She called then to say she had a baby-sitter for that night. "Shirley appreciated the chance to make some money. Such a nice little thing -- lives right in the building". "That's swell", I said sweetly. I could get along without that three dollars. In some ways it was worth being out the money -- just knowing I was no longer obligated to Nadine! It was past midnight and we were in bed when the phone rang. I stumbled through the hall, wondering who would be calling at this hour. I answered to find Nadine at the other end. "You scared me half to death", I said shakily. "What's wrong"? "Janice, nobody answers at the apartment"! Her voice came shrill. "I'm absolutely frantic! That stupid girl might have gone off and left Francie"! "Oh, she wouldn't do that", I said. "She's probably fallen asleep and doesn't hear the phone. But if you're worried you can go home and check" -- "I can't leave the party! We're at Ken Thom's apartment, and when one couple leaves early everything falls flat! Old Mr. Thom is already down on Wally, and we simply can't afford to get Ken mad at us" -- I was all set for what came next. "Janice, could you possibly go over and make sure everything's all right? I'll call you there in ten minutes" -- "I can't make it in ten minutes" -- Wondering, as I said it, why I should make it at all. Why should I go over at midnight to check on Francie, when her parents didn't care enough to leave a party? "Fifteen minutes, then! Please, Janice. I'll be glad to pay you" -- So sure that money could do anything! "All right", I said. I'd do it. Not for the dollar or so Nadine would give me. But because there was the chance that something had gone wrong at the apartment, and if I didn't go over, who would? Chris was sound asleep, and I didn't see any sense in waking him. I dressed in the kitchen, then left a note on the table telling him what had happened. I drove off through the cool darkness to Nadine's apartment and rang the bell, and in a few seconds a young girl opened the door. Her face was flushed from sleep. "It's all right", I said, as she started to look scared. "Mrs. Roberts had called, and couldn't wake you. I just came over to make sure everything was all right". "I'm -- hard to wake up", she faltered. She didn't look over thirteen. And Nadine insisted that her sitters be reliable! "I have to get up early for church tomorrow", she went on. "I didn't know it was going to be this late"! The phone started ringing. "That's Mrs. Roberts again", I said. "I'll answer it". I crossed the beautifully furnished living room to the pale yellow phone. I told Nadine everything was fine, and that I'd be getting on home. "Janice, would you mind staying"? There was a ragged edge to her voice now, as if she'd been crying. "Wally's drunk -- I'll get him out of here as soon as I possibly can, but I don't want Shirley to see him like this. You know how gossip of that sort spreads through an apartment building" -- Not a word of thanks for what I'd already done. The receiver clicked in my ear. She didn't even give me a chance to refuse. Well, there wasn't any law that said I had to stay! But then I looked at Shirley and thought that I might as well -- the child needed her sleep, and Heaven knew what kind of a mess it would be, with Wally coming home drunk. So I told her Mrs. Roberts would pay her in the morning, and she scooted off to her own apartment. After I looked in at Francie, I went into the living room and waited. I must have dozed off, because I came to with a start at the sound of voices. Nadine's, shrill with anger -- Wally's loud and thick -- As I went to the door I heard the clock strike two. I opened the door, and Wally stumbled in -- fast -- as if Nadine had pushed him. I had always thought she was so beautiful. But now she looked ugly. Her skin was stretched so tight that her cheekbones stuck out, and if looks could kill, Wally would have been dead. "Pack your clothes", she hissed. "Pack -- and get out"! "You're crazy", Wally said thickly. He lurched and stumbled to the davenport and sank down on it, and was instantly asleep. Nadine strode over to him, and her pointed nails raked across his face. I grabbed her arm and she turned on me and for a scared second I thought that maybe Wally was right, and she was crazy. "You stay out of this", she spat at me. "He's ruined us -- do you hear me -- he's ruined us! He insulted Ken Thom"! Her eyes were wild. "He told Ken to his face that he doesn't have what it takes to get a woman! And the other people there were listening! We're ruined and he's going to get out if I have to throw him down the stairs" -- "you'd better simmer down", I said nervously. I was plenty scared. In the state she was in, she could actually kill him! "Now you just take it easy, and I'll make you some tea" -- "Tea," Nadine screeched. "How can you be so damn stupid? Wally's lost his job! Ken will never forgive him -- never! And we don't have any money -- we don't have a dime! All we own is Francie's bedroom set and the televison-record player and we even owe on them. And we'll be poor and have to live in a grubby little house like yours -- and all because of that" -- I clamped my hand over her mouth to stop the stream of filth. "Stop that! You'll wake up the whole building. Wally can't go any place at this hour" -- "Well then, I'll get out" -- But she looked uncertain. She was coming to her senses enough to realize that you don't go traipsing off anywhere at two in the morning. "You go to bed", I said curtly. "In the morning you and Wally can talk things out" -- She collapsed against me, as if everything inside her snapped. I got her into bed, and sat with her until she had sobbed herself out. It was three o'clock before I figured it was all right to go. I left her, a limp bundle of self-pity, shivering with terror because her bubble had burst around her. Wally was snoring on the davenport. I had done all I could. I had done all I was going to do. Whether or not Wally lost his job was no concern of mine. I drove home, found Chris still asleep. I snuggled up close to him -- loving him -- thankful for a man like him. Thankful I wasn't Nadine. I kept on being thankful. In the afternoon Nadine and Wally came over with Francie. Wally sat in our big chair, his hands between his knees, looking ready to cry. "I'd had all this trouble with the old man, that's why I drank so much. I -- got fired yesterday for not attending to business" -- Old Mr. Thom himself had stopped at the service station for a grease job, Wally confessed, and couldn't get one because there were cars on the pits waiting to be repaired. Seems that the kid Wally had hired had a repair business of his own going on the side. Mr. Thom had gotten Wally on the phone, and fired him. "I thought I'd smooth things over through Ken", Wally said miserably. "But Ken got coy and wouldn't make any promises. And I was plastered and I blew my stack" -- "And told him right to his face he'd never slept with a woman"! I tried to quiet Nadine because the children were there. But she was beyond caring what she said. "Things may smooth over yet", Chris said, his nice lean face grave with honest concern. But I couldn't help thinking that Nadine and Wally were getting just what they deserved. Now maybe they'd realize that life can be tough. When A bubble breaks, there's nothing. Little by little, during the week, Chris and I discovered the crazy unbelievable way Nadine and Wally had lived. They had not only spent every cent -- they were in debt up to their necks, owing on everything they owned. On top of everything else they were two months behind on their apartment rent, and the day Wally received written notice that he was fired, they were evicted. Worst of all, Wally had no training for any kind of work. He had fallen into a soft job, and now the job was gone and he was stranded. Chris fretted. "I wish we were in a position to offer a little money to tide them over". I said I wished we were, too. It was easy enough to say it, because of course we couldn't spare a cent. But Chris brightened up like a candle. "I'm glad you feel that way, honey. There is one big way we can help them. We can let them move in with us" -- Something I had simply never thought of. Something so incredible -- I just stared at him. It was incredible -- He gave me an embarrassed, pleading look. "I know we'd be pretty crowded. But it would only be for a couple of weeks -- until they get straightened out". Straightened out -- They'd had years of making all that money! "I won't do it", I said flatly. "Nadine was always too good to live in a little house like this! Well, now she can sleep in the street for all I care"! "That isn't like you, Janice", Chris said uncomfortably. Then I felt uncomfortable, too. I didn't want to be like that, mean and bitter. But, darn it all, why should we help a couple of spoiled snobs who had looked down their noses at us? But, in the end, we did. It just seemed as if there was nothing else to do. The finance company took all their furniture -- and they didn't have a cent to their name. Then Wally got sick. To my way of thinking, he was scared sick. His luck had failed him, and it was easier to crawl off into bed than to get out and fight the world. Chris made trip after trip in our old car, moving the clothes and dishes and the stock of groceries Nadine had bought on special. At least we'll eat, I thought grimly as I put all the food away. While I worked, Nadine sat and cried. When she wasn't crying, she was in our bedroom fighting with Wally. "Virus infection nothing", she'd scream at him. "You're too lazy to go out and look for another job. You're just a no-good bum"! It was a mess, all right. But it couldn't go on forever -- A couple of weeks, Chris had said. I figured I could stand practically anything for a couple of weeks. But the two weeks dragged into three, and they were still with us. Nadine's constant nagging had finally gotten Wally out of bed. He set out every morning looking for work, and come home around noon, full of alibis and excuses. Wendell Thom had black-balled him. Nobody would even take his application. "You can get something," Nadine would snap. "You can get a job working in a grocery store, if nothing else". "The high school kids have got everything sewed up", he said, a whine in his voice. "Those damn punks -- taking work away from men who need it". "By fall they'll be back in school", I'd say, trying to sound encouraging. But this was only the middle of July. And I couldn't take six more weeks of this. I mentioned it to Chris one stifling hot night, when I had slipped outside for a breath of fresh air.