'Don't you worry about Alice,' I told her. 'Alice can take care of herself.'

She began pinning a diaper on the baby. 'You're going to mess up yet,' she said. 'Alice don't know you like I do.'

I grinned at her. 'Nobody knows me like you do. You're my baby.' She snorted. I began peeling off my sport shirt. 'I'm just playing around with Alice until you and I figure out how to get rid of Henry,' I said. 'Then we're going to get married and I'll keep Alice as my Monday girl.'

She gave me a long peculiar look. Then suddenly she giggled. 'You'll have to raise Emerald.'

'Emerald what?' Then I laughed. 'I forgot her name was Emerald.' It always startled me. 'You sure did your baby a dirty trick,' I added.

'I think Emerald's a pretty name,' she defended. 'Prettier than Alice, anyway.'

'Emerald Brown,' I pronounced, going into my room to finish undressing. 'You must think she's gonna grow up to be one of the green people.'

She didn't reply.

'Well, it's your baby,' I said.

I took another shower and began dressing. When Ella Mae came into the kitchen to heat the baby bottle she said, 'You oughta be clean enough even for Alice now-two baths in one day.' Her voice was ridiculing.

'I'm tryna turn white,' I laughed.

'I wouldn' be s'prised none, lil as it's said,' she cracked back.

'You know how much I love the white folks,' I said; I couldn't let it go.

'You just ain't saying it, either,' she kept on. 'All that talking you do 'bout 'em all the time. I see you got the whitest coloured girl you could find.

'Damn, you sound like a black gal,' I said, a little surprised. 'I thought you liked Alice.'

'Oh, Alice is fine,' she said. 'Rich and light and almost white. You better hang on to her.'