44
PART ISAN REVI EW
I saw tha t she wasn't reading- o r tha t, whil e rea ding, she was a lso
pa inting her nails.
"Wh o's a gentl eman ?" I replied.
"Tha t 's ri ght. You're the bohemi a n. Exempt from society's r ul es.
Maybe the
artiste
will do my ri ght ha nd. I' m no good with my left. "
I took the little bo ttle a nd bega n to pa int the ind ex fin ge r she
ex tended towa rd me. Her wri st, wh ere I held it, was wa rm with feve r.
" I' ve got news," I told her.
"Yes, I read in the pape r. Wh a t 's the ma tter w ith yo u ? Wh y don't you
sit down ?"
1 eased myse lf, a littl e priml y, onto th e edge o f th e ma ttress. " I don't
mea n th a t. I mea n I saw Betty thi s mo rning. She sa id we have eno ugh
d rawings a lready. She's go ing to hang them in her ga ll ery. It's goi ng to
be a one-man show."
Madeline pull ed her hand away to cl a p it aga inst the oth er. "Oh ,
th a t's wonderful! You' ll just be sta rting a t Uni. Yo u mi ght be a geniu s
like Picasso."
" Yea h, well, Picasso didn 't have Betty as hi s mo the r's bes t fri end.
Eve rything comes down to luck. "
" It 's a good thing you have eno ugh of the sketches . Dadd y, he- we ll ,
he doesn't wa nt me to pose a nymore. H e never liked it. I to ld him it was
onl y my back, mostl y, but th a t's no t wh a t 's bo th ering him. I hea rd him
thi s mo rning holl e ring down a t brea kfast. 'Wha t a bunch of Commu–
ni sts! I a lways knew it! A bunch of Commi es .' H a ha ha l It ma kes you
sound like bananas ."
" It's no t true. Even if it was, I'd ha ve no a po log ies . I kn ow some
Communi sts, ex-Communi sts actua ll y- a t least I think they we re. They
a re idea listi c people. They wa nted to cha nge the wo rld fo r th e better.
Are you reading thi s book? Or is it a prop ?"
" Of
course
I'm rea ding it. I' m a lrea dy up to how th ey a re trea ted
when they get to Ca lifo rni a ."
" It was n't just Ca lifo rni a .
It
was
everywhere.
On th e East Coast, in
M assachusetts, ha lf the wo rkers in the c ranberry bogs were children. It
was te rribl e. They were up to their chests in the wa ter."
M adelin e put both hands-th e seven pa inted na il s, the three [ hadn 't
got to-to her face and tee- hee'd like a little girl.
" What
is so funn y? There we ren't any child la bo r laws until th e fo r–
ti es. Roosevelt tri ed but the Supreme Co urt wouldn 't let him .
Will
yo u
stop giggling?"
" I'm so rry, Richa rd-boy. I rea ll y am. Bananas and c ra nberri es . I did–
n't think we were go ing to ta lk a bo ut fr uit."
