What she did, of course, she sold herself a bill of goods. Not that she’s a fool. Not that she’s inclined to move without thinking. It’s just that she’s a woman and she’s hot-natured and at the same time she’s pure-minded. It’s hell on a woman like that when she ain’t married. Especially when she’s been married, and she knows what it is to have it there when she needs it. So then when she’s alone, she tries not to think about it; but she’s flesh and blood. You can see her squirming in bed, twisting her head on the pillow, finally getting up to drink a glass of water, as if that can do any good. It goes on like that for weeks, for months, for years and you’ll give odds there weren’t no one-night stands, not even them nights when she was absolutely desperate. But finally it gets to the point where she just can’t bear it no more; she’s gotta have a man or have fits.

So then she meets this two-hundred-pound six-footer with the wide shoulders and black curly hair and the rugged wholesome pleasant face. Let’s say he levels with her right from the start and tells her he’s an ex-con and the rap was manslaughter. But then of course he swears it was self-defense. And she believes him, or forces herself to believe him. Or maybe she finds it easy to believe him because he’s holding her hands, he’s looking deep into her eyes. He’s saying it slow and quiet and it’s getting across. Some of them can do that, you know. The old soft sell. The sound of sincerity. He’s saying something like, sure I’ve made mistakes. I’m not an angel and I know my faults, but what really counts is knowing what I want. And all I want is to live a decent worthwhile life—

And say a month later the parole officer is writing out his report on Delbert Kingsley and it’s all on the plus side. It states that in addition to holding down a steady job and reporting for work every day and working efficiently and diligently, Delbert Kingsley is now married. The report goes on to say that the bride is a girl of clean habits and polite manners. She’s a good housekeeper, does her own sewing, doesn’t spend money on trifles and never uses make-up and—

You get it? The report on Delbert Kingsley recommends that he be released from parole. And that’s just what they did; they released him. You ain’t guessing, either. You heard her saying he stays out late at night; and you know he wouldn’t do that if he was on parole.