Umbilicus: An autobiographical novel

DYLAN'S STORY

8th November 1995

Dearest Charlotte

Thank you for your letter and photos. You're lovely! The profile of you is incredibly like Beth as I remember her at that age. I was stunned. The Tech photo is lovely, and I'm enclosing the same of me at Tech when I was your age.

I'm facing mountains of work which must be done before Christmas season begins. I don't use a helper at all — for the last fourteen years I've worked solo, which I find works best for me. My work is extremely varied, and I'm changing gear the whole time. My work is very personalised, and I don't use computers or anything like that. It's strictly hand done and I've filled a niche that others down here really envy me (the opposition firms who can't believe you don't need a big staff to do big jobs, which I manage on my own). It's tough going though, and a bit lonely sometimes — sometimes when I'm doing a particular job I wonder what would my friends think of me now — working alone in a crowded taxi rank, or up on a scaffold in the blazing sun (I'm scared of heights, believe it or not!) These days it's mostly liquor stores, boards, vehicles, flash writing on windows, designs, logos, and the occasional portrait or scenic painting.

I'm always busy — it's hard to think of a time when I wasn't. The early years were different though. Businesses down here were very apathetic when it came to advertising. As you probably know, the South Coast is very laidback. In those days the music came in handy. There was time for it then, and I had some really great times. I met lots of interesting people, partied much too hard, and eventually settled down when I got re-married in December 1983. I met Pamela at San Lameer where she worked in reception and I had my band there. She's eight years younger than me. We have two kids together, my son Damien, now almost ten, and little Dorothy, now almost five.

I know Beth will have filled you in on our time together, from her perspective. But I'd like to offer you my side of the story too.

We met in 1966, during the Christmas holidays at the end of my Matric year. I was seventeen, she was thirteen, and the neighbour of my girlfriend in Paddock. I started my studies at the Art College in Durban at the beginning of 1967, and six months later I got my call-up papers for National Service (luckily it was only for nine months in those days).

My first day in the army was my eighteenth birthday, in Bloemfontein. Boy, was that a culture shock! I eventually ended up in the State President's Guard at the Army Gym in Pretoria. I've always been very much my own person, not really a rebel, but different, if you know what I mean. I was the first person at College to grow my hair. And when I came back after the army, in the second half of 1968, I was the only one with short hair!

Beth and I started becoming serious about each other in April 1969. We would spend time together when I came home from Durban over holidays and weekends. She had just turned sixteen and I was almost twenty. Beth was living with her mother, Daniela, in Margate at the time. Daniela de Beer was a very successful estate agent and astute business woman. But she had also been married three times, and had a reputation second to none. No shortage of men in her life, and plenty of wheeling and dealing. Beth's home life was not a safe or stable one.

Beth finished Matric and I finished College with a Graphic Arts Diploma at the end of 1970. I started freelancing in 1971 and rented a small flat in Port Shepstone. Beth and her best friend Trisha left home to move in with me. Like you, Trisha was a doctor's daughter. Her father was our family GP. Daniela took this badly and arrived in full cry one night and said if Beth and I wanted to live together, we had to get married. That was fine with us, we were crazy about each other!

Beth and I moved to an idyllic cottage on Cherry Farm in Port Shepstone. We got married the day before Christmas in 1971, in the Port Shepstone Magistrate's Court. As all the lawyers had closed for Christmas, Daniela whisked us up to Durban a day or two before this — to one of her many lawyer friends — for me to sign the necessary documents. Daniela had 'friends' in all the right places — lawyers, magistrates, police, you name it.