Journey to a Woman by Ann Bannon

Author:Ann Bannon [Bannon, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Lesbian, Popular Culture, Social Science
ISBN: 9781573441704
Google: 2dDfHtbXa60C
Amazon: 1573441708
Publisher: Cleis Press
Published: 1975-01-01T23:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirteen

WHEN BETH LEFT Nina's apartment two days later, she found a letter waiting for her in the post office box she had rented. She half expected Nina to ask her to move in before she left But it would have inconvenienced Nina too much, with the lack of space and the long hours she had to spend at her typewriter. She didn't want to be bothered and Beth understood, even though she was sorry not to have been asked. Nina should have known Beth would refuse, out of consideration for her. But Beth never got the chance.

The letter was from Cleve, and Beth tore it open in the elevator on the way up to her room at the Beaton. She got as far as, “Dear Beth, How do you like New York? Charlie and the kids are as ever. Not very happy but getting along. The kids like Mrs. Donahue pretty well now that they're used to her. Charlie works like a dog—too damn hard if you ask me. Puts all of us to shame and gives me a guilt complex."

Beth asked herself if he might not be drinking still more and neglecting his job down at the office. Of course, he was still half boss; Charlie was the other half. But she knew Charlie would be hard on him if the alcohol became more important than Ayers-Purvis Toys.

She stepped out of the elevator and went to her room, fumbling with the key in her purse and pushing the door open with her shoulder. The morning sun was coming in her windows and she sat down on the bed to finish reading the letter.

"Charlie has some big idea for a new toy,” Cleve went on. “He wants to call it ‘The Scooth.’ It's a sort of spring, a great big thing you can crawl inside or sit on top of and bounce. It travels when you bounce on it, or you can roll down hills in it. Sounds kind of goofy probably, but the neighborhood kids go for it in a big way. So do your kids. Skipper says it's better than a kite any day. Charlie is hoping it'll take up where the Hula Hoop left off. If it does we'd make a fortune. He's been working on it night and day, trying to get the right materials and colors, and working up a marketing scheme for it. I haven't seen all the plans yet. Jean and I have been away on a vacation, and I haven't been feeling so red hot lately. But don't worry about me. You have enough on your mind."

It was kind and restrained, with hardly a trace of reproach. Beth lowered the letter to her lap for a minute, not quite finished with it, and stared out the window at the shaded side of the building across the street. “Not feeling so red hot.” Drunk, maybe? She hoped not. She liked Cleve too well, she owed him too much, to wish him any ill.

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