Dot closed her vanity with a hasty little snap and jumped to her feet. Maude was still seated, and Eddie was starting away.
"I'm going, Maude. See you again," Dot said, stopping for a moment at Maude's side.
Maude laughed. "Your rough Romeo has you trained," she said. "Do you jump through hoops for him? I was going to have you both come home with me for a while. Wouldn't you like that?"
"Oh, sure, that would be swell." Dot's ready smile disappeared as a doubting look overspread her face. "But maybe Eddie wouldn't come. Wait, I'll ask him."
He was leaning up against the door at the top of the restaurant stairs. His hat was on his head, and his cigarette burned close to his fingers.
"Ready to go now?" he asked.
"Eddie, Maude wants—" Dot gulped; he was looking at her coldly—"wants me to go over to her house."
"Well?"
"I thought you'd like to go, too."
"You thought cock-eyed," he returned, opening the door. "What'll I do with that jane and her sweet boy? You go."
He was over the threshold. Dot caught his hand, and the door closed behind them. They were at the head of the stairs, looking down at One Hundred and Twenty-fifth Street.
"Eddie, I came out with you and I'm going to stick with you. I ain't like that Higgins girl."
His sulky eyes blinked, but he never faced her. He was watching the light on his cigarette creep closer to his hand.
"Please come, Eddie. Maude and Ted want you and I want to go so badly."
"Well, go," he said, flinging what was left of his cigarette to the little tile foyer below. "They're your friends
