Summary

Before the widow “arrived at LaGuardia,” rumors about her past had already preceded her (65). Having heard about her, her new neighbors gossiped about the circumstances surrounding “her dead husband” (65). Cheryl, whose friend lived in the Dominican Republic, had heard that there were no children and that they had only “been married a year” when the husband died (65). While the husband had been poor, he had been handsome.

It was raining the day the widow “arrived in New York” (65). When she got to the apartment building, she carried only a small suitcase. With their faces pressed to the windows, the neighbors studied her. They watched through their peepholes as she went up to her new apartment, wondering how she could afford it.

They watched as the super told her about the building. The widow was roughly 30, younger than the neighbors expected (66). Although she was...