Last Night at the Telegraph Club

On December 30, Lily and Kath meet in their usual spot. Jean plans to go the next night for New Year’s Eve, but Kath comments that she’d rather go this evening. They talk about Christmas and then how odd it is that no one in their day-to-day lives knows that they sneak out to go.

At the club, they run into Paula and Claire, who order a round of champagne. Lily enjoys the contented tipsiness that takes over by the time that Tommy Andrews takes the stage. Later in the evening, conversation turns to an acquaintance of Claire’s who was asked to be an informant because the government thinks her boyfriend is a Communist. The word throws Lily, but the women continue, saying that it’s odd they asked the woman since she’d been associated with gay people. Lily wants to ask several questions because of the ominous tone of the conversation but decides not to.

Lana, who has joined them, invites everyone at the table to Tommy’s after the show. Lily is hopeful that she and Kath are included.

Content Warning: This section of the guide uses an offensive term for Chinese Americans in a direct quote.

After her second set, Tommy joins the group at their table. Kath asks Lily to go to the restroom with her, and while Lily is reluctant, she goes. They talk about Lana’s invitation. Kath is willing to go but seems hesitant. Lily wants to go, so they do.

Lily’s stunned to be standing in Tommy Andrews’s apartment after seeing the original photo she’d spotted reprinted in the newspaper. She tries to act as if she frequents parties like this. She and Kath meet a woman named Sal, who keeps marveling at how Lily is Chinese but doesn’t have an accent. Lily asserts that she was born in the US. Tommy comes over, calling Lily “China doll” and asking if she liked the show. She also adds that Forbidden City once had a male impersonator. Lily is fascinated by the idea of a Chinese male impersonator.

When Kath gets up to get Lily another drink, a woman asks how long they’ve been together, and Lily realizes that she’s surrounded by couples. The implication makes her heart speed up. By the time Kath returns, the alcohol in Lily’s system has kicked in and she goes searching for the bathroom, accidentally ending up in Tommy and Lana’s room. Tommy finds her and points out that she’s drunk. She suggests that Lily “go back to your girlfriend” (259). When Lily tries to explain that they aren’t together, Tommy asks if Kath knows that.

Lily feels embarrassed that everyone has realized she’s interested in Kath, because Kath must have realized it too but probably doesn’t want to be with her even though she hasn’t outright admitted it. She finds her friend and says that she has to go, adding that Kath doesn’t have to come unless she wants to. Things become awkward, but they leave together.

Seeing that Lily’s upset, Kath asks if Tommy did something and if Lily has feelings for her. Instead, Lily says, “No, I have feelings for you” (263). She tries to leave, but Kath holds her hand, pulling her into the shadow of a building. She says that she hoped Lily had feelings for her. Lily says that she must want someone more experienced, but then Kath gets closer to her. They kiss.

Lily is at Flora’s father’s store, but she’d much rather be with Kath. Shirley is there as well, and they’re waiting for Mary so that they can go shopping for an evening gown. Lily goes upstairs to see if Mary has arrived, and although she hasn’t, Lily takes a minute to wander around the store, thinking of Kath. It’s been three days since they kissed, and she doesn’t even know Kath’s phone number. She knows that now that they’ve admitted how they feel about one another, more responsibility has been added to their friendship.

She spots a “Pledge of Loyalty” swearing that Chinese American citizens are loyal to the US, that they support the nationalist government of Chiang Kai-shek, and they’re against Chinese communists. Just then, Mary arrives.

At Macy’s, Lily runs into Paula from the club. However, they don’t acknowledge knowing one another, as “[t]he invisible walls of their two different worlds would slide right back in place, and they would return to their separate lives without comment” (273).

Seeing Shirley undressed feels different to Lily now that she has kissed Kath—even though she and Shirley grew up together and she has seen her naked before. Later that day, Lily realizes that all the women she sees at the Telegraph Club have lives like hers where they exist in the city. They could be anyone.

When Lily and Kath return to school, Kath blushes, but they know they can’t talk there about what happened between them. They walk home together, and Lily admits that she can’t stop thinking about their kiss. She asks how long Kath has known she was interested in women, and Kath replies that she has always known Lily was different. Lily explains that Kath made it feel real for her. Kath says that she wants to kiss Lily again, and she wonders where they can go.

It takes several days, but Lily gets the key to the home-economics storage closet on the third floor of the school. Things have been busy with preparations for the Miss Chinatown contest. She and Kath meet after school on Thursday and sneak into the closet. Lily almost panics and leaves, but then she steps closer to Kath and kisses her again. It feels more serious now that they’re doing this at school.

On Friday, Kath tells Lily to meet her the following Wednesday in a teacher’s classroom because she’s taking students bowling again. She adds that the classroom door locks.

On Saturday, Shirley calls Lily to tell her that another contestant has convinced someone to buy thousands of tickets, and now Shirley feels like she can’t win. This frees up Lily from having to sell tickets, so she calls Kath, whose number she finally got. No one answers. However, Lily still tells her mom that she’s selling tickets, and she leaves. She wanders through the city and buys a comb to wear to the Telegraph Club, which makes her think of other things to purchase for her nights out. When she turns to head home, she sees Shirley getting out of a car. The driver’s window opens, and it’s Calvin, who kisses Shirley.

On Wednesday, she meets Kath in the classroom, and they lock the door and close the blinds. They have sex, and Lily feels how close she is to Kath.

Friday night is the dress rehearsal at Shirley’s for the Miss Chinatown pageant. Lily plans to go out to the Telegraph Club with Kath afterward.

Shirley practices her speech. The other girls try to compliment Shirley, but Lily doesn’t really like the speech, feeling that it panders too much to the pageant judge. When Flora asks her opinion, Lily is honest, saying that the judges only care how much money the winner can bring in.

Lily’s parents stay up later than usual because her brother has a fever, and she ends up meeting Kath at the club. The bouncer recognizes her and ushers her in. She spots Kath with Jean and suddenly feels self-conscious wearing a new dress, which will make it clear that she and Kath are an item once she goes over to her.

She pulls Kath into the hallway and explains what kept her before giving her a small toy airplane. They’re startled when Tommy stops singing. The club is being raided. Kath sends Lily ahead, having to go back for her jacket, which has her real ID in it. They agree to meet where they usually do before going to the club.

When Lily gets there, she doesn’t see Kath, and the police continue patrolling. She must go home. Her father hears the noise, but Lily still manages to get into bed, telling him when he opens the door that she couldn’t sleep.