Why did they arrest Blanche? She was in that room with the
door closed. But the lawyer said not to worry. Yes, maybe it was a
mistake. Blanche never did nothing. Blanche worked at the store all day.
At night Blanche went out. But she was a young girl. And she had lots of
friends. Fine men. Sometimes they brought Blanche home late at night.
Blanche was her daughter.
* * * * *
The woman with the sleeping child in her arms looked around. The room was
nice. A big room with a good ceiling. But the people looked bad. Maybe
they had done something and had been arrested. There was one man with a
bad face. She watched him. He came quickly to where she was sitting. What
was he saying? A lawyer.
"No, I don't want no lawyer," the woman with the child mumbled. "No, no."
The man went back. He kept pretty busy, talking to lots of people in the
room. So he was a lawyer. Blanche had a lawyer. She had paid him $10. A
lot of money.
"Shh, Paula!" the woman whispered. Paula was the name of the sleeping
child. It had stirred in the bundle.
"Shh! Mus'n't. Da-ah-ah-ah--"
She rocked sideways with the bundle and crooned over it. Her heavy
coarsened face seemed to grow surprised as she stared into the bundle.
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