‘He had a fight with that man who comes around selling papers every Sunday.’

‘Did he get hurt?’

‘No. They fell against the window and it cracked. Your mother saw it from here. Everybody on the block was watching,’ she said.

He felt dulled; a hum seemed to be sounding behind his head. When he spoke he heard his own voice as though he himself were a little distance away from it. ‘Take a shower,’ he said. I’ll put the car away.’

It was completely dark on the street now. Mrs Depaw was gone from the corner. Lights shone in the houses. From down the block somewhere a radio came on loudly and then was tuned down. Gertrude had turned back to watch the corner. He could sense a decision in her, for when she thought intently she hardly breathed. ‘Go up, go on,’ he said, and started to go down the stoop to the car.

She stopped him by turning. He waited for her and she came over to him and spoke softly on the top step. In the dark the whites of her eyes seemed luminous and wide.

‘What are we going to do?’ she asked.

‘Don’t be silly.’

‘Your mother says Fred’s in the Christian Front,’ she explained.

‘I know that,’ he replied evenly.

‘Suppose he …’

‘Don’t be silly.’

‘But suppose …’

‘Don’t be silly now.’

‘But that man in the hotel yesterday …’

Angrily he blurted out, ‘Now stop being silly. This has nothing to do with us.’

He started to turn on the step and descend when she grabbed his wrist. He looked up at her quickly.

For a moment she stood that way holding onto him. Then she said,’ Come over here, I want to talk to you.’

She would not let go of his wrist and he came back onto the porch and they sat on the beach chairs in the dark. She glanced toward Fred’s porch and then turned around to him.

Speaking quietly she said, ‘Your mother just told me about the garbage can.’

He kept his silence. A stone was forming in his stomach.

‘Why didn’t you tell me about it?’ she questioned. She spoke precisely, like an interviewer.

‘I want to forget about it. I want you to be happy here.’

‘You shouldn’t’ve done that tome,’ she said.

Now he heard her fright. ‘What do you mean, do that to you?’

‘Fred’s in the Christian Front. You should have told me.’

‘What’s the difference?’

‘It’s a lot of difference.’

‘Why?’ he asked, trying to see her more clearly. The light in the parlor threw a glare across her cheek. He became tense at the look of alarm and indignation on her face. ‘What are you talking about Gertrude ? I don’t understand what you’re talking about.’

She started to lean toward him over the arm of her chair when they saw it. A sedan was pulling to a stop in front of the house … no, it was rolling a little. It stopped before Fred’s house. Three men got out, and without speaking walked up to Fred’s stoop and went up and into his house.