Like One of the Family (28 page)

Marge, you know Eddie has loaned me money, too. But the first time he tried to borrow some from me, I got real scared 'cause you do hear so many stories 'bout how men try to take advantage of women sometimes by gettin' their money away from them…. Yes, I loaned it to him, but I worried him to death until I got it back. When he returned it, he said, “Whew! I don't
never
want to borrow
nothin'
from you no more 'cause it's too much of a strain!”

I felt a little bit shamed about that, but now we don't never have that kind of trouble no more 'cause all the time we know we can depend on each other no matter what happens! … Yes, we have been talkin' 'bout gettin' married, but neither one of us got enough change to start up family life in the way we'd want it to be, and you know how you can start puttin' things off 'til everything is shaped up just right.

But I get to thinkin' awful deep sometimes. And when Eddie is away, I start picturin' his easy-goin', happy ways, how he likes children, how he looks at me so that I don't have to wonder how he feels, how he never had to ask for a “little kiss” but knew when was the right time to kiss me, how he loves people, how he hates meanness and ugliness—how he wants me to get out of other folks' kitchens, when I think on all of that and stand him up side of those steady, reliable guys like Clarence and Wallace, it seems like Wallace and Clarence don't look so hot!

Yes, I think I will marry Eddie 'cause the only, single thing we will have to worry about is bein' poor…. Yes, that is a pretty big thing to have to worry about all the time, but if a man gives you all of the very best that he has to offer, all the time, what more could a woman want? …