While Kelz and I were living together, Brod was one of the few people she told me about that I could tell actually existed. I didn't believe her about the people from NA who were meeting at our apartment. I didn't believe Aard was trying to date her. I didn't believe that her ex-boyfriend from Iowa had moved to San Diego and found her. But I could tell that Brod was real, even though I never saw any evidence that she was hanging out with him.
I should detail that at this time, El Cajon Blvd. was known as a hotbed for prostitution. I can recall walking down the street in the late afternoon and seeing several women on street corners dressed in a provocative fashion. This had been going on for years. I remember seeing one woman who was clearly offering her wares. I could hear a couple of young men a few yards behind her discussing what she was doing. She looked like she was about to start crying.
About a month after I kicked Kelz out of the apartment, she called and told me that there was some stuff of hers still in my apartment that she needed me to get for her. She asked me to bring the stuff to her room at the Berkshire Hotel on El Cajon Blvd. The hotel had the reputation of being THE place for prostitutes to stay overnight and bring clients in. I would be leaving for work around 4:30am. She said she would still be awake at that time and to bring the stuff then. She gave me the room number.
I arrived and knocked on the door. She answered it. When she opened the door, Brod was in the room. I looked at him. He was a black man around 40 years old. He was clearly her pimp. He didn't say anything, but he was giving me the "evil eye." I tried hard not to appear threatened. Kelz came outside and followed me to my car. I opened the trunk and handed her the stuff she requested. She said she'd had a hard night working and was glad it was over so she could get some sleep. She embraced me before she went back into the room. I held her for just a little bit. I was very sad.
About a week later, there was something she needed and she asked me to come see her. She was going to be working on El Cajon Blvd. that night. She told me the intersection. She was there with another woman and Brod was a few yards away. While Kelz was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, you couldn't really tell that she was there as a prostitute. We talked for a little bit, but that was it. She had to get back to work. There was no embrace this time.
A few weeks later, Abed
had a performance scheduled at a coffee shop called Millennium in North Park. He was going to open for the person whose CD release show Kelz I and went to where she disappeared. I invited Kelz to come see the show. She arrived, but she brought Brod with her. I didn't know that was going to happen. Normally, I could have dealt with this, but they were acting like boyfriend/girlfriend and it was really upsetting to me. I didn't stick around for the headliner. Later, Kelz apologized for bringing Brod. She said that they stayed around after the show and Brod spoke to the headliner a little bit. I guess he enjoyed it.
Kelz still came to the apartment from time to time. Once during an afternoon visit, she asked if she could take a nap. I allowed her to lay down on the portable mattress in the living room. Another time, she came over in tears, claiming that Brod had struck her. I let her stay with me that night. I didn't know what else to do. The next day, she just went back to him.
However, I continued to get involved in the relationship between her and Brod, in ways I never expected.
Coming up on Monday, a slight break from the Kelz story, but it still ties in.
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