Chapter 37: Vernice

Returning to 455 Veltre Circle after the police raid on the clandestine clinic, Vernice, Annie, and Babydoll find the McHenry household already informed. The living room fills with judgment and worry: Franklin’s anger is protective, Mr. McHenry’s is scalding, and Mrs. McHenry’s is sorrowful and firm. Marylinda, ashamed, sits apart.

Marylinda had arrived earlier with news of the raid; Mrs. McHenry extracted the facts and summoned the men. Through their contacts, Franklin and Mr. McHenry learn that the doctor, a nurse, two women, and a man who fought with a broom were arrested; the patient was taken to Grady hospital. Mr. McHenry presses about the Cadillac’s visibility; Babydoll says they parked by the big church with the beer sign for Jesus, easing some immediate fear.

Tension spikes as Mrs. McHenry insists she had already told Vernice what should be done, while Franklin argues that hypothetical dangers cannot govern the conversation. Annie, shaken, asks them to stop. The room’s laughter from Marylinda and Babydoll reads as brittle, masking grief and stress.

Afterward, Vernice writes to Annie. Feeling she has failed her friend and pressured by her in-laws to protect the McHenry name, she decides they must leave. She explains Franklin’s burden to prove himself and her regret for embarrassing him. Vernice instructs Annie and Babydoll to go to Lulabelle, whose shameless independence makes her a powerful ally, and to take Franklin’s Cadillac—keys on the third peg—departing before dawn. She includes money and dirt from her yard, promising to shield them from repercussions.