sudden yelp of tires as he started up.
A long time later she got up and put on her robe and phoned Ruthie and said she had a headache. She took a hot bath, and then put on different shorts and another halter and fixed the rumpled bed and got the board out again and did some more ironing. Every once in a while tears would start to run down her face. She didn’t feel as though she was crying. It wasn’t like crying. All of a sudden the tears would run again. It was like, long ago, when the dog, Taffy, was killed by a car. She wouldn’t even be thinking of Taffy. She would be doing her homework or she’d be talking to a friend on the phone and the tears would come out of no place and it was the tears that would make her remember Taffy.
After that she thought about Danny so much that it seemed to her that she thought about him every minute of the day. When she remembered what he had called himself and what he had called her, it gave her a hollow-tummy feeling of excitement.
But when he came back, the day before yesterday, came back while she was sitting on the front porch in the early afternoon reading a magazine, he nearly startled her out of her wits. He had come in the back and he camethrough the house without the slightest sound to the open front door and spoke her name. Her heart fluttered and felt as if it were trying to jump out of her chest.
She went in, and felt too shy to look directly at him. He said, “I should have known it when I got my first good look at you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. Of all the guys in the world, he’s the one who has to hook up with you, Lucille.”
She looked at him then. He was grinning at her, but it wasn’t a warm grin. “You made me do it.”
“That’s right, Lucille. I made you do it.”
“Why don’t you get your envelope and get out?”
“I don’t want it yet. I want you to keep this, too.” He handed her an unsealed envelope. “Go ahead. Look in it.”
She looked at the packet of fifty-dollar bills, then stared at him, her eyes wide. “What’s this for?”
“They’ve changed the name of the game on me. I got parole trouble. I’ve got to move a little different on my deal than I planned. There’s a thousand there. Sort of a down payment like. It’s traveling money, and the best place for it is here, I think. Here’s what will happen. If things go perfect for me, I’ll be back to pick up that other envelope and you can keep this one. If things go sour, I’ll be back to get both envelopes and I’ll be in a hurry. Put that one in that purse in the closet you showed me. If things go really sour, I’ll be dead. Then you keep the grand and give the other envelope to the cops.”
She told him she understood. She went into the bedroom. He followed and watched her hide the second envelope. She turned around and looked at him. She saw the contempt on his face. She jumped forward and locked her arms around his neck. He flung her about trying to shake her off, but she held tightly to him. And knew the instant when he changed his mind. It was just like the other time, only this time he didn’t say anything. He didn’t stand over the bed when he lit his cigarette. He turned when he was in the bedroom doorway and lit it there and looked at her nakedness the way a man would glance at dirt in the street, and then he was gone and this time thescreen door closed quietly and she heard no car motor. After she had her tub and fixed her bed and put on fresh clothes, she took the money and arranged it on the bed, arranged the twenty bills in all kinds of different patterns, hummed softly to herself and played with the money until it was nearly time for Lee to be home. This time there weren’t any tears, and she had the warm and satisfied little feeling that she had gotten even with Danny in some way, but she couldn’t understand just how that could be.
Now, with all the polish removed, she began to paint the toenails of her right foot,
A long time later she got up and put on her robe and phoned Ruthie and said she had a headache. She took a hot bath, and then put on different shorts and another halter and fixed the rumpled bed and got the board out again and did some more ironing. Every once in a while tears would start to run down her face. She didn’t feel as though she was crying. It wasn’t like crying. All of a sudden the tears would run again. It was like, long ago, when the dog, Taffy, was killed by a car. She wouldn’t even be thinking of Taffy. She would be doing her homework or she’d be talking to a friend on the phone and the tears would come out of no place and it was the tears that would make her remember Taffy.
After that she thought about Danny so much that it seemed to her that she thought about him every minute of the day. When she remembered what he had called himself and what he had called her, it gave her a hollow-tummy feeling of excitement.
But when he came back, the day before yesterday, came back while she was sitting on the front porch in the early afternoon reading a magazine, he nearly startled her out of her wits. He had come in the back and he camethrough the house without the slightest sound to the open front door and spoke her name. Her heart fluttered and felt as if it were trying to jump out of her chest.
She went in, and felt too shy to look directly at him. He said, “I should have known it when I got my first good look at you.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know what I mean. Of all the guys in the world, he’s the one who has to hook up with you, Lucille.”
She looked at him then. He was grinning at her, but it wasn’t a warm grin. “You made me do it.”
“That’s right, Lucille. I made you do it.”
“Why don’t you get your envelope and get out?”
“I don’t want it yet. I want you to keep this, too.” He handed her an unsealed envelope. “Go ahead. Look in it.”
She looked at the packet of fifty-dollar bills, then stared at him, her eyes wide. “What’s this for?”
“They’ve changed the name of the game on me. I got parole trouble. I’ve got to move a little different on my deal than I planned. There’s a thousand there. Sort of a down payment like. It’s traveling money, and the best place for it is here, I think. Here’s what will happen. If things go perfect for me, I’ll be back to pick up that other envelope and you can keep this one. If things go sour, I’ll be back to get both envelopes and I’ll be in a hurry. Put that one in that purse in the closet you showed me. If things go really sour, I’ll be dead. Then you keep the grand and give the other envelope to the cops.”
She told him she understood. She went into the bedroom. He followed and watched her hide the second envelope. She turned around and looked at him. She saw the contempt on his face. She jumped forward and locked her arms around his neck. He flung her about trying to shake her off, but she held tightly to him. And knew the instant when he changed his mind. It was just like the other time, only this time he didn’t say anything. He didn’t stand over the bed when he lit his cigarette. He turned when he was in the bedroom doorway and lit it there and looked at her nakedness the way a man would glance at dirt in the street, and then he was gone and this time thescreen door closed quietly and she heard no car motor. After she had her tub and fixed her bed and put on fresh clothes, she took the money and arranged it on the bed, arranged the twenty bills in all kinds of different patterns, hummed softly to herself and played with the money until it was nearly time for Lee to be home. This time there weren’t any tears, and she had the warm and satisfied little feeling that she had gotten even with Danny in some way, but she couldn’t understand just how that could be.
Now, with all the polish removed, she began to paint the toenails of her right foot,
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