patti laughed, “that’ll be the day.”
“You never know, if enough of us Hotel Monaco regulars insist,” Greta smiled.
They joined Patti for the rest of the stroll through the gardens and walks barefoot. “The earth does feel good between the toes,” Valia laughed.
“Yeah,” Patti and Greta laughed.
They offered her a ride, but she was with others who were around somewhere. “We live in New York, and I know you are there often, so please, look us up,” Greta said.
“I will, I promise.” Patti smiled. “If you are in New York in December I am doing a lot of stuff all month.”
“We will try to be there, I love the place so much, but our work seems to have us traveling a lot lately,” Greta replied.
They hugged and bid each other goodbye.
“I was serious about doing that cover,” Patti smiled as she walked through the wet grass to search for her friends.
Valia drove back to the hotel slowly. “It’s been such a marvelous day, let’s do something you would like to do.” Valia said.
“I want to go dancing,” Greta replied.
The twins returned to the hotel to relax and shower the day away. “I wish there was a way to keep the mud between my toes,” Valia laughed.
It was still raining out, so they ordered a California Pizza, Italian Tomato and Basil. Greta opened the door to pay for the pizza nude. The delivery girl was not shocked at all, “That will be twenty-one seventy-five,” the girl said.
Greta handed her a fifty-dollar bill and told her to keep the change.
“Thanks, but seeing you was tip enough,” she smiled.
“I am Greta, that is Valia, it is a pleasure.” Greta said.
“I am Bonnie, truly, the pleasure was mine,” she replied.
“Bonnie, is there a dance club you would recommend where we can go, we’re rather new to Denver.”
“W
ell let’s see, if you want to be ogled by guys staring through multi level glass dance floors, then it would be Club Purple. “If you want a good large unpretentious club, Bash is it. “If you just want to grab a drink and dance til you drop, my choice would be The Snake Pit.”
“We don’t have anything against snakes,” Greta smiled. “Come join us, we’ll buy you a drink.”
“Thanks,” Bonnie replied before heading to the elevator.
Shortly after midnight, the twins headed to The Snake Pit. It was still raining out, so they wore their yellow raincoats. When they arrived at the front door, the doorman took one look at them and waved them past without a cover charge. “Those little girl raincoats do it for me every time,” he laughed.
There was a fairly large crowd for a very rainy weekday. The twins took off their raincoats to check them, revealing the thin cotton extended length fuchsia tank tops there were wearing, tank tops and nothing more but the Keen clogs on their feet. They went directly to the dance floor and danced for an hour continuously, attracting admirers of both sexes.
Valia noticed Bonnie arrive with three female friends, so they left the dance floor long enough to say hello.
“Hello,” Greta said dripping with sweat. “I promised you a drink.”
“Yes you sure did,” Bonnie smiled.
Greta told the bartender to put all of their drinks for the evening on her tab. “There you go, I believe you call it out west, “barkeep, drinks on the house.”
“Thank you, that is very generous of you,” Bonnie said, introducing her friends. “Nina is a photographer, I was telling her how photogenic the two of you were.”
“Really?” Valia replied.
“Have you ever done any modeling, I mean erotic modeling?” Nina asked.
“Yes, as a matter of fact we have,” Greta replied. “Why, what did you have in mind?”
“Well, Bonnie was right, the two of you are quite an eyeful, would you consider a shoot while in town?” Nina asked.
The twins took a brief stroll to discuss it amongst themselves. “Let’s agree, only if we can get covered in earth, between our toes, in tall grass, it’s been raining so hard that should be a possibility just about anywhere in the country.” Greta said.
“Let’s.” Valia smiled.
They returned and explained the conditions they wanted to shoot under. Nina rejoiced in agreement and scheduled the shoot for the following morning, before things had a chance to dry out too much.
Well, if we are going to have to look our best to get all dirty tomorrow, we are going to call it a night, thanks for the suggestion Bonnie, this is a nice club.” Greta said. “Will you be around for the shoot in the morning?”
“I wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Bonnie smiled.
They exchanged phone numbers, said their goodbyes, collected their yellow raincoats, and strolled out the front door. The rain had stopped, so they decided to walk for a few blocks taking in the fresh air before they disappeared from the dark street they were on and reappeared in their hotel room. “We weren’t really planning on leaving today were we?” Valia asked.
“Nope, there is another Botanical location to visit before we do.”
As they settled into each other for the night, Greta remarked at how she thought their current hair color would match a muddy shoot perfectly.
“Yes, but I think a little length in the tail department is in order don’t you think?” Valia laughed.
“Coiffe us baby,” Greta giggled as they experimented with their pubic hair lengths.
Chapter 29
Why Are They Called Stars?
The phone rang just after seven in the morning. “Howdy,” Greta answered sleepily.
“Hello, this is Nina, I hope I didn’t wake you up?” she asked.
“Oh, you beat our alarm clock by about ten minutes, good morning,” Greta replied.
“I have fabulous news, a few friends will let us do the shoot on the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge which is gorgeous,” Nina said. “It is actually closed to the public while they fix a problem, they used to make chemical weapons there, but we will be able to have our shoot, unbothered.”
“Sounds great, where and when?” Greta asked.
“If you don’t mind, we will send a vehicle for you, an SUV, that will take you there and bring you back to the city.” Nina replied. “How does nine sound for picking you up?”
“Nine it is, see you then.” Greta answered and hung up.
“Valia, darling, guess what?” Greta sang.
“We are going to see life that is wild as we get wild in the mud,” Valia smiled.
“Dah.”
Greta ordered a pot of coffee and some nine grain toast sent up. She needed a kick before she had the driver picking them up stop at a Starbucks on the way to the Refuge.
They were waiting in the lobby when the driver entered through the front door precisely at nine. There were two Ford Escape Hybrids waiting at the curb. Nina got out of the vehicle in which the twins would ride, the other was for her equipment and a few staff members.
“You both look so magnificent,” Nina said. “If we are really lucky, we will have some wildlife as a backdrop.”
“Sounds exciting,” Valia replied.
“So this place was once a facility that manufactured poison gas?” Greta asked.
“Yes, I would not be the least bit surprised to hear it is closed because of an unsafe condition, but where we are going has been open to the public for years and is safe.”
Nina went on to describe the area they were going to and the shoot. She worked very differently from Henri, and her work was not going to be online, at least not any further than reviews and her own personal website. “No, this work will be shown in a gallery there in Denver, then on to New York and finally London.” Nina said.
“Marvelous,” Valia smiled.
The forecast called for partly sunny skies with a chance of thunderstorms, so the twins were wearing nothing but their raincoats and hiking boots.
The first location they set up at was an area covered by waist to shoulder height grassland that was pretty muddy to walk through because of more than a day of rain. The area afforded a tree-lined backdrop about a half mile away. Between the shoot and the tree line were six buffalo grazing.
“Magnificent,” Greta said. “Let’s not delay, on with the show.”
“Where have I heard that before?” Valia laughed.
One of Nina’s assistants took their raincoats and boots before the twins strolled hand in hand into the grass. “It’s nice and muddy,” Valia smiled wiggling her toes in it. They moved through a huge number of poses in the grass. When they came to a small clearing, there was a shallow puddle they started to frolic in, eventually becoming covered in wet earth. The buffalo seemed a little spooked by their presence, so Valia JTIKED them to remain where they were. After being covered in mud drying on their naked bodies, the twins decided to walk over to the buffalo against the judgment of Nina and her crew, who had no idea they were actually communicating with the bison. “Go for it Nina,” Greta shouted as they posed with the bison, who were happy to be of assistance.
We’re fed well here and all, one of the bison said, but I preferred Montana.
Not me, another said, this one a female, I love it here, all the visitors makes it more interesting.
Yeah, humans are okay when they are not hunting us to extinction, another said.
The twins went into a beautiful series of poses in the midst of these large noble creatures, Nina’s shutter capturing it all.
“Well, that was nothing short of amazing,” Nina said. “It was as if you could actually communicate with the bison.”
“They are really friendly creatures,” Valia replied.
“Well, I could shoot you all day, I had planned on finishing up at a grassy creek, and still can if you are interested.”
“We would rather not immerse ourselves in the water here, it is the reason for the closure,” Valia r
eplied.
“I thought that was top secret?” Nina asked.
“A little birdie told us so,” Greta giggled.
They made it back to the vehicles where the crew had hot soaking wet towels available for the twins to wipe away most of the dried mud on their bodies. They then slipped back under their raincoats and into their boots before climbing into their vehicles and driving back to the hotel.
There was no JTIK performed on Nina’s work. They were sure it was going to speak powerfully enough on it’s own artistic merit. When they pulled up at the hotel, Nina handed Greta a check for ten thousand dollars for their time.
“Here, put the money towards cleaning up that refuge, it still needs a lot of work,” Greta smiled. “Make sure we get invited to your New York opening.”
“But of course,” Nina replied.
They hugged and said their goodbyes. “Bonnie, if you are ever in New York, look us up,” Greta said.
“I just might take you up on that someday,” Bonnie replied.
The twins turned and headed into the hotel getting a few strange looks from customers and staff, having some mud still caked in their hair.
“Shower or bath?” Greta asked.
“First a shower, than a long hot bath,” Valia grinned.
It was early afternoon when they climbed out of the tub. Valia always marveled at how the skin on her hands wrinkled when in hot water for a lengthy period. Greta started singing an Interpol song as she stood at the window looking down on the scene below, “This could be destiny, Oh sweetheart, I’ve had no sense of time, Since we started, I got friends in need, Oh sweetheart, I’d go lengths and lengths and lengths of love, Since we started this thing now.”
Valia joined in the chorus, “Combat salacious removal, Combat salacious removal.”
“Lay it on me sweet pea, what’s on your mind?” Greta asked.
“Whenever I hear Interpol I think of New York.” Valia replied.
“Yeah, me too.” Greta said. “You know it is a week until the Awards show, and it’s like only 1800 miles, I mean from here to Vegas is like half way there. Sure would be a long drive though.”
Immaculate Fetish Page 27