Before I lost it again I put the picture down on the dresser and went into the kitchen to make some coffee. I didn't know Ella Mae was there; I was barefooted and my pyjamas were open. She was standing before the small gas range and when I came in she turned to face me. Her robe was hanging open but at sight of me she pulled it together and fastened it, not hurried, but with finality.

'I was just getting ready to wake you,' she said.

She was a full-bodied, slow-motioned home girl with a big broad flat face, flat-nosed and thick-lipped; yellow but not bright. She had the big, brown, glassy eyes that went along with thc rest of her; and her hair was short and straightened and she had it in curlers.

'Good morning, Mrs. Brown,' I said facetiously, then, lowering my voice, I added, 'I was just thinking about you, baby.'

She smiled self-consciously, but her look made me button my pyjamas. 'Your clock woke the baby up,' she said.

'He's cute,' I said. 'I heard him.'

She turned back to the stove so I couldn't see her face. 'She's a she,' she corrected.

'I forgot.' I ran my finger down her spine.

She pulled away and began making coffee in her silex.

'Goon and get dressed,' she said. 'You'll be late again.' When I didn't move she added, 'I'm making your coffee. You want anything else?'

'Yeah,' I said. She didn't answer. 'I'd get married if I could find somebody like you,' I went on. 'Then I wouldn't mind waking up in the mornings.'

'Go on and get dressed,' she said again. I made another pass at her and she said, 'Oh, go on, Bob! You'll be over it in a minute. Everybody wakes up like that.'

'So!' I said, putting my arm about her waist and trying to pull her to me. 'You oughtn' to told me that, baby.' I put my right hand on her shoulder and tried to face her to me. 'Come on, baby, be sweet.'