“You’re going to play golf? I only got home yesterday. I haven’t even seen you. You’re going to go off and leave me here?”

“I’m only going to play golf, Rhoda. I’ve been working sixteen hours a day on a road job, for God’s sake. This is my day off.”

“Your day off. I’m lying in this bed and you won’t even stay here and keep me company. My God, I can’t believe it. You haven’t even picked up the baby yet. Jesus Christ.” I kicked off the covers and started getting up. It still hurt to go from sitting to standing but I was so mad now it didn’t matter. “Then I’m going somewhere too. I’m sick and tired of staying in this goddamn bed all day taking care of a baby.”

“Rhoda.” It was my mother, hurrying into the room with the cook, Fannin, right behind her. “Rhoda, are you all right? Is something wrong? Is anything wrong with you?”

“I want to go somewhere. Where are my clothes? I want my clothes. I want to go somewhere. I want to go to the beauty parlor.” I was starting to cry. All of a sudden I decided I was the ugliest person in the world. Fat all over the sides of my waist and milk dripping out of my nipples and my goddamn stomach hurting all the time. Malcolm was backing out of the room.

“Oh, honey,” Fannin said and came around and held me in her arms. She wrestled me back into the bed and the nurse was right behind her. “I got you a little quail under glass that Mrs. Waits sent up from Aberdeen and your momma made you a devil’s food cake. Come on, honey, get back in the bed. You’ll curdle your milk getting upset like that.”

“She’s right,” the nurse said. “We’re not out of the woods yet with this tiny baby. Get back in the bed, Rhoda.”

“You can go somewhere tomorrow,” Malcolm said. He was to the door. He was leaving. “I’ll take you somewhere in the car tomorrow. I promise that I will.” Then he was gone and Momma and Fannin and the nurse got me back underneath the covers and Fannin brought up a tray with the quail and some ice cream and mashed potatoes and the cake. “It’s a shame it’s Saturday,” she said. “We got to wait till Monday to see some more of the story.”

“I can’t wait to see what happens next,” I answered. We were talking about As the World Turns. Fannin and I had been watching it together all summer. “Ellen found out where her baby is. Did you know that? I saw it Thursday in the hospital. They have a TV in the lounge and they took me down in a wheelchair and let me see it.”