Mr. Bridge_ A Novel - Evan S. Connell [122]
“I believe she really is on the verge of quitting,” Mrs. Bridge said. “She was almost in tears she was so distressed. She asked me what to do, and Heaven knows I hadn’t the slightest idea. I was wondering whether you might speak to her.”
He asked if she was still on the telephone.
“No. But I promised to call back as soon as I’d talked it over with you.”
He frowned and rocked around in his swivel chair. “What in the devil am I supposed to tell her? She got herself into this mess.”
“I know, but I did promise to call.”
“Well then, call. Tell her whatever you please. I don’t want to get mixed up in this business. Lord knows it isn’t any concern of mine.”
“I feel so sorry for everybody. That poor child—the Negro girl, I mean. It’s such a tragedy.”
“I wouldn’t waste much sympathy on her.”
“You don’t mean that.”
“I do mean it,” he said irritably. “I do not know one single thing about that girl other than the fact that she is colored, which is all I need to know. That girl knew perfectly well that by attempting to join a white sorority she was going to create a problem. Don’t tell me she didn’t realize it, because she did.”
“I’m sure she did.”
“All right, there you are. This girl deliberately and willfully set out to cause trouble.”
“We can’t assume that, Walter. You’re not being fair. She may not have had the least inkling it would start such an uproar. I imagine she wanted to join the sorority, and apparently the girls liked her.”
“She knew what she was doing. I know the type. They’re all over. They are setting out to wreck the underlying foundations of this country. This business at the university is not accidental. It is not a case of an individual wanting to join a sorority. It is part and parcel of a calculated plan these people have. Whether you care to believe it or not, that happens to be the truth. I know it for a fact. And as time goes by you’ll see I’m right.”
Mrs. Bridge sighed, and laid a hand to her forehead. “I sometimes don’t know what to think. It’s a shame these things happen.”
“Those girls in the sorority have nobody to blame except themselves, and I include Carolyn. They ought to have sense enough by the time they get to a university to realize they can’t do everything they want to. It’s their own fault. If they didn’t realize what they were getting into they are not mature enough to be making decisions. I have no sympathy for any of the parties involved in this mess.”
“I’m sure none of them imagined it would go this far.”
“I am not so sure. It wouldn’t surprise me if they did. I don’t know what gets into kids these days, but they can’t let well enough alone. They ought to have let the girl know she wasn’t welcome as soon as she tried to butt in.”
“Now, Walter, that’s not right. That’s not right at all. Carolyn was very clear about it: they wanted the girl.”
He lifted his hands in a light gesture of surrender. “Have it your way. I’ve given you my opinion.”
She stood up and wandered toward the door, but paused with a vague expression and said while toying with her beads, “I just hope Carolyn doesn’t carry out her threat. No matter how strongly she feels about it I can’t see how quitting the sorority would accomplish much.”
“I agree. I hope she doesn’t. But if she does it won’t be a tragedy. She can live in a dormitory or a private home. Quite a number of those people in university towns rent rooms to students.”
“I spoke with her on the phone last week and she sounded so happy.”
“Well,” Mr. Bridge said indifferently as he resumed looking through the papers on his desk, “it’s too bad.”
“Then you won’t talk to her?”
“If you insist, I will. Frankly I don’t consider it any of my business, and sooner or later she’ll have to learn to face