Thousands of pictures were taken of the legendary Jimi Hendrix. Some were concert shots and photo shoots. But the most interesting ones were those of him in the streets of London. They always wondered why he didn't bring his girlfriends with him. Instead, he always brought her.
She had the afro of Eyrkah Badu. She had the skin of milk chocolate. Her ears were always adorned with the same wooden peace earrings. She was tall, with the legs of a goddess. It seemed that she didn't own anything other than her signature baggy shorts. They were dark, ripped, stained, yet she made them look like high fashion.
People were fascinated by her. What was her name? Who was she? She always looked so simple, like she didn't have a care in the world. Her outfits seemed last minute. She wore tie die tank tops and even sported a Jimi Hendrix t-shirt. No one understood. Why did she matter? What made her good enough to be with a legend?
She was a tabloid princess. I guess you could say she was the '60s version of Miley Cyrus. She didn't take naked pictures of herself and she definitely didn't pose half naked on Vogue. She wasn't scandalous, yet she was a scandal herself. No one knew her name. No one knew where she came from. They never even saw her face.
The reporters did what they do best and interviewed the man in the pictures, Jimi Hendrix himself.
"The girl in the photos seems to have taken the world by storm. Who is she?"
And Jimi would laugh, shake his head and say: I don't really know.
This response always left the reporters dumbfounded. Why wouldn't he know her? Then they would realize something; he's hiding her identity.
"But Jimi, does she even realize that her picture is in tabloids all over the world?"
With a chuckle, Jimi would reply: Maybe, maybe not.
For months, he was attacked with the same question. Who the hell is she? And for months, he retorted with the same answer. I don't really know.
After a year, the buzz died down and the paparazzi started harassing someone else. They were too wrapped up in the rumors about Woodstock to notice that she had disappeared. She was no longer spotted strolling the London streets with Jimi. He wasn't asked another question about her because the world had long forgotten. People didn't wonder about her anymore; she was just a thing of the past.
Then one day- August 18th to be exact- she made a comeback. When Jimi Hendrix took the stage, there she sat, on the side of the stage. Her face was still hidden, but everyone recognized her afro. When Woodstock made the front page of the New York Times, so did she. She had her arms around Janis Joplin, and as always, her face was hidden. The news reporters went crazy with memories of the woman from last year. All the headlines said the same thing:
SHE'S BAAACKK!
After her reappearance, she was seen at concerts and fashion shows with Jimi. For some reason, the lighting always made it impossible to make out her face. It was as if she made a mask out of shadows. Every where she went, the paparazzi followed. Her sudden return to the "scene" made her even more famous than before. There were many questions people were dying to ask, and of course, Jimi had to answer.
"Where did she disappear to for a year?"
Only God knows.
"Does she know that she's a part of a huge scandal?"
Yes.
"How do you think she feels about it?"
Satisfied.
"Why would she be satisfied?"
Because she wanted to be a part of something. She wanted herself to be known around the world and she accomplished it.
"So this is all planned?"
Grinning, he'd say: Nope, she's wingin' it and doing a damn good job.
The world was shocked. How could they be fooled by such an enticing woman? She had them all under a spell. This realization only made the tabloids more frantic. They took even more pictures than before and scheduled more interviews with Jimi. They would ask her name, her age, her hometown, but she never spoke a word. All she did was smirk.
Both her and Jimi knew that her dream was completed. Didn't the media know that by talking about her apparent "betrayal", they're just fueling the fire? She was already known for being the girl in the pictures, but now she's known for being the girl that fooled the world.
When Jimi Hendrix died, even she went to his funeral. Everyone was shocked. What was she doing there? She only used Jimi to become famous. She didn't deserve to be there. But little did they know, that her and Jimi were close. They used each other, sure, but away from the cameras and the news reporters, they were best friends. She owed everything to Jimi and she wasn't going to miss his funeral. Over a million pictures were taken of her, but for once, she didn't care.
It didn't matter what the media called her.
She'd always be, Jimi's girl.