She snuggled back down under the covers to watch him wake up. She kept to her side of the bed, wanting to touch him, not wanting to wake him. She wanted to watch him wake up all by himself. Feelings of the night before came back to her, memories in vivid detail of the closeness they had shared. She could understand this. She yawned, lazily.

Why would Priscilla be mad? Because Priscilla wants to sleep with Leon, that’s why, not because she wants to sleep with me. Why would Priscilla not want me and Leon to be together? What did he say? “It’s just that she’s got an eye on your money.” That’s what he said. Priscilla wants money? She can have money if that will make her not mad.

Somehow that didn’t feel right. Martha’s face screwed up in concentration. What does money have to do with sleeping together? She thinks I’m paying Leon to sleep with me? That’s silly. I’m paying Leon to fix the chicken house. Maybe that’s the money Priscilla wants. And Priscilla doesn’t want Leon to sleep with me because if he’s here every night, he’ll work every day, and he’ll get all the money for doing other things. Her heart started to pound. She looked at Leon, sleeping, his eyes moving under his lids.

This whole thing is silly, Martha thought. She thought of Mike, and that afternoon in the bar when Leon brought her home. She thought of the other day in the bar with the man with the toothpick, and the one who called her retard. She had answered him: Daddy. Oh, boy, did she really say that? And Mr. McRae in the market. What a nice person. The chickens really liked the food he gave her—what did he call it? Cluck peck. She smiled at the ceiling. Wait a minute. I gave it that name. The smile vanished. In front of all those other people. Shame crept up her face, burning her cheeks. Did I really say that?

Leon moaned and turned onto his stomach. She slid quietly out of bed and went into the kitchen.

It all looked different. There were squished beer cans on the coffee table, leftover soup still on the stove. She thought to scramble some eggs for Leon’s breakfast, and went to the refrigerator. Something was really different. Had she ever noticed how dirty it was? There was dust and dirt in the little egg cups, old rotten food in dishes, dirty marks all over the front. She felt a little faint, pulled out a kitchen chair, and sat down heavily. Something was happening to her mind. She looked around the room again. It was shabby, terrible. Something broke inside her chest, some constricting band was suddenly cut loose. She inhaled a great breath and the dizziness faded. Things were so clear.