James Baldwin
ANY DAY NOW *
One evening Vivaldo came to visit them in their last
apartment. They heard the whistles of tugboats all day and
all night long. Vivaldo found Leona sitting on the bathroom
floor, her hair in her eyes, her face swollen and dirty With
weeping. Rufus had been beating her. He sat silently on the
bed.
"Why?" cried Vivaldo.
"1 don't know," Leona sobbed, "it can't be for nothing
1 did. He's always beating me, for nothing, for nothing!" She
gasped for breath, opening her mouth like an infant and in
that instant Vivaldo really hated Rufus and Rufus knew it.
"He says I'm sleeping with other colored boys behind his back
and it's not true, God knows it's not true!"
"Rufus knows it isn't true," Vivaldo said. He looked over
at Rufus, who said nothing. He turned back to Leona. "Get up,
Leona. Stand up. Wash your face."
He went into the bathroom and helped her to her feet and
turned the water on. "Come on, Leona. Pull yourself together,
like a good girl."
She tried to stop sobbing and splashed water on her face.
Vivaldo patted her on the shoulder, astonished all over again
to realize how frail she was. He walked into the bedroom.
Rufus looked up at him. "This is my house," he said, "and
*
This story is part of a novel to be published by Dial Press.
