"Widows and Orphans" Summary

In a crowded banquet room, Louis Clayton sits beside outdated Viola Richards who. a la 1940s cafy movies, greets him with a kiss on the mouth and laments he has shaved his beard. Her face is a mixture of pain and intrigue informing younger men she has been wicked in her youth. She slaps Louis' face. Their table companions are gracious, elderly, plump Mrs. Loretta Burton and her beautiful, coffee-brown daughter, Fredricka, who flutters her heavy eyelids at Louis before returning her attention to the head table. Over salad, Louis observes surrounding tables at this testimonial dinner for the Progressive Association of Greater Watts. Louis is the only outsider and only unattached male here. Mrs. Richards laments it has not worked out between him and Clair, making Louis recall another movie scene, but he says nothing. When...