If he had a couple of dollars in his pocket, he knew where he'd go.
The girls at Maggie's knew how to treat a man.
He fished in his pocket for some coins. Carefully he counted them.
Thirty-five cents.
He thought about going back into the saloon. He had enough for one more drink.
But then he'd have to ask Ellen for pocket money on Monday.
He felt the effects of the liquor beginning to wear off. Angrily he put the change back in his pocket.
Drinking wasn't any fun when you had to worry about every nickel you spent.
Almost sober now, he began to walk home slowly.
He was sitting at the kitchen table in the dark when Ellen came home half an hour later.
He looked up wearily as she turned on the light.
"I didn't expect ye home so early," she said. "What happened?
Did they run out of whisky?"
He didn't answer.
She walked out of the kitchen into the narrow hallway.
He heard her open Jennie's door, then close it.
A moment later, she came back into the kitchen.
"Where's Jennie?"
"I don't know. She's probably out with Mike."
"Mike is still in Berkeley.
Jennie was here when I left for church. She said she was going to bed early."
"It's warm," he said. "She probably went out for a breath of air."
"I don't like her being out alone like that."
"Now, don't start on her, Ellen," he said. "She's a big girl now."
She took a kettle down from the shelf and filled it with water. She placed it on the stove and lit the gas under it.
"Would ye like a cup of tea?"
He looked up in surprise.
It had been a long time since Ellen asked him to share an evening cup of tea.
He nodded gratefully.
She took the cups from the cupboard and placed them on the table. Then she sat down opposite him to wait for the water to boil.
There was a worried expression on her face.
"Don't worry," he said, suddenly feeling sorry for her. "Jennie'll be home any minute now."
She looked up, and in a rare moment of insight, saw what she was doing to him and to herself. She felt the tears coming into her eyes and placed her hand over his.
"I'm sorry, Tom.
I don't know what's the matter with me. Half the time, I imagine things that never happen."
"I know, Ellen," he said gently. "I know."
It was then that the policeman came to the door and told them that Jennie had been found in the park, raped and beaten. And from the look on Ellen's face, Tom knew that they were lost forever.
6.
The three of them came out of the church into the bright sunlight.
They felt almost immediately the curious watching eyes.
Tom felt the sudden shrinking in his daughter and noticed the flush of shame creeping up into her face, still puffed from the beating of almost two weeks ago.
Her eyes looked down at the steps as they began to walk down toward the sidewalk.
"Hold your head up, Jennie Bear," he whispered. "It's their sons should bear the shame, not you."
Jennie lifted her head and smiled at him gratefully.
"And you, too, Ellen Denton," he added. "Stop lookin' down at the ground."
In a way, Ellen felt a sort of triumph.
Her husband had finally returned to the church.
She thought of how it had been early that morning.
She'd been all dressed and ready to leave for church when she called Jennie.
She opened the door of Jennie's room. Her daughter was sitting in a chair, staring out the window.