The Female Man

She retraces her steps and takes a fork off the main path, idling along until the lake, with its crowded fringe of trees and brush, disappears behind her.

Eileen Dadier's youngest, the little girl, appears at the upstairs window for a moment and then vanishes. Bro is behind the cottage, cleaning fish, protecting his sports clothes with a rubber lab apron.

"Kiss me," says Jea

"Kiss Auntie," she says. I'm so glad to see you, Jea

"Jea

"Just think, Bud," says Eileen. "She must have got in last night. Did you get in last night?" Jea

Jea

"Jea

"When did you get in?

"When are you going to get married?"

IV

I found Jea

"They only want what's good for you," I said.

She made a face.

"They love you," I said.

A low, strangled sound. She was prodding the porch-rail with her hand.

"I think you ought to go and rejoin them, Jea

"I know," said Jea

"Jea

"Don't care," said she. Or was it Not fair?

"Marry someone who can take care of you," I went on, for her own good. "It's all right to do that; you're a girl. Find somebody like Bud who has a good job, somebody you can respect; marry him. There's no other life for a woman, Jea

" Not Cal." Ah, hell.

"Now, really, what are you waiting for?" (I was getting impatient.) "Here's Eileen married, and here's your mother with two children, and all your old school friends, and enough couples here around the lake to fill it up if they all jumped into it at once; do you think you're any different? Fancy Jea

Refined Jea

"For a man," said Jea

Only the woman revealed under the light was not Jea

Jea

Janet, who has none of our notion that a good, dignified, ladylike look will recall the worst of scoundrels to a shrinking consciousness of his having insulted A Lady (that's the general idea, anyway), has gotten out of Bud Dadier's hold by twisting his thumb. She is the victim of a natural, but ignorant and unjustified alarm; she thinks that being grabbed is not just a gesture but is altogether out of line. Janet's prepared for blue murder.

"Huh," says Bro. He's about to expostulate. "What are you doing here? Who are you?"

Touch me again and I'll knock your teeth out!

You can see the blood rush to his face, even in this bad light. That's what comes of being misunderstood. "Keep a civil tongue in your mouth, young lady!"

Janet jeers.

"You just-" Bud Dadier begins, but Janet anticipates him by vanishing like a soap bubble. What do you think Bud stands for-Buddington? Budworthy? Or "Bud" as in "friend"? He passes his hands over his face-the only thing left of Janet is a raucous screech of triumph which nobody else (except the two of us) can hear.

The woman in front of the door is Jea

"Oh, Bro!" says Jea

"You oughtn't to be out here alone," says he. "It looks as if you're not enjoying yourself. Mother went to great trouble to get that extra ticket, you know."

'I'm sorry," says Jea

"Well, you've seen it," says her brother. "You've been out here for fifteen minutes. I ought to tell you, Jea

"Oh, Bro-" says Jea

"Then come inside and have one." (He straightens his shirt collar.) "You might meet someone, if that's what you want to do, and you say that's what you want."

"I do," says Jea

"Then act like it, for Heaven's sake. If you don't do it soon, you may not have another chance. Now come on." There are girls with nice brothers and girls with nasty brothers; there was a girl friend of mine who had a strikingly handsome older brother who could lift armchairs by one leg only. I was on a double date once with the two of them and another boy, and my girl friend's brother indicated the camp counselors' cottages. "Do you know what those are?

"Menopause Alley!"

We all laughed. I didn't like it, but not because it was in bad taste. As you have probably concluded by this point (correctly) I don't have any taste; that is, I don't know what bad and good taste are. I laughed because I knew I would have an awful fight on my hands if I didn't. If you don't like things like that, you're a prude. Drooping like a slave-girl, Jea