wish my grandmother was alive. She'd see we got married even if we had to run away and do it."
chapter five
At the Farrow supper table an hour later, Lois and Jacy politely ignored one another, while Gene made conversation with desperate good cheer. After supper, though, he gave up, watched Groucho Marx, and then got in bed and quickly drank himself to sleep. He just wasn't built to withstand the quality of tension Lois and Jacy could generate.
The one thing Lois envied Gene was his ability to drink himself to sleep quickly. He went to sleep on so little alcohol that he was never bothered with hangovers the next day, whereas Lois had to drink for hours before the liquor would turn her off. If she just had to sleep, she took pills.
When it was almost Jacy's bedtime Lois stopped at her door for a minute, knocked, and went in. Jacy had already showered and was sitting on the bed in pink pajamas, rubbing cleansing cream into her face. Occasionally, despite her precautions, Jacy got what she called a blemish, but she took great pains with her complexion and didn't have many.
"Go on, don't let me interrupt your facial," Lois said. She walked around the room, frowning. Almost every object in the room annoyed her; she couldn't decide whether Jacy simply had bad taste or had deliberately chosen ugly objects as a means of affronting her. There were five or six stuffed animals, all of which Duane had won for her at ball-throwing booths in the State Fair; they were grouped in one corner, around a large Mortimer Snerd doll, also a gift from Duane. One wall was mostly bulletin board, and every picture of Jacy or Duane that had ever appeared in the Thalia Times was tacked on it. In addition to the pictures there were football programs, photographs of Jacy as cheerleader (sophomore year) and as Football Queen (junior year), the menu of the junior dinner dance, the program of the junior play, and many other mementos. On the bedside table there was a framed picture of Duane, and on the wall, a framed picture of Jesus. Next to the picture of Duane was an alarm clock and a white zipper Bible, and on the other side of the bed was Jacy's pile of movie magazines, most of them with Debbie Reynolds on the cover. Debbie Reynolds was Jacy's ideal.
"Well, I guess you hate me tonight, right?" Lois said. "Oh, Momma you know I love you," Jacy said, wiping the cream off. "But I love Duane too, even if you don't like it."
"Like it? Liking it or disliking it hasn't entered my head, because I don't believe it. Who you love is your own pretty self and what you really love is knowing you're pretty I'm sure he tells you how pretty you are all the time so I don't doubt you're fond of him. Even your grandmother learned that much about you. And you are pretty, you ought to enjoy it. I'd just sort of hate to see you marry Duane, though, because in about two months he'd quit flattering you and you wouldn't be rich anymore and life wouldn't be near as much fun for you as it is right now."
"But I don't care about money," lacy said solemnly. "I don't care about it at all."
Lois sighed. "You're pretty stupid then," she said. "If you're that stupid you ought to go and marry him-it would be the cheapest way to educate you."
Jacy was so shocked at being called stupid that she didn't even cry. Her mother knew she made straight A report cards!
"You married Daddy when he was poor," she said weakly. "He got rich so I don't see why Duane couldn't."
"I'll tell you why, beautiful," Lois said. "I scared your Daddy into getting rich. He's so scared of me that for twenty years he's done nothing but run around trying to find things to please me. He's never found the right things but he made a million dollars looking."
"If Daddy could do it Duane could too," Jacy insisted, pouting.
"Not married to you, he couldn't," Lois said. "You're not scary enough. You'd be miserable poor but as long as you had somebody to hold your hand and tell you how pretty you are you'd make
chapter five
At the Farrow supper table an hour later, Lois and Jacy politely ignored one another, while Gene made conversation with desperate good cheer. After supper, though, he gave up, watched Groucho Marx, and then got in bed and quickly drank himself to sleep. He just wasn't built to withstand the quality of tension Lois and Jacy could generate.
The one thing Lois envied Gene was his ability to drink himself to sleep quickly. He went to sleep on so little alcohol that he was never bothered with hangovers the next day, whereas Lois had to drink for hours before the liquor would turn her off. If she just had to sleep, she took pills.
When it was almost Jacy's bedtime Lois stopped at her door for a minute, knocked, and went in. Jacy had already showered and was sitting on the bed in pink pajamas, rubbing cleansing cream into her face. Occasionally, despite her precautions, Jacy got what she called a blemish, but she took great pains with her complexion and didn't have many.
"Go on, don't let me interrupt your facial," Lois said. She walked around the room, frowning. Almost every object in the room annoyed her; she couldn't decide whether Jacy simply had bad taste or had deliberately chosen ugly objects as a means of affronting her. There were five or six stuffed animals, all of which Duane had won for her at ball-throwing booths in the State Fair; they were grouped in one corner, around a large Mortimer Snerd doll, also a gift from Duane. One wall was mostly bulletin board, and every picture of Jacy or Duane that had ever appeared in the Thalia Times was tacked on it. In addition to the pictures there were football programs, photographs of Jacy as cheerleader (sophomore year) and as Football Queen (junior year), the menu of the junior dinner dance, the program of the junior play, and many other mementos. On the bedside table there was a framed picture of Duane, and on the wall, a framed picture of Jesus. Next to the picture of Duane was an alarm clock and a white zipper Bible, and on the other side of the bed was Jacy's pile of movie magazines, most of them with Debbie Reynolds on the cover. Debbie Reynolds was Jacy's ideal.
"Well, I guess you hate me tonight, right?" Lois said. "Oh, Momma you know I love you," Jacy said, wiping the cream off. "But I love Duane too, even if you don't like it."
"Like it? Liking it or disliking it hasn't entered my head, because I don't believe it. Who you love is your own pretty self and what you really love is knowing you're pretty I'm sure he tells you how pretty you are all the time so I don't doubt you're fond of him. Even your grandmother learned that much about you. And you are pretty, you ought to enjoy it. I'd just sort of hate to see you marry Duane, though, because in about two months he'd quit flattering you and you wouldn't be rich anymore and life wouldn't be near as much fun for you as it is right now."
"But I don't care about money," lacy said solemnly. "I don't care about it at all."
Lois sighed. "You're pretty stupid then," she said. "If you're that stupid you ought to go and marry him-it would be the cheapest way to educate you."
Jacy was so shocked at being called stupid that she didn't even cry. Her mother knew she made straight A report cards!
"You married Daddy when he was poor," she said weakly. "He got rich so I don't see why Duane couldn't."
"I'll tell you why, beautiful," Lois said. "I scared your Daddy into getting rich. He's so scared of me that for twenty years he's done nothing but run around trying to find things to please me. He's never found the right things but he made a million dollars looking."
"If Daddy could do it Duane could too," Jacy insisted, pouting.
"Not married to you, he couldn't," Lois said. "You're not scary enough. You'd be miserable poor but as long as you had somebody to hold your hand and tell you how pretty you are you'd make
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