The House of Eve

Chapter 2 opens in Washington, DC, in October 1948. Eleanor Quarles’s third-person limited perspective reveals she is a student at Howard University. She has received a letter from her desired sorority, Alpha Beta Chi (ABC), whose members wear lavender scarves. She opens the letter, signed by sorority president Greta Hepburn, and learns she has been rejected. Nadine, Eleanor’s messy roommate, arrives and tells Eleanor that the ABCs only accept pale women with straight hair. While Eleanor heard such rumors, the concept of colorism is still new to her.

Nadine wants Eleanor to go out with her, but Eleanor has work to do; she does not come from money like Nadine does. Eleanor works at the school library to help pay for college. She goes to the library and talks to her boss, Dorothy Porter. It is because of Mrs. Porter that Eleanor has decided to switch from being an English Major to a History Major; she wants to become a library archivist. Eleanor sees the Back, the back of a young man who frequently studies at the library. The Back introduces himself as William Pride, a medical student.

Ruby gets to class and is locked out, having arrived 45 minutes late. After class, she talks to Mrs. Thomas, and she tells her that people like her do not get second chances, so she must work hard and not mess up her chances. Ruby then goes to her Aunt Marie’s house because she does not want to go home. When she gets there, she learns her mother dropped her belongings off. Aunt Marie is welcoming, but needs to leave to perform at a club called Kiki’s. She wears men’s clothes for her evening’s work and offers to talk to Ruby’s teacher, but Ruby does not want her to.

Aunt Marie leaves, and Ruby paints, her favorite pastime. A Jewish boy, Shimmy Shapiro, arrives to look at Aunt Marie’s sink. Ruby shows Shimmy her painting, and he understands the work’s sadness. He tells her that he works at Greenwald’s candy store and that she should stop by.

Eleanor wears lavender perfume to prepare for an evening with Nadine. As they leave, the dorm matron prompts them to behave properly while they are out. They go to Club Bali, and Eleanor sees William there. He asks her to dance; the ABCs also enter and dance. William gives Eleanor an Orange Crush, and Greta makes her move. She mentions Eleanor’s rejection letter and asks William to get her a drink; when he leaves, she tells Eleanor that her family and William’s are close. Greta spills Orange Crush on Eleanor and pretends it was an accident. Greta and William dance, and Eleanor leaves, believing she does not belong with William.

Aunt Marie returns home with a black eye, and says that the management of Kiki’s is not doing enough for her kind of people—“the kind that wore what they wanted and kissed who they wanted” (39). Through exposition, it is revealed that Grandma Nene raised Ruby until she was in third grade. At this point, Nene became blind, and Inez was revealed to be Ruby’s real mother, and Ruby went to live with her. Neither Inez nor Ruby liked their new circumstances. Whenever Inez’s boyfriends became attracted to Ruby, she would be spanked and sent to live with Aunt Marie until Inez calmed down.

Ruby goes outside to run errands and is catcalled. She is uncertain whether or not to go to the white-owned Greenwald’s candy store (as Aunt Marie wouldn’t approve), but does. Shimmy welcomes Ruby, and she takes a seat. A white woman walks in and gives Ruby a dirty look, and as the woman leaves, she warns Shimmy that “some people” are a risk to “good Jewish boys” like him (45). Ruby wants to leave, but Shimmy convinces her to stay. They listen to music when Mr. Greenwald comes in, angry about Shimmy playing music. A shaken Ruby leaves but not before she hears Mr. Greenwald tell Shimmy that while he can serve Black people, he cannot allow them to sit at a table. Days later, Ruby sees Shimmy, and he has bought her lavender paint. He wants to meet up with her again, and says he can make it happen.

Eleanor receives a note from her college’s bursar, as she is late on her tuition. She does not want her parents to know because they already work hard for her sake. The bursar gets her a job at Ware’s, a department store. Eleanor goes to the library, and William is there. He asks her to see a show with him at the Lincoln Theater, and she agrees.

Nadine is excited about William’s invitation and gives Eleanor a lavender dress to wear. William picks Eleanor up in a fancy car, and she tells him that she is from a small town in Ohio called Elyria. Eleanor is mesmerized by the show, and afterwards, William takes her to a ballroom to dance. As the evening comes to an end, he promises to pick her up after her Ware’s shift the next day.

Ruby and Aunt Marie spend all day cleaning their home. When Aunt Marie leaves, Ruby leaves to see Shimmy without telling her aunt. When she gets to Shimmy’s car, she hides in the back so no one sees her. They park, and Ruby tells Shimmy that she wants to be an optometrist, so she can help people like her grandmother. He tells her that he did not know “colored” people could be doctors, and she corrects him—as the word “colored” is painful and the word “Negro” is more appropriate. Outside, a concert is playing, and Shimmy tells Ruby that his grandfather used to bring them to listen to the concert from a distance when they could not afford tickets. Shimmy acts as the man of the house when his father is not around, as his father is frequently drunk. Shimmy tells Ruby that he wants to be an accountant when he grows up. When Ruby returns home, Aunt Marie is upset that she was with Shimmy and forbids her from leaving without permission.