Tales of the City

Michael wakes and brushes his teeth. He slips back into bed and, just as Jon is about to go to brush his own teeth, Mona knocks. Moments later, she enters with coffee and croissants. After she leaves, Jon says he likes Mona and asks whether Michael and her have ever been together. “‘Never’” (102), Michael says. When Jon leaves, Michael is “abuzz” (103). Jon is a gynecologist, and Michael is smitten, but he assures Mona that—somehow—he will “‘screw this up’” (103). 

As Frannie prepares for her party, the conductor—who is the guest of honor—is lost. She worries about how the evening will be received. Beauchamp and DeDe arrive late, and he crosses the room to talk to Splinter, dragging her behind him. DeDe is sure that Splinter had told his wife, Oona, about her phone call. Later, Oona gives her sympathies to DeDe concerning her “‘ordeal’” (105) with the grocery boy. 

Frannie panics and believes her guests are laughing at her. Edgar is not much help to her, and she deplores that he has to be “‘such a philistine’” (106). Beauchamp chats with Peter Cipriani about drugs and women. DeDe talks to her friend about various infidelities within their social circle. Edgar approaches DeDe and asks her for help. Frannie has locked herself in the bathroom. She only opens the door when she hears the gossip columnist is dedicating nine inches of his column to her. 

While Frannie corners the columnist, Edgar calls Mrs. Madrigal. He apologizes for firing Mona, and they agree to visit the beach again during the week.

Mona sits on the sofa as Michael arrives home. He has been at “‘the tubs’” (108) without Jon as “‘[i]t isn’t good to put all your eggs in one basket’” (108). He tells her the story of who he saw that evening: Nigel Huxtable, the conductor who was supposed to be at Frannie’s party. Nigel invited Michael into his room at the tubs, but Michael fled the room.  

Mary Ann is unhappy at her job. Her dates with Beauchamp have dried up. One evening, Michael arrives at her apartment with a home-cooked dinner. They eat together and talk about their relationships. Mary Ann confesses that she is thinking of returning to Cleveland. “‘That is death’” (112), Michael tells her, and leads her to the sofa so they can have a talk. 

Mary Ann uneasily offers Michael a drink as he gives her advice. She complains about the lack of stability in San Francisco, compared to Cleveland. When the phone rings, Michael leaps up and answers, “‘The boring residence of Mary Ann Singleton’” (113). Mary Ann’s mom is on the phone and tells her that it is time to come home. She eventually gets her mother off the phone by revealing that Michael is gay, and he beams at her from the sofa. Later, Mona encourages Mary Ann to “‘make things work’” (114) and gives her an address.  

Edgar and Mrs. Madrigal walk along the beach and talk about Mona, as well as Beauchamp. Mrs. Madrigal forbids Edgar from telling anyone about their affair, especially Mary Ann or Mona. Taking a blanket from the car, they huddle “together behind a sand dune” (116) and Anna confesses that she cannot abide flowers, due to superstitions that stem from her being raised in a brothel. 

Mary Ann arrives at the Bay Area Crisis Switchboard to volunteer and feels weird. She has called ahead, and a man named Vincent welcomes her inside. At the switchboard, they listen to suicidal people as well as the “‘loonies […] who just call to talk’” (117). The work can be either very rewarding or tiresome, he tells her. Awkwardly, Mary Ann prepares for a shift. 

Michael and Jon walk along a pier after watching a film. Michael shares his childhood dream of owning a chimpanzee and how he and a former partner managed to eventually own “‘a teenaged chimp named Andrew’” (119). One day, they tried to mate Andrew with a female chimp, but Andrew was not interested. Michael jokes about Andrew being “‘queer as a goddamn three-dollar bill’” (120). Jon asks Michael whether he always makes up stores. Michael replies that he does and quotes A Streetcar Named Desire. 

At the beach, Mrs. Madrigal tickles Edgar. They playfully run along the beach until he tells her to slow down. Edgar confesses that he is dying; Anna admits that she had her suspicions.

Later that evening, as Anna soaks in a bath, a visitor buzzes her door asking for Mary Ann. The mysterious visitor is a young woman who looks “like Edgar” (122). 

At first, Mary Ann does not recognize DeDe because she has “gained so much weight” (123). In Mary Ann’s apartment, DeDe says that she is “‘not here to make a scene’” (123) and produces the scarf she found in Beauchamp’s car. Mary Ann confesses to being with Beauchamp only once because she felt sorry for him. DeDe leaves, and Mary Ann tries to assure her that she was not with Beauchamp during his recent periods away. DeDe believes her and goes home to read her mail. There is a letter from her friend, Binky, who is at a “fat farm” (124). Beauchamp walks in, and DeDe glowers at him.  

Mary Ann is surprised to see a costumed Michael, dressed as the “‘Great God Pan’” (126). They enter her apartment and discuss the building’s new tenant, who lives in the small apartment on the roof. Michael invites her out, but Mary Ann is working at the switchboard. She tells him to be careful when walking to the party.