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Show Woodworth/69 Ned comes in once, to fix himself another drink. "Good day?" he asks her. "Ok," she tells him. He goes out again. Later, she hears the creak of the banister as Ruth comes slowly down the stairs. She comes into the kitchen. "I'll take care of dinner," Marty tells her. "Thank, you, dear," her mother says. They don't look at each other. Ruth leaves the room. Marty can hear them talking in the living room, but can't hear the words. She breaks the tough ends of the asparagus stalks, and drops them in boiling water- Checks the rice, throws the steak on a pan, puts it under the broiler. Ruth says something loudly, but Marty misses it, the water was running. She stops, turns off the water, but Ned answers in a very low voice. "Dinner's ready," she calls them, and they come, Ned standing aside to let Ruth go ahead of him. Marty has lit the candles, turned off the lights. "Doesn't this look nice?" her mother asks as she sits. "Thank you so much for cooking dinner," she adds. "Sure smells good," her father says. Marty serves them both. Ruth sits straight against the back of her chair, smooths her napkin on her lap, looks from side to side as if evaluating her neighbors in a restaurant. Ned begins eating, knife in one hand, fork in the other- Ruth sighs. "Isn't this pleasant? Shouldn't we say grace?" Ned looks up at her, mid chew. "Well, I guess it's too late to be gracious," she says, and begins to eat the tips from her asparagus. "There's a profile in "The New Yorker" abour Sarah Browning Atwater. Do you know who she is, Marty?" Marty shakes her head |
