Leta arrived home at nine in the evening after spending New
Year’s Day with her daughter Vivian’s family, and if she was to be entirely
honest, she was tired. She had been up late the previous night, playing
Pinochle and celebrating with her friend Delbert Henderson and two other
couples. More tellingly, she drank to the point where she became overly
gregarious, so much so that when Delbert drove her home, he spoke not a word.
He was cool and aloof. She believed that he was unhappy with her, and she may
not hear from him again.
Throughout the day, she regretted her behavior, and
determined—and then not—that she would telephone him and apologize. Why should I apologize? I was enjoying
myself? I was in control of my faculties. Yes, I was a little boisterous and
loud, but we were all laughing and having fun, weren’t we?
The truth was that while she was positive that she was
enjoying herself, she was not certain that her companions were. And, most
importantly, Delbert did not seem to be.
After she removed her coat and hat, she stood near her hall
closet for a few minutes. One minute she talked herself into telephoning him,
and the next minute she was certain that it was too late or an inappropriate
thing to do. It was a chilly night, and her apartment was cool. She needed her
sweater. No, she told herself, she needed to go to bed.
Without a word she walked into her bedroom and started to
undress. She sat at her vanity and first removed her shoes. Then she stood. She
had to be on her feet to remove her panty hose, which she had only started
wearing a few months previously. Prior to that she wore stockings and a girdle.
The stockings could be removed while she was seated, but the panty hose
required the wearer to stand. Once finished, she sat again, stretched out her
feet and slipped on her slippers. Then she began to remove her
jewelry—earrings, necklace, broach and rings. Each item had a special place. Once
she finished, she took a tissue and wiped away what remained of her make-up.
She wore very little, but she wore some. Her lipstick had already nearly faded
away. She had some rouge and eyeliner. Her process was to do a quick wipe with
the tissue and then wash her face in cold cream before going to bed. Sometimes
she applied a lot of cold cream and let it soften her face all night. This happened
rarely, because she liked to sleep on her side.
She was hanging her dress in the closet when someone rang her
doorbell. This startled her, and she took a minute to confirm with herself that
she heard what she heard. After all, it was past nine in the evening, and she
wasn’t expecting anyone. It also made her nervous, being an older woman who
lived alone in a big city. She quickly wiped off her face with a towel, wrapped
herself in her robe and proceeded cautiously to the door. As she did not want
anyone to know that she was at home, she kept the lights off and peered through
the valance. With more light on the outside, she could see that her visitor was
a man, dressed in a trench coat with a hat, his breath flowing like smoke in
the cold. He seemed unfamiliar, so she looked harder. After he adjusted his
position, she could see that her caller was Delbert.
She unlocked and opened the door quickly.
“Delbert Henderson!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?
Quick, come in from the cold.
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