Jane sat onward a straight-back ch...

Jane sat onward a straight-back chair in a outbreak of other straight-back chairs in Sula Bookbinder's living-dining sweep Up front, dwarfed through the grand piano, a tiny light girl in round wire-rimmed glasses played the sweetness of sound from "Ode to Joy." She played slowly counting in subordination to her breath, bent close to the fundamental notes as if to keep the notes from flying away. Jane present her hand through her husband's and squeez Nat did not respond the pressure.

A cheat of blank formed in Jane's mind. Then in walked Paulie Winger, closely followed through his parents, with whom Jane and Nat played