The House of Eve

Contents Cover Title Page Dedication Part One Chapter One: Mommies and Dragons Chapter Two: The Line Chapter Three: The Sweetest Thing Chapter Four: Black Mecca Chapter Five: Acting Ugly Chapter Six: Well Chapter Seven: Treading Water Chapter Eight: The Invitation Chapter Nine: Caught Up Chapter Ten: Bad Taste Chapter Eleven: Spring Fever Chapter Twelve: Light Out Chapter Thirteen: Aftershock Chapter Fourteen: To Whom Much is Given Part Two Chapter Fifteen: Taking Care of Business Chapter Sixteen: Paper and Clocks Chapter Seventeen: Heaven Help Chapter Eighteen: The Ritual Chapter Nineteen: Dead Meat Chapter Twenty: Still the Water Chapter Twenty-One: Ultimatum Chapter Twenty-Two: Window to Darkness Chapter Twenty-Three: What’s Right Part Three Chapter Twenty-Four: Cracks and Crevices Chapter Twenty-Five: The House of Magdalene Chapter Twenty-Six: Tiger Mama Chapter Twenty-Seven: Forgive Us, Sinners Chapter Twenty-Eight: Expectant Mother Chapter Twenty-Nine: Slut Chapter Thirty: Something Amiss Chapter Thirty-One: Silence the Lamb Chapter Thirty-Two: Telling Stories Chapter Thirty-Three: Secrets Girls Keep Chapter Thirty-Four: Strange Fruit Chapter Thirty-Five: Holiday Blues Chapter Thirty-Six: What You Ask For Chapter Thirty-Seven: Darkness Part Four Chapter Thirty-Eight: Waiting Game Chapter Thirty-Nine: Forget Chapter Forty: So Slow Chapter Forty-One: Redeem Thyself Chapter Forty-Two: Green Chapter Forty-Three: The Aftermath Chapter Forty-Four: Open Road Chapter Forty-Five: Bitter Taste Chapter Forty-Six: Revelations Chapter Forty-Seven: Signed and Sealed Epilogue Author’s Note Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright Guide Cover Start of Content Title Page Dedication Author’s Note Epilogue Acknowledgments About the Author Copyright IV V VII VIII IX X XI XII 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 82 83 84 85 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118 119 120 121 122 123 124 125 126 127 128 129 130 131 132 133 134 135 136 137 138 139 140 
 
 The House of Eve
 A Novel
 Sadeqa Johnson
 Author of Yellow Wife
 
 
 
 
 
 For my Mother and her Mother
 
 
 In loving memory of Paula Marise Johnson
 
 
 PART ONE
 
 Each story has a monster in it who made them tough instead of brave, so they open their legs rather than their hearts where the folded child is tucked.
 —Toni Morrison
 
 
 
 CHAPTER ONE Philadelphia, October 1948 MOMMIES AND DRAGONS Ruby
 My grandma Nene always said that early was on time, on time was late, and late was unacceptable. Fatty was unacceptably late again. Knowing full well that I had some place important to be. I didn’t mind staying with Grandma Nene overnight once a week so that Fatty could clean offices. All I asked was that she be home in time for me to catch the bus to my Saturday enrichment classes. And for the third week in a row, Fatty dragged her heavy feet through Nene’s apartment door fifteen minutes behind schedule, calling out in her high-pitched voice, “Ruby girl, I’m sorry. Let me tell you what happened.”
 My cousin had more excuses than a hoe going to jail, and I didn’t have time to entertain her colorful tales this morning. I had one hour to get all the way down to South Philly, and I twisted up my lips in a way that I hoped conveyed how annoyed I was over her lack of consideration.
 “You got my carfare?” I thrust my hand in her face, but Fatty brushed past me in the narrow hallway, past the crooked family pictures that hung in mismatched frames, through to the small L-shaped kitchen. I stomped behind her as she snatched back her pageboy wig and tossed it on the counter.
 “Your mother said she’d leave it for you.”
 A baby cockroach scurried from under the toaster, and Fatty smashed it dead with her palm.
 “You gonna make me walk all the way back in the opposite direction? Just give me twenty cents.”
 “I would if I could,” she said, scrubbing her hands at the apron sink. “But I’m broke as a joke girl until next Friday.”
 My scalp heated. “Grandma ain’t got no money round here? What if my mother forgot?”
 “Chile,