[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
walked the neighborhood, usually with his guitar strapped on his back
like Johnny Guitar.
Though Jimi and Leon hadn t seen their mother in months, they
heard from Delores that Lucille had remarried on January 3, 1958. Af-
ter a very short romance, she had tied the knot with William Mitchell, a
retired longshoreman who was three decades her elder. Despite the new
marriage, it was Delores s assertion that Lucille was still occasionally
seeing Al, at least when they would bump into each other at a tavern on
Yesler they both frequented. They d run into each other there, and the
whole thing would start again, Delores recalled.
It was health issues related to drinking that prompted Lucille s
next visit with her sons. She had landed in Harborview Hospital twice
in the fall of 1957, suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. In mid-January
1958, freshly married, she was back in the hospital with hepatitis. De-
lores took Jimi and Leon to visit her. The boys were shocked by their
mother s pallid appearance in a wheelchair and by the deterioration
she d suffered since they d last seen her. She used to always look gor-
geous and glamorous, Leon said. She always wore jewelry and
smelled nice. But this time there was none of that.
R OOM F UL L OF MI R R OR S 57
Lucille hugged and kissed the boys repeatedly, and after Jimi and
Leon had left the room, she spoke to Delores alone. You know, sister,
Lucille said, I m not going to live long. I have all these kids, and I love
them, and I want to take care of them and be a good mother, but I m
not going to be able to. I m not going to make it. No matter how bad
times had been in the past, Lucille had always maintained a sunny dis-
position; Delores was shocked to hear her younger sister so downcast.
You ll be fine, Delores told her. You just take care of yourself. Lu-
cille s condition improved, and she was out of the hospital the next
week, giving hope that she was on the mend.
Years later, Jimi would write his most autobiographical song,
Castles Made of Sand, and refer to a woman in a wheelchair whose
heart was a frown. That song is about our mother, Leon said. The
song begins with a domestic spat, and the wife slams a door on her
drunken husband. Another verse tells a tale of a young boy who plays in
the woods, pretending he is an Indian chief. The crippled woman even-
tually decides to take her own life by jumping into the sea, pleading,
You won t hurt me no more, as she leaps. She lands on a golden
winged ship. Jimi ends the song with a couplet about timelessness, us-
ing the image of castles made of sand washing into the sea.
mn
TWO WEEKS AFTER her last visit with Jimi and Leon, Lucille Jeter
Hendrix Mitchell died.
Delores found out that her sister had been readmitted to the hos-
pital on February 1, when she received a call from a friend of Lucille s
who said she had been found unconscious in the alley next to a tavern
on Yesler. Delores and Dorothy Harding immediately went to Har-
borview Hospital to see her. The nurses said they didn t know what
was wrong with her, but they said she d be fine, Delores said. They
had so much going on that night that the hallways were full with shoot-
ings and knifings, and they hardly had looked at her. After the women
complained, Lucille was finally taken to a room. They waited outside,
58 C H A R L E S R . C R O S S
but by the time a doctor arrived, Lucille had died of a ruptured spleen.
They might have saved her, Delores said, but she had internal bleed-
ing, and they never got to it.
Lucille s county death certificate listed her immediate cause of
death as a splenic rupture and hemorrhage. The certificate noted con-
tributing conditions of portal hypertension and portal cirrhosis. The
portal vein carries blood to the liver; it can be compromised by cirrho-
sis, a liver disease usually caused by alcoholism. However, spleens, even
in subjects with long-term cirrhosis, rarely rupture without trauma. Lu-
cille must have either fallen or been struck for her spleen to rupture.
There was much speculation in the family as to what happened to her
outside that tavern, but the exact details were never discovered.
A friend came to the boardinghouse to tell Al the news. Jimi, who
had turned fifteen the previous fall, overheard the conversation and be-
gan to weep; Leon was only ten and was more stunned than sad. Lucille
had been taken to a funeral home in Chinatown, and Al borrowed a
truck and took the children down there. Outside the funeral home,
however, he had second thoughts about letting the boys see the body
and made them stay in the truck while he paid his last visit to a woman
with whom he had six children. Al was the only man Lucille ever
loved, Delores said. She may have gotten in with other men, but she
never loved anyone else.
Jimi cried while they waited in the truck, but Leon was stoic,
thinking that if he showed no emotion, the pain would go away. When
Al came back, he offered each boy a shot of Seagram s 7 from a flask of
whiskey in his pocket. All three Hendrix males drank good long swigs,
and Al drove them home.
The funeral was held four days later at a Pentecostal church. Al s
mother, Nora, came down from Vancouver, and about two dozen of
Lucille s friends attended. The funeral was scheduled for 2 PM on a Sun-
day. When it came time to begin, everyone was in attendance except Al,
Jimi, and Leon. The preacher held the service up, hoping they were
simply late. If Al wasn t going to come, Lucille s relatives thought, at
least he d have the decency to bring the boys. At 4 PM, two hours after
R OOM F UL L OF MI R R OR S 59
it was scheduled, the funeral finally began. The boys never showed. We
kept waiting, Delores said, and they just never came.
In his autobiography, Al explained that Jimi wanted to go to the
funeral, but Al didn t have a car, so he gave Jimi bus fare and told him,
You got the fare, so you can catch the bus. Rather than take the bus to
his mother s funeral by himself, Jimi stayed in his room weeping. We
both wanted to go, Leon recalled, but my dad wouldn t let us.
When Dorothy Harding tracked Al down later that night, she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
zanotowane.pl doc.pisz.pl pdf.pisz.pl szamanka888.keep.pl
walked the neighborhood, usually with his guitar strapped on his back
like Johnny Guitar.
Though Jimi and Leon hadn t seen their mother in months, they
heard from Delores that Lucille had remarried on January 3, 1958. Af-
ter a very short romance, she had tied the knot with William Mitchell, a
retired longshoreman who was three decades her elder. Despite the new
marriage, it was Delores s assertion that Lucille was still occasionally
seeing Al, at least when they would bump into each other at a tavern on
Yesler they both frequented. They d run into each other there, and the
whole thing would start again, Delores recalled.
It was health issues related to drinking that prompted Lucille s
next visit with her sons. She had landed in Harborview Hospital twice
in the fall of 1957, suffering from cirrhosis of the liver. In mid-January
1958, freshly married, she was back in the hospital with hepatitis. De-
lores took Jimi and Leon to visit her. The boys were shocked by their
mother s pallid appearance in a wheelchair and by the deterioration
she d suffered since they d last seen her. She used to always look gor-
geous and glamorous, Leon said. She always wore jewelry and
smelled nice. But this time there was none of that.
R OOM F UL L OF MI R R OR S 57
Lucille hugged and kissed the boys repeatedly, and after Jimi and
Leon had left the room, she spoke to Delores alone. You know, sister,
Lucille said, I m not going to live long. I have all these kids, and I love
them, and I want to take care of them and be a good mother, but I m
not going to be able to. I m not going to make it. No matter how bad
times had been in the past, Lucille had always maintained a sunny dis-
position; Delores was shocked to hear her younger sister so downcast.
You ll be fine, Delores told her. You just take care of yourself. Lu-
cille s condition improved, and she was out of the hospital the next
week, giving hope that she was on the mend.
Years later, Jimi would write his most autobiographical song,
Castles Made of Sand, and refer to a woman in a wheelchair whose
heart was a frown. That song is about our mother, Leon said. The
song begins with a domestic spat, and the wife slams a door on her
drunken husband. Another verse tells a tale of a young boy who plays in
the woods, pretending he is an Indian chief. The crippled woman even-
tually decides to take her own life by jumping into the sea, pleading,
You won t hurt me no more, as she leaps. She lands on a golden
winged ship. Jimi ends the song with a couplet about timelessness, us-
ing the image of castles made of sand washing into the sea.
mn
TWO WEEKS AFTER her last visit with Jimi and Leon, Lucille Jeter
Hendrix Mitchell died.
Delores found out that her sister had been readmitted to the hos-
pital on February 1, when she received a call from a friend of Lucille s
who said she had been found unconscious in the alley next to a tavern
on Yesler. Delores and Dorothy Harding immediately went to Har-
borview Hospital to see her. The nurses said they didn t know what
was wrong with her, but they said she d be fine, Delores said. They
had so much going on that night that the hallways were full with shoot-
ings and knifings, and they hardly had looked at her. After the women
complained, Lucille was finally taken to a room. They waited outside,
58 C H A R L E S R . C R O S S
but by the time a doctor arrived, Lucille had died of a ruptured spleen.
They might have saved her, Delores said, but she had internal bleed-
ing, and they never got to it.
Lucille s county death certificate listed her immediate cause of
death as a splenic rupture and hemorrhage. The certificate noted con-
tributing conditions of portal hypertension and portal cirrhosis. The
portal vein carries blood to the liver; it can be compromised by cirrho-
sis, a liver disease usually caused by alcoholism. However, spleens, even
in subjects with long-term cirrhosis, rarely rupture without trauma. Lu-
cille must have either fallen or been struck for her spleen to rupture.
There was much speculation in the family as to what happened to her
outside that tavern, but the exact details were never discovered.
A friend came to the boardinghouse to tell Al the news. Jimi, who
had turned fifteen the previous fall, overheard the conversation and be-
gan to weep; Leon was only ten and was more stunned than sad. Lucille
had been taken to a funeral home in Chinatown, and Al borrowed a
truck and took the children down there. Outside the funeral home,
however, he had second thoughts about letting the boys see the body
and made them stay in the truck while he paid his last visit to a woman
with whom he had six children. Al was the only man Lucille ever
loved, Delores said. She may have gotten in with other men, but she
never loved anyone else.
Jimi cried while they waited in the truck, but Leon was stoic,
thinking that if he showed no emotion, the pain would go away. When
Al came back, he offered each boy a shot of Seagram s 7 from a flask of
whiskey in his pocket. All three Hendrix males drank good long swigs,
and Al drove them home.
The funeral was held four days later at a Pentecostal church. Al s
mother, Nora, came down from Vancouver, and about two dozen of
Lucille s friends attended. The funeral was scheduled for 2 PM on a Sun-
day. When it came time to begin, everyone was in attendance except Al,
Jimi, and Leon. The preacher held the service up, hoping they were
simply late. If Al wasn t going to come, Lucille s relatives thought, at
least he d have the decency to bring the boys. At 4 PM, two hours after
R OOM F UL L OF MI R R OR S 59
it was scheduled, the funeral finally began. The boys never showed. We
kept waiting, Delores said, and they just never came.
In his autobiography, Al explained that Jimi wanted to go to the
funeral, but Al didn t have a car, so he gave Jimi bus fare and told him,
You got the fare, so you can catch the bus. Rather than take the bus to
his mother s funeral by himself, Jimi stayed in his room weeping. We
both wanted to go, Leon recalled, but my dad wouldn t let us.
When Dorothy Harding tracked Al down later that night, she [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]