[jdviole2]

This is a story about Helena's close exposure to the seamy side of life. During those first three weeks when we were getting to know each other Helena asked a million questions about Naples. I told her everything I thought would interest her. All the things to see and do. It wasn't enough. I don't know who she had been talking to but she wanted to know everything about the parts of Naples where nice american girls didn't go. She wanted all the dirt on the bars, the con men, and the hookers. All the people a navy man would meet on a night out. Naples is not that much different from most "navy" towns. The area around the fleet landing is filled with bars, dealers, hookers and other oportunities for sailors to lose what little money they had. I told her about the "hey Joes", those are the guys that will sell you authentic 1000 dollar watches for twenty bucks. Watches that stop running in a couple of days. I told her about the bars and the "B" girls that work there getting guys to pay for champagne (and get served ginger ale). I told her about all the different people that come out at night. And I told her about the hookers. Now I was homeported there. We were permanently stationed on a ship in the harbor for 3 and a half years. So we got to know the people of the night and they got to know us. I told Helena all the dirty secrets I had, and I had quite a few of all types. Lets just say I was no alter boy. She told me that when we were married all that would stop. (That was not a question it was an empahatic statement). I assured her it would. She then told me that until we got married she wouldn't ask what I had done and would trust me to take precautions against disease or whatever. A truly amazing woman. And to answer your question, NO I did not continue my wild ways after we got engaged. I saved myself for marriage. So corny. So we get married. Two months later she comes over with her mom to visit the German relatives. Then she comes down to Naples to stay with me for three weeks. We saw all the sights (there and in Rome), ate lots of good Italian food, and had a lot of fun. She spoke no Italian but every day while I was at work she would go out and see parts of the town. (She became addicted to Gelato, Italian Ice Cream and had a special store she went to almost every day). After about two weeks we were talking about all we had done and seen. I asked her if we had missed anything. You guessed it. She wanted to see the night life around fleet landing. I had only been married a few months but already could recognize when I was going to lose an argument. So that night we hit the town. I took her to the bar I used to frequent. We had only been there a few minutes when there was a police raid. The bar girls grabbed Helena and I and took us into their dressing area in a back room. (I used to enjoy this privilege myself) The italian police never checked the back room. Helena was fascinated. The lights in the room were very bright and you could see just how old these "girls" were. The bar lights are so dim that they all look pretty young. However I know that one of them that I sat with occasionally, was in her mid fifties. Then she wanted to see the hookers. They don't frequent the main streets but fill the alleys. (Many of them are housewifes that hook at night, taking their customers into the family bed while the husband, parents, and kids sit in the next room with only a curtain between) Some of the girls recognized me and were suspicious of Helena, thinking she was someone trying to muscle in on their business. (She was dressed, as always, in a very short skirt) I introduced her and explained who she was. They welcomed her as one of their own. We spent about half an hour talking with one group (of course they all spoke English). While we were there Helena was asked by three marines how much she would charge for all three. (She really got a kick out of that). Then just before we went back to the hotel, she asked me if there were any good looking hookers in Naples. (most of the girls/women were OK but not what you would call beautiful). So I took her a couple of blocks further away from fleet landing and up a different alley. Here the hookers are spectacular looking. Elegantly dressed. When they saw we were together they didn't bother us and we just walked the alley and then headed back to the hotel. As we were taking the funicular railway back up the hill Helena asked me, very puzzled, why none of those girls talked to us. And finally asked me flat out if I had ever been with one of them. I told her no and it was a good thing for her. She asked why. I finally told her it was because the girls weren't, girls. I had taken her up the alley with the transvestite hookers. She really impressed me that night. She took the whole experience so calmly. She had a good time. She bravely walked the streets and alleys and never showed any signs of nervousness. She joined in conversation with the hookers like she was "one of the girls". For a girl from the midwest she showed a sophistication I would never have expected. A few weeks after Helena returned to the states, I was back at "my" bar. The bartender was telling me that the girls had talked about how much they liked my wife and that they hoped she would come back to visit again sometime. She never forgot that night and would talk about it frequently. Todays first picture is Helena in front of Mann's Chinese in Hollywood. She was there to measure her hands against those of the stars. The second is another "resting on the trail" shot from Colorado from the 70's or 80's. Third is Helena exiting a prehistoric cliff dwelling in Arizona in the late 70's. The fourth picture shows Helena coming up from the Bandera Volcano Ice Cave. Bandera is a privately owned volcano in New Mexico. Under the volcano is a cave filled with ice the year around. This was in 1979. The next picture shows Helena at our friends house in Denver playing with one of the family cats. Probably around the mid 80's. The last shot is from the mid 70's but I don't remember where it was taken.