Ventura Highway

Stephanie awoke at 5 a.m. when the first ray of morning light pierced the horizon in the Arizona desert.

She loved to write in the desert in the morning before her lover awoke. Mike didn’t budge when she crawled from her sleeping bag and over his body in a bag to exit the tent.

She grabbed her flashlight and note pad and sat on a rock next to the campfire which still offered heat from grey ashes with red glowing embers within.

There was enough light outside from a moon still hovering in the morning sky to write without a flashlight.

Stephanie hadn’t slept all night nor did Mike. They partied all night long. Stephanie was sore and exhausted from her bareback ride across the sand in the Arizona desert but she knew this was when her creative energies were at their peak.

She was working on an article for the entertainment section of her father’s newspaper, "The New York Times". Daddy always did her favors with his power in the newsroom. He created an assumed name for his daughter, "Corina Culler" and she wrote many critically acclaimed news stories with her fictitious name.

She tuned into her Corina psyche, picked up her Cross pen and began to write in her spiral bound notebook.

The Times editor had asked her to write a feature story on Adam Kingsley and his wife, Nanette de Jesus. Kingsley, an artistic genius from Trinidad gained national fame for creating the advertising slogan "I’m A Pepper Too" for a major soft drink company, and his wife-- a classically trained dancer, co-formed the Melvin Eulenspiegal Dance Theatre Company.

Stephanie interviewed the couple in their loft in Soho. Stephanie was surrounded by Voodoo statutes and hundreds of paintings as she entered the home with her pen and pad in hand. The couple greeted her at the door.

The elevator opened directly into the home of the artistic duo. There were no walls in their loft space, but the living area stretched for approximately one city block and the home was filled with thousands of paintings and photographs, obviously the work of Kingsley.

"I’m painting the Garden of Eden" explained Kingsley as Stephanie entered the home of the two theater legends. "I’m writing the story of the Garden of Eden," responded Stephanie with a snicker.

"We’re honored to be featured in the Arts and Leisure section," said Nanette de Jesus while smiling politely and looking every bit the part in her role as theater legend.

Stephanie remembered her father explained the story would appear in the Entertainment section, but she didn’t confess that fact to the married couple otherwise she could risk losing the interview opportunity.

Kingsley dominated the first two hours of the interview. He spoke nonstop about the accomplishments of his wife and how she was crowned the toast of Paris while serving as the opening act for Josephine Baker a few years earlier.

Finally, Kingsley grew tired of hearing himself talk and excused himself for a nap. Stephanie was left alone to interview the adored dance legend.

Stephanie asked the question: "Miss de Jesus, is it not true that the Melvin Eulenspiegal Dance Theatre Company was once called the de Jesus Eulenspiegal Dance Company?"

Miss de Jesus responded "Yes. And I have nothing further to say about the matter."

"Dare I do it?" Stephanie asked her self while she sat with her pen and pad in front of the glowing embers in the Arizona Desert while tapping the pen to the rhythm of the song "Ventura Highway".

Finally in the desert she figured out what she wanted this story to say. She didn’t have a clear statement from Miss de Jesus regarding the facts but she found the sentence she was looking for.

She started her lead with the words "Nanette de Jesus is no diva, but Melvin Eulenspiegal knows where center stage is."