May 1970

Paul is six; Norah tells her son’s teacher that he is allergic to bees. Norah enjoys watching her son play on the playground, and she is “overcome by the simple fact of his existence.” Kay Marshall interrupts Norah’s reverie. She is dressed perfectly, as are her lovely children. Her oldest, Elizabeth, is a week younger than Paul is, and she is pushing her ten-month-old in a carriage. Norah always feels a bit frumpy and inadequate when she is with Kay; in fact, Norah often thinks that if she were more like Kay, her marriage might improve and her relationship with David might be happier. When Norah picks up the baby, she is reminded of the pleasure she got from holding Paul at this age. Now that he is in school, he rarely likes to cuddle unless he is sick.

Kay asks if Norah has heard about the Kent State shootings. Norah has heard; Bree has kept her apprised of the tensions and unrest even in Lexington. Kay lives in innocence and is insulated from such things in her life; Norah’s world became violent when her daughter died. Now every joy is tempered by the possibility of further loss. David tells her to slow down and relax, but doing nothing makes Norah too uneasy. She fills her days, for if she lets down her guard even for a brief moment she believes disaster will ensue.

Kay tells Norah she and Elizabeth will be coming to her party. Norah says everything is ready, though she still has to take down the wasp’s nest hanging off the garage. Kay is shocked that Norah intends to do this task herself. Norah is hoping it will take all morning so she will not find herself driving as she has so often in the past few weeks. She drives for hours, fast and hard, with a silver flask in her purse. She is inexorably drawn to swirling rivers. Before she leaves, Kay invites Paul to sing for a Cinderella-themed fundraiser and Norah is flattered. Even as an infant, Paul had a striking voice, and he has always loved music. It is a gift.

The playground is now empty, so Norah gets in her car and leaves. She drives by World Travel, the place at which she interviewed for a job yesterday. As she nears the university, the traffic grows denser. Eventually she parks her car and is drawn into the “current of moving people” by her restlessness and longing. As she walks, she passes several young men who are burning the American flag, and across the crowd she catches a glimpse of her sister distributing leaflets. She finally catches up with Bree and is introduced to Mark, her current boyfriend. Bree is thrilled at the turnout—close to five thousand people—and asks Norah if she got the job at the travel agency. When Norah says she is not sure she wants the job anymore, Bree assumes David has told her he does not approve. Norah tells her he does not even know she applied. They argue about how willing Norah is to want something more than being a housewife, and Bree melts back into the crowd.

Norah does not have time to drive to the river, so she fixes herself a gin and tonic. As she walks past the living room, Norah stops before the photograph David took of her on the stone bridge more than five years ago. Since she gave him the camera, David has become “fascinated to the point of obsession.” He even built a darkroom above their garage. Although in some...