Lives of Girls and Women

As a high school freshman, Del takes an interest in her sexuality as well as the lives of the women around her. Naomi and Del discuss Fern’s past, and Naomi reveals that Fern previously had a child, which caused her to be kicked out of the conservatory she was attending at the time. During this conversation, Del learns a rumor regarding Fern and a potential sexual partner, Art Chamberlain, who works for the local radio station. Alongside this rumor, Del notes that Art spends a lot of time at their house in Jubilee, despite her mother being insistent that they are just friends. However, Del recognizes that her mother’s “clarifying tone” must be used to “insist that the word friend in this case meant more than it was supposed to mean” (161-62). Ada condemns Del for listening to these rumors from Naomi; Del also reveals that Naomi cannot come to her house due to her “sexual preoccupation” and that she is not allowed at Naomi’s house because of her atheism. Del confesses that she spends a lot of time with Naomi discussing sex and sexuality but that their tone stays “ribald, scornful, fanatically curious” (162).

During one of Art’s visits to Ada’s house, he reveals that he spent time in Florence as a soldier during the war, which creates excitement in Ada, who asks him questions about his travels. Art remains hesitant to divulge much about his time overseas, but Ada continues to pressure him. He tells Del’s family that young teenage girls are often sold to other men for sexual favors in exchange for money, even by their fathers. He also points out that these girls are around the same age as Del. She questions why a girl would be sold and asks if these girls are being sold to be “a slave.” When Fern explains that girls “mature earlier” in Italy due to “those hot climates” (167), Ada frantically tells Del to go upstairs. Once upstairs, Del puts on her mother’s nightgown, which is “splattered with bunches of pink and white flowers” (167). She finds this to be an impractical garment. Del takes the time to look at herself as a developing teenage girl and wonders what Fern meant about Italian girls maturing, or developing, quicker than her.

Del begins to think about sex more, especially the “house in Jubilee with three prostitutes in it” (168). She is surprised to learn that one of the sex workers, Peggy, “would read a paper” because she feels as though her occupation would lead her to depravity (169). With this in mind, Del begins to picture Art seeing her naked, but she does not know much about the act of having sex. One day, Naomi and Del run into Naomi’s father as they try to sneak out of her house, and he reads them an excerpt from the Bible about “wise virgins.”

The two girls arrive at Del’s house one day to discover that Art is at the house with Fern. They hope to catch him and Fern having sex, but Del sees her mother and Fern making a dress. Art, who is drinking whiskey, tells Del she can have a sip if she performs for him. Del pretends to be a seal, and he gives her a sip, while he rubs “quick, hard against the cotton over her breast” (177). She decides to keep this a secret for herself. After this initial touch, Del begins to place herself in situations that will make “it easy for him to do something again” (179). One day, walking home from school, Art pulls up to Del and offers to drive her home. Del anticipates that something sexual will happen between them; instead, Art asks her to go into Fern’s room and look for some letters he wrote to Fern to give back to him. Del does not find these letters.

The next week, Art picks Del up after school, and they walk to a nearby creek. Del willingly follows him, and she believes that they are going to have sex after he undresses. However, he masturbates in front of her and walks back to the car when he is done. Later, Del discovers that Art has left Jubilee, explaining in a letter to Fern that he wants to explore more of the world.

Del wants to tell Naomi about her experience with Art, but having just gotten over an illness, Naomi comes back to school and appears to be a different person. Del claims she has lost 15 pounds, and Naomi acts with more delicacy than fiery passion. Due to this new perspective on Naomi, Del decides to keep her experience to herself. When discussing Fern’s sadness over Art leaving, Ada tells Del that womanhood and girlhood are beginning to change regarding their roles in society, but Ada reminds Del to stay aware of her surroundings and not allow a man to distract her from her goals.