Chapter 2
Marvie woke with a start the next morning -not sure for a moment where she was. It took a moment for the familiar room to swing into shape and she started to stretch luxuriously. It was only when her tender muscles rebelled at the unfamiliar pull that she remembered the night before and a flood of shame swept her. She glanced at the door and felt reassured when she saw the nightlatch firmly in place, something she only vaguely remembered doing before falling into bed. The room was hot and the air was still. She ran her fingers curiously over her body, almost expecting to find a great change had taken place. "I feel the same," she marveled. "I wonder if I look the same. Will people be able to tell by looking at me?"
Fearfully she rose from the small cot and gingerly walked into the tiny portion of the "bachelorette apartment" that served as her toilet. The mirror assured her that there was no noticeable change-if anything, her face had more color than usual, her eyes seemed slightly brighter. She blushed as she looked at herself and remembered the feel of that "awful" man's mouth on her most intimate parts. When she used the toilet again, she noticed the tissue had a slightly bloody stain. She marveled. "Now I must be a woman." Odd, she thought, I really feel pretty good. I don't feel all achy and restless. I wonder if that's part of becoming a woman? Well, I will be sure that nothing like this can happen again, I'll move. I'll go to an apartment where only girls are allowed and where there is a matron or a guard at the door.
Suddenly she realized she was starved and hurried to the refrigerator. Milk, eggs, bacon, toast ... yes, and juice. She hadn't had so good an appetite since she left home and had to do her own cooking.
Marvie dressed carefully, picking up her purse, she walked slowly down the stairs. "Good morning, Mrs. Willis," she called to her landlady.
"Miss Martin, I want to talk to you. I run a decent respectable place and I don't like young girls entertaining men in their apartments," the landlady began. "Oh, Mrs. Willis, I wasn't-I didn't-" The landlady held up a hand to stop her. "I don't want to hear anything from you. I know what went on last night-I heard. And that's the last time. You are on notice now and you have exactly one week to get out. I'm disgusted with you kids today. You came here looking so sweet and mealy-mouthed that butter wouldn't melt and then you pull off an orgy like this when you think no one's paying attention": I want you out of here and the sooner the better! I got a good mind to write your folks!"
Too shocked to answer, Marvie stood there while the landlady ranted and was speechless when she stalked into her own apartment, slamming the door.
It had been a beautiful clear day but it wasn't now as Marvie stumbled out into the sunlight. Who can I talk to-who can I tell-what will I do? She walked for hours, not seeing any of the street or noticing any of the people, not thinking any thoughts, just walking blindly.
"Well, Marvie, what are you doing in this part of the world? Marvie! Hi, it's me, Jean."
Jean was one of the girls in the office-one of the "older" ones, probably twenty-two or twenty-three, and awfully sophisticated-looking. Marvie hadn't thought for a moment that Jean even knew who she was but now Jean was being friendly-and Marvie was in need of a friend.
She almost cried at the girl's friendly greeting. "Hey, what's wrong? You look like you got the world on your shoulders." Marvie burst into tears. "Come on, you can't cry on the street. My place is just around the corner. I'll fix some iced tea and we can talk. You can tell good old Jean all about it." She handed Marvie a tissue and told her to dry her eyes.
Jean's apartment on the third floor was so beautiful that Marvie almost forgot her own problems. The carpet was thick and white and the chairs were deep and of brilliant colors. "Oh, this is really beautiful," Marvie breathed. "I've never seen anything like it outside of movies or a store window."
Jean chuckled at the younger girl's obvious delight at the apartment. She'd been in the "big city" since she was eighteen, since an unfortunate marriage, and felt she was pretty much the part of the metropolitan life. "Make yourself comfortable," she said,- waving her hand about the spacious room. "I'll rustle us something cold to drink and then we can settle down to some girl talk."
She went to the kitchen and Marvie could hear her opening the refrigerator, getting out ice cubes and then the clinking of glasses. "I didn't have a thing planned for today. It's too hot to do much of anything," she called from the kitchen. "I'm glad we ran into one another. I kind of felt in need of a friend today, too."
She returned with a silver tray holding tall chilled glasses of tea. Small wedges of lemons were on each glass and sprigs of mint floated on the top. "Have some cookies, too," she urged Marvie, "I didn't make them myself but there's a neat little bakery just down the block."
Marvie sat back on the deep violet velvet couch and sipped on her drink.
"Now, my small friend, tell momma what's the trouble," she said lightly. "Did you break a fingernail-or is it more serious-did your fellow back home marry someone else?"
Marvie's face clouded up. "Oh, Jean, it's much worse than that. It's something awful- something terrible. I don't know if I can even tell you." Marvie put down her glass and covered her face with her hands.
"Oh, say, I didn't mean to put you down. I didn't mean to make light of your troubles. You can tell me. I've been around the world at least twice in my tennis shoes and I doubt anything you could say would shock me. And I promise you, Marvie, it won't go any farther, no matter what it is."
Under her gentle questioning, Marvie told the older woman the whole story, starting with the night she saw the men across the hall to the visitors she had when she came home from work and the ultimatum her landlady had given her only a short time before. With only "the bastards" and the "old bitch," did Jean interrupt the flow of conversation which was punctuated with many tears.
"Honest, Jean, I don't know where to go or what to do. I imagine other landlords would want references and Mrs. Willis would sure never give me any I'd care to show anyone. And I only have a week to find a place," Marvie sobbed.
Jean left the room and returned with a cool damp towel. "Here, dry your eyes and listen to me for a minute. You don't have to wait a week and you don't even have to hunt for another place. This apartment is too big for me alone and the gal who used to share it with me got married. I've been kind of lonesome and thought about getting another roomie and you'd do just fine," she smiled approvingly.
"No, no, don't argue with me," Jean said as Marvie started to protest that this was "too much bother." "Everything happens for the best and I guess we were just supposed to meet today. You don't even have to worry about ever going back to that cruddy place. I have a friend who will go over and pack up your stuff in a minute flat and you'll be settled here before you know it."
Marvie could only smile gratefully.
True to her word, Jean called a friend, talked for a few minutes, then asked for Marvie's address. "Let me have your key, honey, I'll go with my friend and supervise things. You just make yourself comfortable until I get back." With that, she gave Marvie a little kiss on the cheek and a quick hug with her strong arms.
Marvie curled up on the couch after Jean left and was surprised to find she'd gone to sleep. She had only slightly awakened when she heard the sound of voices. It was Jean-with her friend. They were talking quietly in a corner. "Yes, she is lovely. You were right, Jean. She'll be a delicious addition to our crowd and a delight at one of our parties," said the tall, very handsome man who looked like a movie star, the kind Marvie had always hoped to see and had believed, while in high school, were in abundance in the "big city." A kind of knight in shining armor, except he wore white slacks and a kind of silk shirt.
"The poor baby's exhausted. We'll feed her, give her some rest, boost the old confidence and get some new clothes for her," Jean said.
Marvie just stirred a little and went back to sleep, thinking how wonderful it was after all these weeks to find such wonderful friends.