“Yeah!” Hers was also a whisper. Then her arms were about his neck.
Feeling the touch of her bare elbows, Emmanuel stopped talking. The arms were hot. Through her thin blouse he could see the girl’s shoulders. Suddenly he bent his face to hers, almost bit into her lips. He was happy. No, not the melody of the street ... that was gone just now.... This was something else. His legs trembled.
“Etta, I love you!”
She lay back in his arms. She knew. She kissed him with even more passion than before. He was going to be a doctor....
“We’re sweethearts, ain’t we, Manny?”
“Yes, yes!” Ah, it was good to kiss her.
“We’re gonna go steady, yeah?” He would be a doctor. They would go “steady.” Then there would be a “catered supper” in the pink reception room of an East Side hall after the wedding, with many candles in the hands of the guests, a band for dancing, a paper-flower decorated throne for the bridal pair. “Steady, yes, Manny?”
There was only another year of college....
III
Another year of college.