Faye
Faye is the warm, motherly madam of a brothel in Salinas, a woman whose establishment becomes a refuge for young men and a reassurer of misbegotten husbands. She is not very bright, but she is highly moral, easily shocked, and deeply trusting. People trust her, and she trusts everyone. No one could want to hurt Faye once they know her. Her house is a third phase in the town's brothel culture, distinct from the tavern bacchanalianism of Jenny's and the dark, awful dignity of the Nigger's Long Green. Faye is a bosom to cry on, a soother and a stroker, and her house leads the youths of Salinas into the thorny path of sex in the pinkest, smoothest way. She is a nice woman, and she runs a hell of a fine house, as the constable and the sheriff know. Faye contributes heavily to every charity and pays for regular inspection of her girls, so that a man has less chance of contracting a difficulty at her place than with his Sunday School teacher. She soon becomes a solid and desirable citizen of the growing town of Salinas.
The Arrival of Kate and the Growing Bond
The girl Kate puzzles Faye—she is so young and pretty, so lady-like, so well educated. Faye takes her into her own inviolate bedroom and questions her far more than she would if Kate had been another kind of girl. Kate explains that the happiness of someone very near and dear to her is involved, and Faye, who has known such things, accepts this. Faye is not bright, but she is far from stupid; she goes to the sheriff and gets herself cleared, knowing something is wrong about Kate but deciding that if it doesn't harm the house, it really isn't her business. Kate puts herself out to be pleasant, helping the other girls, serving them when they are sick, listening to their troubles, and loaning them money. She becomes best friend to everyone in the house. Faye realizes she has a treasure. Kate offers to help with the marketing and planning of meals, and not only does the food improve, but the grocery bills come down one-third the first month she takes over. The laundry bill suddenly drops twenty-five percent. Faye doesn't see how she ever got along without Kate. By the time a year has passed, Faye and Kate are like mother and daughter. The girls say, "You watch—she'll own this house some day." Gradually, a perfectly natural thing happens: Faye, the essence of motherness, begins to think of Kate as her daughter. She feels this in her breast and in her emotions, and her natural morality takes hold. She does not want her daughter to be a whore.
The Will and the Party
Faye decides to make Kate her heir. She has a will drawn up, elegantly written with shaded letters, witnessed by the cook, that leaves all her worldly goods without exception to Kate because she regards her as her daughter. She presents this will to Kate during a surprise party in her room, decorated with Japanese lanterns and red crepe paper, with a big white cake and a magnum of champagne. Faye tells Kate that she has cash and securities in excess of sixty thousand dollars. When Kate worries about kin coming to break the will, Faye assures her she has no folks, no kin, and that she doesn't even use the name she was born with. The two sit in warmth, with Kate putting her cheek on Faye's knee and Faye stroking Kate's cheek and hair. Faye says she has never been so happy before, and that she now feels safe.
The Drunken Revelation and the Nightmare
Faye insists they drink the champagne, and Kate, who knows alcohol poisons her, is forced to drink. The wine breaks through Kate's carefully built barriers, and her true, cruel nature emerges. She calls Faye a "nasty fat worm" and reveals her sadistic practices with her regulars, describing the heelmarks on the groin and the little cuts that bleed for a long time, and the sweet set of razors she keeps. She tells Faye that the whole house is going to be like that, with the price going up to twenty dollars, and that they will catch the blood on white silk handkerchiefs. Faye begins to scream, and Kate cups a hard hand over her mouth. Faye whispers that she wants Kate out of the house, but Kate forces her to drink paregoric until she falls asleep, snoring thickly. Kate then uses ammonia and an ivory crochet hook to manipulate Faye's sleep, creating a nightmare state. She pours cold water in Faye's ear to wake her screaming, and then plays the role of the concerned daughter, comforting her. Faye is left with a look of horror in her eyes, and she is never really well again.
The Slow Decline and Death
After the nightmare, Faye is quiet and depressed. Kate knows she is being watched. Faye suggests they go to Europe, and Kate agrees enthusiastically, which restores Faye's trust. Kate then begins a slow poisoning, using croton oil and nux vomica, causing Faye to suffer from violent bouts of illness that are attributed to botulism from home-canned string beans. Faye's heart weakens from the strain. Dr. Wilde tells Kate that Faye's heart just can't take the strain, and that she is all torn up inside. Kate nurses Faye with apparent devotion, bathing her and brushing her hair. In the end, she administers a final dose of poison, squeezing fluid far back on Faye's tongue. Faye dies, and Kate, after a period of violent grief and stupor, inherits the house and the money. The will is forgotten until one of the other girls finally remembers it.
