Chapter 5 Summary

Helen sings in her room at Palombo's Hotel, feeling elegant in the dime-store kimono that she once shoplifted from Woolworth's that no man besides Francis has ever seen her wear. Helen had started the day singing, from the moment she slipped out of Finny's car until she arrived at Saint Anthony's Catholic Church to attend services. At church, she lights a candle for Francis. Helen decided, last night while holding Finny's withered penis in her hands, that she needed to stay away from Francis for a while, for both of their sakes. "She would stay out of his life, for she understood that by depositing her once again with Finny, and knowing precisely what that would mean for her, Francis was willfully cuckolding himself, willfully debasing her, and, withal, separating them both from what still survived of their mutual love and esteem." (pg...