Just Kids

After moving out of their loft, Mapplethorpe and Smith stay living in walking distance of each other. Mapplethorpe moves into the loft Wagstaff buys him on Bond Street, in a formerly industrial area that incoming artists "scrub, clear out, and scrape the years from wide windows and let in the light" (213). Smith shares an apartment with Lanier, who seems to always be on the road with his band. Though they live apart, Smith and Mapplethorpe resume their lives "as before, eating together, searching for assemblage components, taking photographs" (214) and encouraging each other's progress. Smith gets a part-time job at the Strand Book Store while Wagstaff, to the detriment of Mapplethorpe's pride, supports Mapplethorpe financially.

Living alone, Smith feels unsure of how to proceed. All of her artistic ideas seem "irreverent or irrelevant" (214) and she wants to do "something of worth" (214). Andy Brown, owner of the Gotham Book Mart, gives Smith a chance to do that by offering to publish a book of her poems. Mapplethorpe, meanwhile, has his first solo show of Polaroid photographs. He makes his own invitations for the event: "a self-portrait, his naked midsection in the mirror" (215) with his Polaroid camera covering his crotch. The opening falls on January 6, Joan of Arc's birthday. Mapplethorpe gives Smith a silver medal with Joan of Arc's face carved onto it. Mapplethorpe receives a good turnout for his "bold, elegant show" (215) which uses Mapplethorpe's "classic motifs with sex, flowers, and portraits" (215). 

One afternoon, after trying to write about Rimbaud and listening to Marvin Gaye's Trouble Man on repeat, Smith falls asleep. She dreams of being in Ethiopia and finding "a rolled leather case" (216) containing the "great lost work of Arthur Rimbaud" (216). When she awakens, Smith has a "sudden revelation" (216) that she will go to Ethiopia and find that briefcase and present the work to the world. Smith presents her idea to publishers, travel magazines, and literary foundations, but no one will fund her trip. She asks Wagstaff to fund her and her proposition, appealing to his adventurous side, and intrigues him. Mapplethorpe, though, insists Smith will get lost, kidnapped, or "eaten alive by wild hyenas" (217). Laughing, Smith abandons her plan to recover "the imagined secret papers of Rimbaud" (217). 

Smith acts in another of Tony Ingrassia's plays, this time playing an unconvincing lesbian, and decides this will be her last play. Mapplethorpe convinces Wagstaff to hire Smith to catalog his "vast collection of books and kachina dolls" (217) that he plans to donate to a university and she quits her job at the Strand. Smith enlists the help of Jane Friedman, a publicist with "a reputation for supporting the efforts of fringe artists" (218) and books several gigs reading poetry. Smith, though not "enthusiastically received" (218), sharpens her "abilities to spar with a hostile audience with some amount of humor" (218). Smith has a series of gigs opening for the New York Dolls, a flamboyant rock band, and faces "an unreceptive and unruly crowd" (218). Smith's supportive sister, Linda, acts as Smith's "roadie, foil, and guardian angel" (218). At the end of each performance, Friedman hands Smith a five-dollar bill from her own wallet, telling Smith that's their "cut of the take" (218). On July 1, Smith holds a reading on a friend's roof, in memory of Jim Morrison. The event is well-attended and Friedman tells Smith that, together with Lenny Kaye, they should find a way to bring Smith's poetry to a larger audience. 

Wagstaff lives on the fifth floor "of a classic imposing white structure" (220) at the corner of Bowery and Bond. With Mapplethorpe's urging, Wagstaff begins collecting photographs. While Mapplethorpe has always scoured book and antique stores for deals on old photographs, Wagstaff has the money to buy whatever he wants. Mapplethorpe, feeling put out, laments that he's "created a monster" (221). However, like McKendry, Mapplethorpe has convinced Wagstaff to use "his position to elevate photography's place in the art world" (222). Wagstaff fully embraces "spending a small fortune" (222) to amass what would become "one of the most important photography collections in America" (222). And, with Wagstaff's backing, Mapplethorpe finally has "the resources to realize his vision for each photograph" (222). He also hires a carpenter to construct "elaborate frame designs" (222) for his photographs. 

Mapplethorpe photographs Smith for the cover of her new poetry book, Witt. On September 17, Andy Brown hosts the release party for Smith's book at his bookstore, featuring an exhibition of Smith's drawings, too. Impressed by Smith's work, Brown promises he will publish "a monograph on Rimbaud" (225) if Smith writes one. Smith decides that, instead of her "Ethiopia excursion" (225), she will honor Rimbaud with a journey to Charleville, France, where Rimbaud was born and buried. Wagstaff agrees to finance Smith's trip. After shopping for new clothes and glasses, Smith flies to France by herself. She arrives to find her "impractical raincoat barely protect[s her] from the chilly autumn drizzle in Paris" (226). In Paris, Smith uses Rimbaud's biography as a guide and ends up at the Hotel des Etrangers. Though she finds the hotel at capacity, the desk clerk rents Smith a strange attic room, furnished with only a "horsehair mattress" (227). Eager to start writing, Smith arranges the Rimbaud-related objects she's brought with her around a candle. She finds herself unable to write, though.

The next day, Smith takes the train from Paris to Charleville. She rents a room at a hotel, falls asleep early and gets up early. Though "filled with new resolve" (227), Smith finds the Musée Rimbaud closed. Smith goes to the cemetery, finds Rimbaud's grave, says a prayer, and takes a photograph of Rimbaud's headstone. That night, unable to bear being alone in her hotel room, Smith wanders the streets and finds a place called the Rimbaud Bar. Inside, she finds the bar populated by many "angry-faced fellows" (229). Smith has a drink and leaves. The next day, Smith visits the Rimbaud Museum, makes a small pencil drawing, but finds herself still unable to "write the words that would shatter nerves, honoring Rimbaud, and proving everyone's faith" (230) in her. Smith returns to Paris and visits Jim Morrison's graffiti-marked grave. A French woman cleaning the other graves chastises Smith, asking her why Americans "do not honor [their] poets" (232).

Despite being unable to produce a monograph, Smith takes inspiration back to New York with her. She and Lenny Kaye give their first “Rock and Rimbaud” performance on the anniversary of the poet's death to a receptive audience. Jane Friedman gets Smith and Kaye a gig opening for Phil Ochs at Max's Kansas City on a few nights at the end of December. Smith and Kaye perform, "through broken strings and a sometimes-hostile crowd" (233), though Smith feels energized by "the electricity in the air" (233). 

Kaye and Smith continue on their path to transitioning from strictly poetry to poetry fused with music. They add a third member to their group, a 19-year old classically-trained pianist named Richard Sohl, who feels comfortable moving "seamlessly between improvisation and song" (238). After seeing his band, Television, perform at the punk club CBGB on the bowery, Smith strikes up a friendship with the guitarist Tom Verlaine. Smith discovers they grew up "twenty minutes from one another, listened to the same records, watched the same cartoons and both loved the Arabian Nights. Verlaine plays guitar on Smith's first recorded single, a cover of Jimi Hendrix's “Hey Joe” that’s infused with a narrative about the recently-kidnapped socialite Patty Hearst. Mapplethorpe agrees to pay for Smith's recording time at Hendrix's Electric Ladyland Studios. As a B-side to “Hey Joe,” they record a version of Smith's poem, “Piss Factory,” which she calls "a personal anthem of extricating myself from the tedium of being a factory girl" (242). Though Mapplethorpe loves the recording, he pouts "just a little" (242), telling Smith she "didn't make anything we could dance to" (242).

After making and releasing 1500 copies of their single, things gain momentum quickly for Smith and her band. They play "a several-week stand at CBGB" (244), sharing the stage with Television and attended by cult American writer William Burroughs. Jane Friedman books Smith slots in Los Angeles and San Francisco, where Smith decides they need a second guitarist to expand their sound. Back in New York, they recruit Ivan Kral, an "energetic and open-minded" (244) Czechoslovakian man who had been "an emerging pop star in Prague" (244) until the Russian invasion in 1968. Together, Smith's band see themselves as guardians of "the revolutionary spirit of rock and roll" (245). 

In May 1975, Clive Davis, head of Arista Records, offers Smith a recording contract. After signing, Smith recruits her band's last member, Jay Dee Daugherty, a drummer, before heading into Electric Ladyland to record her first album, Horses. Smith has no question Mapplethorpe will take the cover photograph for her album. Smith agrees to wear "a clean shirt with no stains on it" (249) and heads to Wagstaff's Fifth Avenue penthouse to shoot with Mapplethorpe. Mapplethorpe directs Smith to remove her black jacket, which she slings over her shoulder, "Frank Sinatra style" (251). After taking that photo, Mapplethorpe tells Smith that shot had "the magic" (251) and she uses it for the iconic cover of her album. 

In 1978, Mapplethorpe Miller, a gallery owner and art curator, invites Smith to have a show of her drawings in his gallery on Fifth Avenue. Overwhelmed by the size of the gallery, Smith asks Miller if she and Mapplethorpe can have a collaborative show. Mapplethorpe has to ask Holly Solomon, his gallerist, for permission to show at Miller's, and she grants it to him. Though Smith is on the road, touring for most of the time before their show, Mapplethorpe calls her every day to make sure she's drawing. Smith and Mapplethorpe work together, incorporating "photography, poetry, improvisation, and performance" (257) into their first and only collaborative show. It features both Smith and Mapplethorpe's fixations: sex, S&M, angels, William Blake, and Lucifer. The show is met with great attendance and reception. Later that year, in the summer, Smith's song “Because the Night” reaches number 13 on the Top 40 chart. Mapplethorpe feels "unabashedly proud" (258) of Smith's success. He chides her, "without envy" (258) that she "got famous before" (258) him.