"Yes, teacher." She kissed his drooping baby mouth. "Don't worry, I wouldn't do that to you."
Poor old Figente was lonesome too, she thought. He didn't trust Hal. He was her best friend.
In April, Mae, who had been ailing all winter, was sent to the hospital for a critical uterine operation which was followed by a much too slow convalescence.
Shaken by terrified imaginings and by the first separation from her mother, Lucy gave up work at Master's fearful of what could happen when she was not at the hospital. When at last the doctor recommended a long recuperation away from the city, Lucy said, "You're going to a nice hotel in Atlantic City. I'll come week ends, and when you're strong again you're going to have your hair bobbed and have some fun. I'll get along fine with Cleo."
Without Mother the apartment expanded into lonesomeness, though Cleo entertained her with hard-to-believe stories of Harlem. Women giving themselves to the Lawd at revival meetings by tearing off their clothes. Then there was that man who said he was a Mohammedan with a harem Cleo had been invited to join. "Ah has to be the only one," Cleo said.
When alone at night after the show, Lucy tried to read but found Black Oxen depressing. It reawakened her fears about the effect of the operation on Mother, and anyway why should she read about rejuvenating old women? Babbitt was interesting in a way, like reading about people you knew, but she didn't want to know any more about Congress. Why would Vida want to read such books, it was awful enough having to live in Congress. It was more interesting to go to Figente's. She found herself hoping Paul Vermillion would be there and disappointed when he wasn't. He rarely came, and then just for a little while.
Mae did not recuperate as fast as the doctor had predicted. The sea breeze even when warm made her shiver.
"I guess I'm used to that nice dry air in Congress. It's funny but I have a craving for Mabel's coffee cake."
"Maybe you're pregnant," Lucy said, remembering some information imparted by Peggy Watson, hoping it would make Mother laugh and show at the same time that she really didn't exactly know what the operation had been. But Mother didn't laugh and asked if she had heard from Vida. Mother wanted to hear about Congress.
