The House of Eve

Eleanor and William have been waiting for Mother Margaret to call them back regarding their adoptive baby for three days. Finally, she calls and says they are just waiting on paperwork.

Ruby is mostly unconscious, but every time she wakes up, the white people in the room give her another IV. She feels someone between her legs asking for a forceps, and she is asked to push. She screams as she feels something yanked from her, and decides she hates all white people, including Shimmy and his mother. The nurse wraps her baby in a green blanket, and nobody answers when Ruby asks for the baby’s sex. She then wishes for her own mother.

The nurse comes back with the baby and asks Ruby to breastfeed her daughter, but warns her not to get attached. Ruby sees both Inez and Shimmy in the baby, and names her Grace. She will nurse the baby for five days. She considers her options, but remembers how much Inez hates her and wonders if Inez planned to love her at the beginning. Ruby thinks about Aunt Marie’s warnings about being stuck in poverty if she keeps the baby, and then thinks about the shaming room.