The Waterbury Democrat., 1935-11-01
nY MARQuKnIEE MMNnH

 fily had been thinking these thinRs for three yeAxs, But now sho Was saying them. There Was no stopping tho bitter onrush Of her words.
 q ten you, Joe" shs shEzled.
 I'm slck end tired ok everything. Those two roognH ero driving me uhad. I'm no different from other
 women. Dent you suppose Ed Ike a car and satin iingeEies" TWO red bloohes appeared on her cheeks and fought with the color of her hronae hair. eIk ! mean nothing to you" she rAiied on,
 ''think Of poor Mickey. No place for him to play. No yard. Nothing but Q dirty street. It's not right for him Co DO ponned in with me ell day. I tell you, Joe" she Ghrieked, her
 voice ct the breaking point, I'm aicik and tired of my whole iifeln
 we should Do glad I have . job" lao faitered.
 lily laughed. An empty shell Of Q laugh. "A job?" she cried.
 LIS that what you cell its A com.
 mon mill hand. A day laborer "You should have married Kurt echence."
 car now."
 azes still not married. Lily. ! zee him sometimes"
 Her iips curied an derision. q
 haven't seen him in three years.
 and . lucky thing, tocs the way ! look now. ."
 But Joe was edging his way to.
 ward the door, and with Q dazed glance an his wife's direction he slipped out and quietly closed the
 door behind him.
 The lamb grease on the platter
 was white and cold. She took the pancake turned and scraped it onto q newspaper already piled high with coffee grounds, potato peeiings and
 the ieft-over salmon which had
 spoiled.
 Meals meals forever meals. Dirty dishes. Garbage. Dusting,
 washing, ironing Garbage. That
 was her fife. Yet in the great city about her there were women who must know the real meaning os happiness. Women of glamour. Ace ! dresses who actually wore satin trimmed with foanay lace. There were successful business women who drove their own cars and were free to buy new hats and shoes when they wanted them - long before they needed them without consulting 6 haggaxd, work drained husband.
 A piercing, panic.stricken yell shredded Lily's bitter thoughts. She \ forgot the happiness of these other women. "MalnEna's coming" she ' called, rushing headlong into the \ little cubicle of c bathroom from whence the single shriek had issued and as suddenly suhsided. There, holding on to the wash basin, stood . grubby little boy staring 9earfully ct on empty \ brown bottle bearing c skull and
 crossbones. The brown liquid had
 streaked the front of the faded gray
 oyeralls. He raised his arms at the sight of Lily, who gasped with hor- lror at the teli-tale scene.
 "Ch, my God, Mickeyts che ! moaned, wild-eyed.
 She ilesitated Q brief moment and
 then picked up the terrified child in her strong thin arms and flew
 through the tiny rooms, upsetting the new lamp in the living room 1.-the one Joe had bought her for Christmas out of the money saved for his new suit Lily scarcely noticed.
 with . pang, she thought of the times she had deplored her small rooms. Now they seemed endless. Her feet felt leaden. Wouldn't she ever reach the kitchen. Seconds were years. Like Q bad dream, she seemed to 90 on winding her way \ forever between sharp-edged table
 and the insecure chairs in the little dinette.
 Tn reality, she was back in the kitchen almost before Mickey's scream had died on the air. His cheeks were paling to Q sickly blue.
 Precipitation gleamed in every tiny
 pore.
 His breathing grew short and ir-