Cathedral

Marge, the property manager of an Arizona apartment building, watches as a family from Minnesota pulls up in a dirty station wagon loaded with what she and her husband Harley later realize are all of their remaining belongings after the bank repossessed their farm. It’s over a hundred degrees outside. The couple leaves their two teenage sons in the car and comes to the door to inquire about renting an apartment. The man introduces himself as Holits. His wife Betty, meanwhile, stays silent and averts her eyes. She notices the stylist chair, and Marge notes, “I do hair” (171). Marge grabs the key for one of the units and leads the couple outside. She asks about Holits’s profession, and Betty speaks up to say that he is a farmer. Holits adds that he isn’t a farmer anymore, and Marge comments that there isn’t a lot of farming in Arizona. Betty talks about their farm in Minnesota, explaining that Holits is an expert on horses.

Marge understands that Holits is unemployed, which she considers none of her business. She shows them the apartment, which overlooks the swimming pool, and they quickly agree to take it. Holits pays the deposit and rent in fifty-dollar bills and Marge gives him the keys. The family unpacks the car, and Marge sees them unload a bridle. Harley enters and comments that the family from Minnesota are far from home. He refers to them as Swedes, although Marge tells him that they are not Swedish. Marge adds that they’re farmers, but Harley loses interest, engrossed in the television. The next day, the two boys wash the car and Betty drives off, dressed up and presumably searching for a job. The boys go to the pool, where two other residents lounge: Spuds, who is newly married to a woman named Linda, and Connie Nova, a cocktail waitress who was engaged to an alcoholic lawyer but now lives with Rick, a college student with long hair.

A week passes, and Betty gets a job waiting tables at an Italian restaurant. Holits never leaves the apartment, and the boys spend their days at the pool. One day, Betty asks Marge to dye her hair between shifts at the restaurant. Marge works on her hair and then offers her a free manicure. Betty talks about her life: The two boys belong to Holits and his first wife, but she abandoned them and never returned. Betty says that she loves them as much as if she gave birth to them.

In Minnesota, Holits bought a racehorse. He named the horse Fast Betty as a joke, but the horse did nothing but lose while Holits bet and lost more and more money until the bank took their farm. Betty remembers a high school guidance counselor who was the same age that Betty is now. She asked Betty about her dreams, and Betty just stared at her and thought about how old the woman was, stating, “I knew her life was half over. And I felt like I knew something she didn’t. Something she’d never know” (180). Betty adds that if someone asked her now, she’d say, “Dreams, you know, are what you wake up from” (181) but that no one would ask her about her dreams now. When Marge starts to tell Betty about her life with Harley, Harley enters, and she stops talking.

Betty and her husband become friends with Connie, Spuds, and their partners. Late one Saturday night, Marge sees them all at the pool, although the apartment rules state that the pool is closed at that hour. She expects Harley to wake up and tell them to leave, but he stays asleep. Betty wears her waitress uniform, but the rest are in bathing suits and drinking. Suddenly, Holits climbs up onto the roof of the pool cabana. Betty begs him to come down, but the others encourage him to jump. Marge quickly heads out to stop him, but Holits jumps and misses the pool. He slams into the deck, and they all rush toward him. Holits has a large gash on his face and is disoriented. Marge intervenes and tells Betty to take him to the hospital, but Betty just shakes her head. She is the only one who is sober. Nonsensically, Holits repeats the phrase, “I can’t go it” (184). Marge insists that he needs medical attention and snaps at the rest of them to go home. The couples pile into one car and take him to the emergency room, while other tenants shout from their windows for them to go to bed.

For a while, Marge sees neither Holits nor Betty. When she finally sees Holits, he looks at her as if he has no idea who she is. He does the same to Harley, and Harley wonders what happened to his head, but Marge doesn’t tell him. A few days later, Marge sees Holits’s family pack the car. Betty sends her a note apologizing because they have to move out. She gives a forwarding address for the deposit and asks if they might receive a refund for the rest of the month’s rent. Then, she thanks Marge for dyeing her hair. Harley criticizes them and comments that they’ll never see their deposit from the owners because they broke their lease. Connie and Spuds wave at Holits. He waves back and then continues waving for too long until Betty stops him. The family drives away, and Marge goes in to clean their apartment. She appreciates that Betty left the place spotless. They also left the bridle, whether on purpose or by accident. Marge looks at it and thinks, “If you had to wear this thing between your teeth, I guess you’d catch on in a hurry. When you felt it pull, you’d know it was time. You’d know you were going somewhere” (188).