AMONG THE ANGELIC ORDERS
215
see her old friend. "I'm doing some new things, you might be rather
interested," Sheila said shyly, as
if
she couldn't presume too much
interest. "I had a dream about you, that's why I called."
So Gretchen, out of some paradox of obligation and desire,
agreed to visit her. One might have thought she would refuse, but
curiously, she didn't.
It was a rather dirty street she found herself in. She hesitated
and then went up the steps to the hall. It was the sort of house where
one expects bells to be out of order, and the names above the bells
to reveal the character of the house or be absent entirely. It took
Gretchen a minute to find
Fairfield-Dubin
written in over a scratched–
out
Dunlap.
She took off a fresh white glove before ringing the bell.
This one answered and Gretchen went inside. It was also the sort
of house where the hall light
is
out, the tile floor grimy, and the air
smelling of disinfectant and garbage. The hall
is
of course crowded
with baby carriages. Gretchen climbed the four flights to Sheila's
apartment, trying not to feel any feelings. She herself lived in a
place that was equally drab--Gouvemeur Street-but she was not
married, and she felt that made a difference.
At the door Sheila was full of quiet happy welcome-and terribly
pregnant.
As
with many very thin women, pregnancy seemed unna–
tural for her. She swayed down the hall, Gretchen following, and into
the narrow living room. Sheila sat down awkwardly in a maple chair
and pulled a footstool under her legs.
"I'm having trouble with my legs," she apologized, indicating
her selfishness in takint; the only footstool. "I have to have injections,
for this vein trouble. Tall people always have it. You probably will,
you're nearly as tall as I am." Her steady smile included Gretchen
in her own situation. Gretchen lit a cigarette and the motions of do–
ing so allowed her to hide her own intimations. "Of course," Sheila
continued, "if I weren't going to the clinic, the expense would be
terrible.
As
it
is-"
And then she recounted very briefly the story of her life since
the two girls were last together. It was not a pleasant tale nor an
especially unpleasant one. The marriage of Sheila and Melvin was
inexplicable; his family opposed it, he had to work at night for extra
money, they had no place to go, and of course Sheila still saw nothing
of her father or her grandmother. She started the story with a smile
