Maddie and Ferdie's Affair

This flow follows the secret relationship between Maddie Schwartz and Ferdie Platt from first suspicion to public goodbye.

increasingBearing stren­gth in each eventdecreasing

Initial Lie

Initial Lie Maddie falsely reports a burglary, and Patrolman Ferdie Platt responds. His keen eyes study the apartment and the African violet, and Maddie realizes she has been seen too clearly. Context The report is a lie, but Ferdie treats Maddie with professional courtesy and then with personal interest. He buys her a soda and tells her she does not belong in the Gist Avenue neighborhood. Significance The staged burglary creates an immediate intimacy between them. Maddie will later learn that Ferdie knew about the lie from the beginning, making the affair an act of mutual conspiracy.

Gist Avenue Seduction

Gist Avenue Seduction Ferdie returns to inspect the sliding door and finds Maddie waiting. They have sex on her bed, barely taking off their clothes, and she feels alive in a way she has not felt for years. Context Maddie is still technically married, and the affair must remain secret. Ferdie is a Negro patrolman, which makes public exposure dangerous for them both. Significance The affair teaches Maddie that her sexuality is her own. It also begins a hidden life that will color every choice she makes.

Kitchen Magician's Hair

Kitchen Magician's Hair Ferdie arranges for a woman in his neighborhood to iron Maddie's hair. Maddie loves the sleek result but feels she has surrendered part of herself. Context The straightened hair makes her look like a television actress and changes how men treat her on the street. It also marks a physical transformation that sets her apart from her old Pikesville world. Significance Maddie begins performing a new version of herself for Ferdie. The kitchen magician's work is a cosmetic lie, and it deepens Maddie's understanding of identity as something manufactured.

Fire Escape Visitor

Fire Escape Visitor Maddie hears a sound like sleet and finds Ferdie on her fire escape. He is out of uniform, having driven by and seen the light on, and their meeting becomes a night of urgency. Context The fire escape gives Ferdie a private entrance to her apartment at Mulberry and Cathedral. Maddie learns to leave the window unlocked, and their world shrinks to the bedroom. Significance The fire escape becomes a symbol of the affair's secrecy and its risk. Anyone could see him, and someone eventually does.

Ballpark Strangers

Ballpark Strangers Bob Bauer gives Maddie two Orioles tickets, and she brings Ferdie to Memorial Stadium, where they pretend to be strangers who happen to be seated together. Ferdie is the only Negro in their section. Context Ferdie loves baseball and cannot hide his joy when the Orioles rally. Maddie watches him, learning more about him in an afternoon than she has learned in months of midnight visits. Significance The game is a stolen taste of ordinary couplehood. It also exposes the impossibility of public love for a white woman and a Negro patrolman in 1966 Baltimore.

Sunrise Goodbye

Sunrise Goodbye Ferdie comes to Maddie's apartment for the last time, having resigned from the police department because of their affair. He confesses he loves her, but Maddie cannot say the words back. Context He stays until dawn for the first time. They make love and then walk downstairs together in full view of the cathedral, a public good-night that would have been impossible before. Significance The goodbye is an act of courage and a recognition of limits. Maddie loses the man who helped her become herself, and she will spend decades wondering if she made the right choice.

January 1966

February 1966

February 1966

a spring night in 1966

July 1966

November 1966