“Just some water, thanks,” she tells him. She’s had more than enough to drink tonight and the exhaustion is now hitting her. “If I don’t call her, she’ll think I’m dead in a ditch,” Midge continues as an explanation. She hadn’t anticipated how this night would go and that she wouldn’t be home.

Sitting down at the small desk that held the phone, Midge dials the rotary and listens to it ring.

“Hello? Mama? It’s me…. Yes, I’m fine… I’m just letting you know that I won’t be home until tomorrow morning.”

She awaits the inevitable judgement in her mother’s response.