This is Bossy’s mom and she’s two. Life is good for baby. A while back her little family moved from the apartment house with a shared bath and grand porch into Westfield Acres, a low-income housing development. The squat brick buildings are situated around open courtyards with a playground, gardens, and walkways that lead to the baby’s patio apartment.
Three buses stop directly in front of the development. For five cents Bert and the baby can take the bus to hang out with Bert’s sister Jenny or her friend Mary, who both live across town—or for an additional ten cents they can ride across the bridge into Philadelphia.
The apartment is $23 a month and comes with the latest advances, like an electric range and asphalt tile floors. It’s roomy and Walt can tinker around with his many projects. One day he and Bert varnish their handmade wooden furniture. For the remainder of that week the baby is all, “Bornitch! Bornitch! Bornitch!” It takes them a few days to figure out she’s trying to say ‘varnish’, but when they do they laugh like hell.
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