Women in the Shadows by Ann Bannon

Author:Ann Bannon [Bannon, Ann]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Fiction, Lesbian, Popular Culture, Social Science
ISBN: 9781573441490
Google: 43P63e0GZtwC
Amazon: 157344149X
Publisher: Cleis Press
Published: 1975-01-01T23:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 7

JACK WALKED INTO HIS APARTMENT at five-thirty in the afternoon, tired and thirsty but dolefully sober. He was a stubborn man and he had dedicated all his resistance to fighting liquor. He meant to head for the kitchen and consume a pint of cider and fix himself some dinner. Since Laura had left five days ago he had not had much appetite. He did not admit that she would ever come back or that he had lost a battle. It was only a temporary setback. But it rocked him a little and it hurt him a lot.

He came wearily down the hall, stuck his key belligerently into the lock and kicked his front door open. He dumped a paper bag full of light bulbs, cigarettes, and Scotch tape on a chair, switched on a light and started toward his kitchen. It came as a distinct shock to find Laura sitting on his sofa.

He stared at her. She had her legs up, crossed, on the cocktail table, and her head back, gazing at the ceiling. She knew he was there, of course; she heard him come in. She turned and looked at him finally, and something in her face dispelled his melancholy. He felt elated. But he checked it carefully. He slipped his coat off without a word, dropped in on the chair with his package, and walked over to her, standing in front of her with his hands in his pockets. “Run out of suntan lotion?” he said. “No. But you're out of whiskey."

"I gave it to Beebo. Traded it for your clothes."

"Take the clothes back and get the whiskey."

"Later,” he said, and smiled. Then he added, “Was it bad?"

"Very bad,” Laura said and for a moment they both feared she would start crying. But she didn't. “Want to tell me?"

"Jack,” she said with an ironic little smile. “You'll have to write a book about me someday. I tell you everything."

He grinned. “I'll leave that to somebody else. But I'm saving my notes, just in case.” He sat down beside her. “Well, it could only be one of three things, seeing that she's gay,” he said. “She's a whore."

"No."

"A junkie."

"No."

"—or she's married."

"She's married."

He lighted a cigarette with a long sigh, his eyes bright on her.

"How did you know?” she asked.

"I didn't. But it had to be something that would shock you. And you seem pretty damn nervous about the idea of gay people being married.” He paused and she had to drop her glance. “Does she hate him?” he asked returning to Tris.

"Most of the time. God, Jack, I need a drink."

"Steady, Mother. My neighbor always has a supply. I'll fix you up.” He came back in less than three minutes with a bottle of sparkling burgundy.

"Ugh!” Laura said. But she took it gratefully.

"Now,” he said, settling down on the cocktail table with a cup of instant coffee, “begin at the beginning."

Laura rubbed her forehead and then sipped the prickly drink. “It started ... beautifully,” she said. “Like a dream.

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