Lives of Girls and Women

As a high school freshman, Del takes an interest in her sexuality as well as the lives of the women around her. Naomi and Del discuss Fern’s past, and Naomi reveals that Fern previously had a child, which caused her to be kicked out of the conservatory she was attending at the time. During this conversation, Del learns a rumor regarding Fern and a potential sexual partner, Art Chamberlain, who works for the local radio station. Alongside this rumor, Del notes that Art spends a lot of time at their house in Jubilee, despite her mother being insistent that they are just friends. However, Del recognizes that her mother’s “clarifying tone” must be used to “insist that the word friend in this case meant more than it was supposed to mean” (161-62). Ada condemns Del for listening to these rumors from Naomi; Del also reveals that Naomi cannot come to her house due to her “sexual preoccupation” and that she is not allowed at Naomi’s house because of her atheism. Del confesses that she spends a lot of time with Naomi discussing sex and sexuality but that their