Roseborough: A Novel

Chapter 2

30 Chapter Two 1 The days are getting shorter. By the time the class is settled the shadows of twilight fill the halls, but there’s still light enough for Mary Lou to see the glow of Anne’s white dress as she moves, mothlike, from her desk to a film projector, makes adjustments, comes to sit beside Mary Lou in the circle. Then Ed, wearing a “gimme” cap and his fancy boots, arrives. “We gonna sit here in the dark?” he says, switching on the light. Now the room is too bright. By the time Rosie arrives Anne is talking about prejudice and ignorance and sexual harassment. As Anne talks, Ed shifts in his chair. “Well, I just don’t understand what you mean when you say sexual . . . ,” he begins. Anne shakes her head, “Not now.” He leans back, crosses his legs, crosses his arms. “Ed, I know you have comments and questions, but let’s watch this film first. We’ll react to it later.” After they watch a film about people getting into elevators and people sitting around a table and people walking down the street, Anne suggests they write about their attitudes toward the opposite sex. “I am interested in how you think of yourself in relation to members of your own sex and in relation to members of the opposite sex,” she says. 31 Roseborough Mary Lou doesn’t know what she means. All she knows for sure is that Anne is wearing one black shoe and one navy shoe with her soft white dress. “Is there a question?” Anne asks. Everyone frowns but no one, not even Maggie, asks a question. “I realize that this sounds a little vague,” Anne says, struggling on. “Let me give you an example . Regardless of your sex, would you prefer a female or a male lawyer?” She reaches up and pulls her hair back and up, lets it fall. The top of her dress strains across her breasts. Ed is momentarily silenced by those round perky breasts. “What do you notice first about a member of the opposite sex?” she asks. At this Ed emits a loud guffaw. “Your amusement tells a lot aboutyourthinking,Ed,”Annesaysdryly.Shemovestothegreen blackboard and picks up a piece of chalk. She puts it down and dusts her hands together. “Thinking along these lines will lead to a better understanding of how you perceive your child’s mother or father, and hopefully this will lead to a further understanding of how he or she perceives you.” “Before you leave,” she says, “just take a minute to write down, informally, your thoughts, attitudes about the opposite sex. Specific examples would be helpful.” Mary Lou considers attitudes. She doesn’t have one. Since Gundren died she is careful about the opposite sex. For her it’s strictly business at the Dairy Queen. No jokes. “What’s got into her?” the truckers growl, loud enough for her to hear. She writes all this. Then after a minute she adds: If you happen to notice that you are wearing a black shoe on one foot and a blue shoe on the other, don’t think a thing about it. Sincerely, Mary Lou. Then she thinks about Gundren’s funeral. She can’t stay away from it. But some things she will never write. Or tell. Deciding not to write anything more about the opposite sex, she picks up her books and walks out of the classroom. 32 Jane Roberts Wood “Hey, you forgot your sweater!” Turning around, she almost bumps into Tony. He is holding out her blue sweater. “You forgot this,” he says. “Thanks.” “You parked out here?” Tony asks, keeping up without even trying. Well, this question she doesn’t mind answering. “Yes.” “I didn’t have anything to write,” Tony says. This interests Mary Lou. How could anybody not have anything , something, to write. The trouble with her is she has too much, but some she doesn’t want told. Don’t put your business on the street. She hears Gundren saying it. “It’s nobody’s business?” she asks. “Is that why you don’t write?” “That’s not it exactly. I got into this class by mistake. I’d just get out, but it’s too late to get into another one. Well, what the whole thing amounts to is, I’m not even a parent.” Mary Lou wants to look at him, but she hates it when the class looks at her...