Tales of the City

Mona embarks on a “secret plan to reunite D’orothea with her parents” (237). She tracks down D’orothea’s father to a Twinkie factory in Oakland and decides to go and meet him. Mona cooks dinner for D’orothea and lies about where she is going that night. Hours later, she arrives at the factory and asks to see Leroy, the man she suspects to be D’orothea’s father. However, Leroy is white. 

Edgar and Mrs. Madrigal trudge “up a dark mountainside” (239). At the summit, Edgar reveals that he received a mysterious telephone call earlier in the day from a man who “‘wants to talk about madrigals’” (239). He suspects blackmail but is unconcerned. He and the man will meet on Christmas Eve. Edgar is so unconcerned that he asks Mrs. Madrigal to go away with him, “‘[a]ny place you want’” (240). She is upset and admits that “I love you with all my heart, but I’m a liar” (241). 

Mona stares at Leroy. Before he turns back into the factory, she asks whether he has a daughter named Dorothy. He does. When Mona probes, she decides that “the sophisticated Miss D’orothea Wilson was the product of a lower-class interracial marriage. And it bugged the hell out of [D’orothea]” (242). Leroy invites Mona into the Twinkie factory, and they share a cup of coffee. She invites Leroy and his wife for dinner during the week. When Leroy is reluctant, Mona reveals that her own father left when she was just a baby. He agrees to dinner on Christmas Eve. 

Brian calls the home of Candi and Cheryl, inviting the latter to Mrs. Madrigal’s Christmas Eve party. She declines, stating her regret that Brian has to be alone. He invites Connie, and she agrees. 

Beauchamp meets Jon in the tiny back courtyard of a restaurant. As they talk, Jon believes their meeting is a bad idea. Beauchamp thinks otherwise. They both order the shepherd’s pie, and Beauchamp chides Jon for remarking on the waiter’s good looks. Jon believes that “‘this should be […] it’” (247) as he cannot trust Beauchamp. He reveals to Beauchamp that DeDe is pregnant. Jon pays for the food and leaves without eating. 

Edgar endures the cramps and looks at himself in the mirror, thinking about his “bum kidneys” (249). Mary Ann buzzes him to tell him that the mailboy has been caught “‘Xeroxing his privates’” (249). Edgar laughs so hard he has a coughing jag. He and Mary Ann laugh together: the mailboy has a reputation for this behavior and leaves the photocopies on the secretaries’ desks. Frannie calls him to complain that she has been caught stealing labels from a department store. He calls Mrs. Madrigal; he wants to see her the next day for breakfast. 

Michael phones Mona on the night before Christmas Eve. He invites her to Mrs. Madrigal’s party, but Mona reveals her dinner plans. Michael suggests that Mona call Mrs. Madrigal, who possibly thinks that Mona is “‘bummed out with her’” (252). Mona goes on to reveal that she thinks D’orothea has a drug problem due to unidentified pills in the house.

Mary Ann thinks about Norman, who has been distant in recent days. She sneaks into his house while he is away. 

Edgar and Mrs. Madrigal walk through Bohemian Grove. He takes her to a chalet where he stayed in his younger days and tells her, “‘If this were the old days, we could run away together to the wilds’” (255). They talk about Edgar’s meeting, and Mrs. Madrigal reveals that she knows that it was Norman, her tenant. She invites Edgar to her party. 

Mary Ann’s morning is a “hellish blur of remembered images” (257). She catches the first cab she can and has it take her to any museum. She drinks three cups of coffee and makes a phone call. When Norman answers, he sounds “very drunk” (257). He agrees to meet her at the museum. When he arrives, they take a walk. When they are in a private place, she tells him that she knows “about the pictures” (258). She lists off the names “‘Tender Tots’” (258) and “‘Buxom Babies’” (258) and says that she knows “‘about you and Lexy, Norman!’” (258). 

Ten minutes before D’orothea’s parents arrive, D’orothea still does not know they are coming. As D’orothea talks, Mona asks her to “‘try to act human’” (259). The Wilsons arrive late. Mona prays before they ring the bell. When the door opens, Leroy exclaims at seeing his daughter. D’orothea “stood frozen on the landing” (259) and then runs away, crying. Both of her parents are white. D’orothea weeps in Mona’s arms. She reveals that she has been wearing dark makeup for years and has been taking pills designed for people with vitiligo to darken her skin. She had planned to “‘go white’” (260) after moving back to San Francisco, but had not expected events to transpire as they had. 

Norman is “almost running now, lurching recklessly toward the cypresses on the edge of the rise” (261). Mary Ann calls him sick and demands an explanation for the photographs. Norman staggers at the top of the cliff. He dismisses the photographs and says that Lexy’s parents know; he is her agent. He is also in the magazines and “‘a few movies too’” because “‘she won’t do it with anybody else’” (261). Norman stumbles away, slips, and falls off a cliff. Mary Ann tries to save him but is left holding his clip-on tie. She phones for directions home to Barbary Lane. 

Connie and Brian wait for Mary Ann at Mrs. Madrigal’s party. They discuss Mary Ann’s absence with Michael. Michael hands Brian a small present wrapped in tin foil. He opens it to find a “heavy brass ring” (263) and tells Connie that it is a tree ornament. Mona arrives. D’orothea is back in Oakland, “‘having a White Christmas with her parents’” (264). 

Mary Ann finally arrives and apologizes to Mrs. Madrigal for her late arrival. She claims not to have seen Norman in days. Mrs. Madrigal kisses Mary Ann on the cheek and leaves the room, apparently crying. Mona arrives to find Mrs. Madrigal in tears. She apologizes for falling out of touch, and Mrs. Madrigal thanks her. Mona wants to move back into the building, and Mrs. Madrigal welcomes her. When asked about her friend who was due to arrive, Mrs. Madrigal says that “‘he’s not coming, dear. He’s already left us’” (265). At his house, Edgar lies in bed, “his skin so pale that it seemed translucent” (266). DeDe reveals to her father that she and Beauchamp are going to have a baby. If it’s a girl, he says, “‘name her Anna’” (266). 

Mary Ann and Michael cross the bridge on New Year’s Day. He teases her about “‘being an accomplice’” (267) and wants to see where it happened. Norman’s body has not yet been found. Mary Ann reveals to Michael that Norman “‘wasn’t just a pornographer […] he was a private eye’” (267). Norman was investigating Mrs. Madrigal, but Mary Ann burned his findings in a trash can before the party. At the same time, “a woman in a paisley turban” (268) lays a joint on a freshly laid grave.