Debbie and Julie

Debbie and Julie Summary | Detailed Summary

As this story begins, Julie, the story's main character, is in labor. Discovering that she was pregnant five months earlier, she has run away from home and made her way to London, where she was taken in by a prostitute named Debbie. Although Debbie had promised Julie that she would help her give birth to the baby, when the time finally arrives, Debbie is out of the country, and Julie is alone to manage the birth.

As Julie prepares to leave Debbie's apartment, she is puzzled by the fact that no one there seems to realize that she is pregnant. Her water has broken, soaking her clothes, and her face is flushed with pain. Even so, the other people in the apartment do not seem to notice her or her predicament.

Julie leaves the apartment briefly and then returns to retrieve more towels that she adds to the bag that she had prepared for this occasion. As she retrieves the towels, Julie recalls the day she met Debbie; she had just arrived in London alone and scared. Rather than sending her home, Debbie had taken her in and from that day forward, had shared her home and possessions with Julie and even made sure Julie had proper medical care.

Satisfied that she has everything she needs, Julie leaves the apartment and heads down to the street to catch the bus. It is evening and there is a cold rain falling. Exiting the bus three stops later, she makes her way to an abandoned shed. As she walks toward the shed, she is surprised and frightened to find a dog near the shed's entrance. Although the dog seems at first to be vicious, Julie knows from the continual trickle of water running down her legs and throbbing pain in her back that she has little time to waste. In an effort to scare the dog, she throws a brick at it, but this only causes the animal to retreat inside the shed. Julie follows and is relieved to find that the dog is a mangy, malnourished stray that will most likely not harm her.

Next, Julie begins the process of preparing for the baby's birth. As she spreads out a blanket that she had left during an earlier visit to the shed, her thoughts turn again to Debbie. She is disappointed that Debbie was not with her, especially since she had assured her that she would. Julie's thoughts are quickly interrupted by another wave of pain and soon, the baby is born.

As the baby lay on the floor, Julie begins the process of cutting the umbilical cord. As she does this, the dog looks on, its appetite made even more intense by the smell of blood. After cutting the cord, Julie turns her attention to the baby who, up to this point, has not made a sound. She wraps the baby in one of the towels she had packed and as she lifts the baby girl, from the ground, she hears her daughter's first cry.

Julie is unnerved by the baby's cries and is not sure what to do. She does know from the books she has read that she cannot leave the shed until she delivers the afterbirth. This happens a few minutes later, and the dog quickly eats it. As Julie prepares to leave the shed, she contemplates leaving the baby, but knowing the dog would likely eat her, she quickly dismisses the idea. Therefore, she hides the baby in her coat and goes back into the cold, rainy night.

Julie walks directly to a telephone box that she had found when she planned the place of her baby's birth. Quickly checking the surrounding area, she is satisfied that there is no one around, and so she places the baby on the floor of the telephone box and walks away.

Julie makes her way to a nearby pub and goes directly to the ladies room the wash up. When she finishes, she goes to the bar, orders a drink and then goes to a window where she can clearly see the telephone box. Before long, a young couple walking by the telephone box notices the baby. They stop, and while the young lady comforts the baby, her male companion telephones for an ambulance. The ambulance arrives and takes the baby and the young couple to the hospital. As the ambulance pulls away, Julie leaves the pub.

As Julie returns to the cold, rainy street, her thoughts turn once again to Debbie and she wonders where her friend is. Debbie and many of the women who frequently come to her apartment travel with their clients quite often, something that Debbie tells Julie she too will be able to do some day. For now, Julie only wants to go home and so she goes to the Underground train station and to begin her journey.

Drawing closer to her home, she discards her blood soaked coat and hopes that her disheveled appearance does not betray her. When she reaches her parents' home, she rings the bell. Before long, her father answers the door, and because he is startled to see her, he calls for his wife. Julie's mother - Anne - comes to the door and ushers Julie inside. Julie's father - Len - noticing that Julie is cold and wet, tells Anne to get her a cup of tea.

As Julie sits waiting for her tea, she realizes that the ordeal of childbirth has left her in pain. She also notices that her parents remain physically distant from each other and from her. As they sit in the family's living room, Julie's parents assure her that they will not ask her questions regarding her disappearance. Their dismissive attitude angers Julie and she senses a familiar feeling of irritation toward her parents.

Desperate for a bath, Julie tells her mother that she fell in the street and wants to clean up. Anne tells her to go for a bath while she makes Julie some sandwiches. Julie goes to her bedroom, finds some clean clothes and then goes to the bathroom for her bath. As she dresses, she realizes that soon her breasts will become engorged with milk. She knows that she will be able to keep this development from her parents as well since they have long respected her privacy. Again, her thoughts turn to Debbie and the casual atmosphere of her apartment. Finding that she is near tears, Julie admonishes herself to not cry.

Julie notices that her parents have been crying when she returns downstairs. She devours the two sandwiches her mother made and Anne, thinking that Julie has not had enough to eat, goes to the kitchen to get bread, jam and more tea. As she eats, Julie tells her parents that she has spent the last five months with "a girl" named Debbie. She assures her parents that she has been well taken care of.

When Len expresses surprise that Julie has been with a girl rather than a boy as they had assumed, Julie assures them that she has indeed been with a girl this entire time. As she does this, her mind wanders back to the incident that resulted in her pregnancy and ensuing decision to leave home. Her thoughts are interrupted by Anne who asks Julie if she will return to school. Julie says she will and then once again gets lost in her thoughts, wondering if she should tell her parents more about her disappearance.

As she watched her parents, she yearns to be held and comforted by her mother, yet she knows that this is not something that her parents are comfortable doing. In contrast to the demonstrative people living in Debbie's apartment, Julie's parents are methodical people who seem to thrive on routine and regular habits.

Once again, Julie's thoughts turn to her time spent with Debbie. While Julie is aware that Debbie has had a hard life, she is not fully aware of the circumstances and she wonders if Debbie originally arrived in London alone, scared and pregnant, just like her. Then, her thoughts turn to the nights she spent being comforted by Debbie in Debbie's bed. Again, she compares this to her parents who spend their nights in separate beds.

As Julie's thoughts return to her immediate surroundings, she notices that her parents have turned on the television and are watching the late news. One of the stories is about the discovery of Julie's baby girl in the telephone box. In an effort to distract her parents' attention from this story, she asks why the family does not own a dog while her father wonders aloud how Jessie, Julie's aunt, feels when she hears stories about abandoned babies. After some prompting, Len tells Julie that Jessie had become pregnant at age seventeen and despite her parents' protests, decided to keep the baby. Len says that he and Anne had feared that the same thing happened to Julie and that is why she left home. Julie asks what happened to the baby and is surprised to find that it is her cousin Freda.

Julie eventually leaves her parents to go to bed. She is confused and realizes that she could have come home with her baby, and in the end, her parents would probably have let her stay. She calls out to Debbie, asking her for guidance. Then, her thoughts turn toward the future. Julie decides that when she finishes school, she will go to London, get a job and find her baby. Then, realizing that this is probably a silly idea, her thoughts turn to her Aunt Jessie's house and how much she enjoys spending time there. She realizes perhaps for the first time, how similar it is to Debbie's apartment.

Julie finally realizes that if she brings her baby home, she will not be able to leave again until she marries. Therefore, she decides to finish school and then leave home to live in London. She knows that she will be fine; she managed to hide her pregnancy from her apartment-mates as well as her parents, and she gave birth by herself and made sure her baby was cared for. Just before falling asleep, Julie finally realizes that she can do whatever she sets her mind to.