The Stories
The many stories Mikki and Minnie shared with me over the next couple of years were always interesting and always about other people – or so they said. I never challenged them on that point, but I believe at least some of the stories were personal.
For instance, Mikki told the story of a working girl’s experience as a prisoner at New York’s Rikers Island. Her emotions were so seriously engaged on that occasion that I’m quite sure the Rikers Island story was autobiographical. In THE GAME, I assign that story to my character, Sheila, a former prostitute and now a school teacher. The dialog in that scene is a close match to Mikki’s narrative.
“Me, Neither!”
In addition to their stories, Mikki and Minnie had an expansive sense of humor about their profession. This was often expressed through their “Me, neither!” jokes. Here’s an example:
“Did you hear about the hooker who wanted to be called a sex worker?”
“No!”
“Me, neither!”
To the best of my knowledge, this style of humor was original with them. I gave several “Me, neither!” jokes to my characters, Ginny and Molly, in THE GAME.
Gussie and Sallie
From time to time, Mikki and Minnie would introduce me to colleagues in the sex trade. Among the most memorable were two elderly ladies named Gussie and Sallie. Apparently, in their heyday, Gussie and Sallie had been legendary in New York City as “preppy party girls.”
They specialized in servicing trust-fund boys from New England’s most “exclusive” private schools – Andover, Exeter, Choate, Groton, Hotchkiss, and so on. Gussie and Sallie could rattle off a litany of thirty or forty schools on cue. They did this for me – in alphabetical order – with very little coaxing from Mikki and Minnie.
Then they rhapsodized about that business – Gussie, then Sallie, then Gussie again.
“Those boys were the best trade we ever had – pockets jammed with ‘bens’ and they didn’t mind lining up.”
“And you should have seen our apartment! Banners and pennants plastered all over the place!”
“And school ties! We had ‘em hanging everywhere! Couple of football trophies, too!”
(Incidentally, if anyone has more information about Gussie and Sallie, they can contact me by email: the-game-novel@earthlink.net. I believe G & S were active in New York City in the 1950s and ‘60s. I expect there may be a few aging preppies out there who could offer comment – privacy assured, of course.)
Summary
Candidly, I would describe my relationship with Mikki and Minnie as superficial. I don’t think it could have been otherwise. But I took their stories seriously, and that hasn’t changed over time.
They often said things like, “We get to see a lot of people naked, and we don’t just mean with their clothes off.” Ideas like that were central in my mind as I was writing THE GAME.