Tales of the City

Edgar visits Ruby Miller’s house. He holds a brief but friendly conversation with Ruby’s husband before she leads him into the garage. There, as Edgar nervously hurries her along, she lays him down on a ping-pong table, begins to rub his temples, and repeats a mantra: “‘Heal him, Jesus! Heal thy servant Edgar. Heal his failing kidneys and make him whole again’” (45).  

Mary Ann leaves the dinner party and returns home. As she reads her mail, someone knocks at her door. It’s Brian Hawkins, who lives across the hall. Mrs. Madrigal has sent him to Mary Ann’s flat to “‘help with something’” (46). Brian invites Mary Ann to his apartment for a nightcap, but she leaves before anything can happen. 

Edgar arrives home to find that his wife, Frannie, has been drinking. She evidently believes that he has been unfaithful; Edgar tries to act innocent. Frannie tells him of a social “‘coup’” (49) she has won: they are to host a party for a conductor who is visiting the local opera. Edgar agrees to help as long as Frannie can “‘keep the cost down’” (49). 

An irritable Edgar tells Mary Ann to find him a specific script and then calls his doctor. From their talk, it becomes clear that Edgar has six months to live, though is unwilling to accept this. He leaves the office for lunch and imagines the social column space Frannie’s party will generate. Sitting beside a strange woman close to his own age on a park bench, the two share a joke and a sandwich. She makes him laugh; she is Anna Madrigal. 

Beauchamp approaches Mary Ann “on little cat feet” (52). He asks after Edgar and reminds Mary Ann of their lunch date. They eat at MacArthur Park, though Mary Ann is put off by the caged birds inside the restaurant. Beauchamp notes that Mary Ann is uneasy being out with a married man but tells her that “‘single people can call the shots’” (52). They chat, and Beauchamp insists that “‘we’re all babes in the woods […] innocence is very erotic’” (53). Mary Ann admits to reading about Beauchamp and his wife in the social pages; he offers her gossip that is not in the newspaper: he and his wife have not slept together “‘since the Fol de Rol’” (53). When Mary Ann attempts to leave, Beauchamp insists that they stay and talk a while. She agrees to meet him for a drink after work. 

Edgar and Mrs. Madrigal talk together in the park. They reminisce about their youth, about trips to Nevada, and the time Edgar visited a prostitute in his youth. Mrs. Madrigal, originally from Winnemucca, Nevada, remembers the exact woman, as she “‘read [her] all the Winnie-the-Pooh books’” (56). Mrs. Madrigal’s mother ran the brothel Edgar visited. She allowed Edgar to ramble through his memories to “‘remember who you were then. You don’t seem too happy with who you are now’” (56). They chat more, and Mrs. Madrigal says that it will be Edgar’s turn to buy lunch tomorrow. 

Mona receives a phone call from Michael, an old friend whom she calls “Mouse” (57). He has just broken up with his boyfriend and needs a place to stay. Mona offers her apartment, and he moves in that same night. 

Edgar and Anna Madrigal arrange a date; he wants somewhere “‘more private’” (60). While Anna spots celebrities, Edgar talks about his wife. Before long, they decide to go to the beach. Point Bonita is “almost empty” (61), and Anna produces a joint wrapped in a counterfeit one-dollar bill. When Edgar seems reticent, she drops it back in her bag. They shower each other in praises. Anna runs away and takes a “great silver kite” (61) from a crowd of teenagers; it is theirs for 10 minutes, exchanged for the joint. 

Mary Ann fidgets with her mood ring as she sits beside Beauchamp in his speeding, silver Porsche. As far as DeDe knows, he is taking an underprivileged kid to camp. They drive to an inn “overlooking the Mendocino coast” (62). As the female innkeeper winks at Mary Ann, Beauchamp promises to get the rollaway bed. They dine at a local restaurant. Beauchamp tells Mary Ann, “‘I worship your innocence’” (63). When they return to the cabin, she tells him to forget about the rollaway. 

Brian calls on Mary Ann’s apartment on Saturday night and finds no one at home. He skulks back across the hallway and tries to put the thought of her out of his mind. Brian is “sick of the whole plastic-fantastic scene” (64) and the women he meets. He decides to go out to the Come Clean Center and rushes out the door with a pillowcase filled with dirty laundry. Plenty of women are in the launderette; Brian takes advice from a fellow bachelor on whom to target. 

As Beauchamp and Mary Ann lie in bed together, she suggests that they go canoeing, but Beauchamp wants to sleep. She asks him whether he is tense and insists that whatever happened was “‘a fluke’” (66) and could be blamed on too much alcohol or nerves. They fight; as a means of apology, Beauchamp tells Mary Ann that he loves her. Later, she listens to Beauchamp talk in his sleep before getting up and reading her book beside the fire. 

Brian focuses on a woman in “orange slacks that could have protected a road crew at night” (69) and a Mao Zedong t-shirt. He pretends to not know the difference between two laundry products, and the two begin to chat. She offers to share her fabric softener. He tells her that she has “‘something kind of […] cosmopolitan’” (70) about her. The girl suggests that they go back to her house and introduces herself as Connie Bradshaw.