everybody better and in that way get to understand everybody better."
"Bull," one of the girls said.
"They meet my old man and that'll be the end of me," another girl decided. "He hasn't been sober in the last fifteen years and he wouldn't lay off just to make a decent impression."
Nobody except the dean and some of the instructors wanted parents' night. For the students it would be a dull, depressing series of cocktail parties without liquor, dry lectures, and a speech by the dean about the objectives and lofty ideals of Cooper Community College.
"I'll have to get a new girdle," Evelyn Carter said. "If my mother and father get an idea that I'm pregnant they'll cut off my money."
"I'd think anybody would know," Cathy Barnes said. "You bulge."
"Not much."
"I think you do and I've heard other people say so, too."
"What other people?"
"Marie Thatcher, for one."
Evelyn snorted. "She'd better be careful or she'll be next."
"Oh, she's careful. She knows what time of the month it's all right and everything. She's got books that she reads all the time."
"About sex?"
"Not her homework. She wouldn't be getting 'D's' in everything if she worked half as hard on her studies."
" 'D's'? She doesn't get a 'D' in English."
"No, not English. English she works out with Mr. Walton in bed."
A lot of the girls got good marks in English. Walton, who was in his forties, was hell on the sheets and any girl who couldn't pass one way could pass another.
"He's a slob," Helen said. "He just drools."
Peggy had noticed Walton's glances, too. One day he had kept her after class and the entire time he talked to her he had been staring down inside of her dress. But he wasn't the only one who stared; a lot of the boys did. They stared, liked what they saw, and asked her for dates. But she refused them, refused all of them. She was too happy living with Helen to care about boys. The more she heard boys discussed around the house the less she thought of them. They were all alike, all after one thing. The only one who seemed different was that Harry Martin, the fellow who was chasing after Helen, and even he was probably like the others.
"Your folks coming in for parents' night?" Helen asked.
"My mother is dead."
"Oh, that's right. But what about your father?"
Peggy had thought about it. Her father would arrive in the Caddy, spend money like a fool, maybe make a pass at some of the girls, and turn everything into a mess.
"No," Peggy said. "I didn't let him know."
"You don't have to. The school does that."
"They do?"
"Sure. They send out cards from the office. They have some kind of a machine that just runs them off like crazy."
"Oh, no!"
"Why, what's the matter? Don't you want your father to come?"
"No."
"Well, it's too late. They've already sent the cards out." Helen laughed. "You should be like me. Neither I nor anybody else knows where my mother is."
"You don't?"
"No. She's a stripper in a carnival."
"You never told me that."
"Not this time of the year, of course. This time of the year the carnivals come off the road and stay in winter quarters. Winter quarters! That's a joke. Winter quarters for my mother means that she works out in some cellar club for a few bucks and what she can make on pushing drinks between dances."
"Honestly?"
"Honestly. Don't be ashamed for knowing me. It isn't my fault, and denying it won't change anything. Besides, I don't think there's anything dirty about her shows. I have an idea she keeps things clean."
"Clean?"
"You know what I mean. No skin show, not in the cellars or the night clubs where she works. In the carney it's different. In the carney every girl has to strip all the way down to nothing."
Peggy couldn't imagine any girl or woman doing such a thing.
"That's horrible," she said. "How can she do such a thing?"
"How can she do it? Well, to begin with, she was brought up in it. She was showing them her fanny when she was still in her teens and she's been doing it ever since. I used to
"Bull," one of the girls said.
"They meet my old man and that'll be the end of me," another girl decided. "He hasn't been sober in the last fifteen years and he wouldn't lay off just to make a decent impression."
Nobody except the dean and some of the instructors wanted parents' night. For the students it would be a dull, depressing series of cocktail parties without liquor, dry lectures, and a speech by the dean about the objectives and lofty ideals of Cooper Community College.
"I'll have to get a new girdle," Evelyn Carter said. "If my mother and father get an idea that I'm pregnant they'll cut off my money."
"I'd think anybody would know," Cathy Barnes said. "You bulge."
"Not much."
"I think you do and I've heard other people say so, too."
"What other people?"
"Marie Thatcher, for one."
Evelyn snorted. "She'd better be careful or she'll be next."
"Oh, she's careful. She knows what time of the month it's all right and everything. She's got books that she reads all the time."
"About sex?"
"Not her homework. She wouldn't be getting 'D's' in everything if she worked half as hard on her studies."
" 'D's'? She doesn't get a 'D' in English."
"No, not English. English she works out with Mr. Walton in bed."
A lot of the girls got good marks in English. Walton, who was in his forties, was hell on the sheets and any girl who couldn't pass one way could pass another.
"He's a slob," Helen said. "He just drools."
Peggy had noticed Walton's glances, too. One day he had kept her after class and the entire time he talked to her he had been staring down inside of her dress. But he wasn't the only one who stared; a lot of the boys did. They stared, liked what they saw, and asked her for dates. But she refused them, refused all of them. She was too happy living with Helen to care about boys. The more she heard boys discussed around the house the less she thought of them. They were all alike, all after one thing. The only one who seemed different was that Harry Martin, the fellow who was chasing after Helen, and even he was probably like the others.
"Your folks coming in for parents' night?" Helen asked.
"My mother is dead."
"Oh, that's right. But what about your father?"
Peggy had thought about it. Her father would arrive in the Caddy, spend money like a fool, maybe make a pass at some of the girls, and turn everything into a mess.
"No," Peggy said. "I didn't let him know."
"You don't have to. The school does that."
"They do?"
"Sure. They send out cards from the office. They have some kind of a machine that just runs them off like crazy."
"Oh, no!"
"Why, what's the matter? Don't you want your father to come?"
"No."
"Well, it's too late. They've already sent the cards out." Helen laughed. "You should be like me. Neither I nor anybody else knows where my mother is."
"You don't?"
"No. She's a stripper in a carnival."
"You never told me that."
"Not this time of the year, of course. This time of the year the carnivals come off the road and stay in winter quarters. Winter quarters! That's a joke. Winter quarters for my mother means that she works out in some cellar club for a few bucks and what she can make on pushing drinks between dances."
"Honestly?"
"Honestly. Don't be ashamed for knowing me. It isn't my fault, and denying it won't change anything. Besides, I don't think there's anything dirty about her shows. I have an idea she keeps things clean."
"Clean?"
"You know what I mean. No skin show, not in the cellars or the night clubs where she works. In the carney it's different. In the carney every girl has to strip all the way down to nothing."
Peggy couldn't imagine any girl or woman doing such a thing.
"That's horrible," she said. "How can she do such a thing?"
"How can she do it? Well, to begin with, she was brought up in it. She was showing them her fanny when she was still in her teens and she's been doing it ever since. I used to
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