The House of Eve

A year later, Ruby spends the summer cleaning with Aunt Marie when her aunt tells her to sit down. Before this conversation, Ruby had not seen Shimmy in a while when he walked past her and dropped a note in her lap asking to meet. She met with him in the back of Greenwald’s candy store, and he had a picnic set up. She noticed his green eyes, and they talked about her scholarship. The two danced, and Shimmy said he would be back in town each weekend to help his mother. When they kissed, Ruby again flashbacked to Leap, but pushed him out of her mind. They continued to meet and eventually had sex.

Aunt Marie asks Ruby if her baby is Shimmy’s. She says there are ways to get rid of the baby, and Ruby thinks that perhaps her mother’s life would have turned out better if she had an abortion. The next day, they go to an abortionist, but a white woman just died having an illegal abortion, and they refuse to do one on Ruby.