Living Together

Keeping Order

K E E P I N G O R D E R The day before Mrs. Brady’s annual tea for the residents of the Martha Mary Home for Working and Retired Women, Esther Birdwell, a retired teacher of domestic science, was praying earnestly for something she did not want. She was praying that the five harlots stay on at Martha Mary so that they might be redeemed . Esther could not bring herself to refer to them as prostitutes , or sex workers, which sounded like something to be considered on high-school career day. She preferred the biblical word as a reminder of what the Lord expected of her: charity, forgiveness, and love—one thing more impossible than the next. Esther rose from her knees. She knew she must go to Sister Agnes and tell her of the sinful scheme she and some of the other residents had hatched. Still, she hesitated, looking about her room for some pretext to postpone facing Sister Agnes’s disappointment and censure. Esther’s room was small and ugly with walls the soiled tan of potato skins. Her single window faced north and even on this bright June day was stingy with light. It was a room much like the one assigned to her when she had first moved into Martha Mary years before as the residence’s first black woman. Esther, always insisting upon her seniority, progressed to larger and larger rooms until she had achieved the luxury of two windows and enough space for a comfortable chair. 3 3 There were things at Martha Mary that made you feel warehoused: the rows of mailboxes and shower stalls, the piles of trays and bins of silverware. Against all of that Esther had her room. When the sun came flooding in through the south-facing windows, touching her pale yellow walls and gilding everything she loved, the room had buoyed her up like a sea filled with good salt. Then Martha Mary’s board of directors, chaired by Mrs. Brady, had decided to bring harlots into the home. Mrs. Brady called a meeting of the residents. Sitting next to Mrs. Brady was the director of Martha Mary, Sister Agnes, one of those charged women whose energy consumes flesh, leaving her thin but glowing. Sister Agnes told the residents that the Lord was bestowing upon them a great opportunity and privilege. Theresa Sullivan had whispered hopefully to Esther, “I’ll bet they’re going to let us have booze in our rooms.” Esther knew better . Sister Agnes’s idea of privilege ran to world hunger fasts when all the residents were urged to eat nothing for dinner but a bowl of rice. The endearing thing about Sister Agnes was that she was no saint. That is, she didn’t have the courage of her convictions. The night of the fast she invited all the residents down for a late snack of cocoa and peanut butter sandwiches. On this day Sister Agnes’s privilege had turned out to be the harlots. She referred to them as Five Troubled Girls but everyone knew what she meant. The Protestant residence hall down the street was taking in girls who were involved with drugs. Esther could imagine how gratifying it would be for Sister Agnes to announce to the director of the Protestant home, “We’re going to have prostitutes.” 4 Lee Simon, who worked as a receptionist in a podiatrist’s office and was considered the resident expert in medical matters, raised her hand to ask, “Will we be sharing bathrooms?” Sister Agnes was no prude and knew what Lee was asking. “The girls will all have thorough physicals before they arrive here. If we can just find it in our hearts to give them love and acceptance, I’m sure they won’t return to their old ways. We must keep in mind that living at Martha Mary is a condition of their parole. They will have every reason to cooperate with us.” Theresa, who like Esther had achieved spacious quarters, asked in a nervous voice, “What rooms are they moving into?” Sister Agnes looked distressed. “Well, I’m not sure.” She hesitated . “I know some of you are very attached to your rooms…” The implication was that their possessiveness was regrettable, perhaps even a sin. Mrs. Brady, a little apprehensive, like someone giving a gift that might be the wrong size, interrupted Sister Agnes...