The Gilded Six-Bits

The Gilded Six-Bits Summary | Detailed Summary

The story opens with a description of the house of Joe and Missy May Banks. It is a simple, yet happy home. Missy May just finished her weekly cleaning and is bathing. She knows she must hurry to finish up before her husband gets home from his job at the G. and G. Fertilizer works.

Just as she finishes dressing, she hears "the ring of singing metal on the wood" floor nine times. She grins, knowing that her husband is throwing silver dollars in the door - the same thing he does every Saturday afternoon. After he throws them in, he quickly hides in the bushes outside.

Missy May rushes out the door, playfully demanding to know who is there, and begins searching for Joe. She finally catches him inside the kitchen door and they "rough and tumble" as she searches his pockets for the treats he brought for her: candy kisses, chewing gum, sweet soap and a pocket-handkerchief.

Afterwards, Missy May fixes a bath for Joe and gets dinner ready. They continue their friendly, playful banter throughout the meal. Then, Joe announces that Missy May needs to change into her Sunday clothes because they are going out for the evening - to the brand-new ice cream parlor. He wants Missy May to "be one [of the] first ladies the walk in [there]" and have ice cream. They begin discussing the parlor's owner, Mr. Otis D. Slemmons - a heavy-set man with a mouthful of gold teeth. Joe explains that he is in style and very fashionable. He expresses jealousy for Slemmons' build. Missy May tells Joe that she thinks he is "pritty" just the way he is.

Joe also tells Missy May that all the women like Slemmons wherever he goes; Missy May points out that he could be lying just like anyone else. Joe contradicts her and says that Slemmons has a five-dollar gold stickpin and a ten-dollar gold piece on his watch chain. He wishes it were his money and marvels that women in Chicago supposedly gave Slemmons the money. Slemmons likes to show off the money, but he will not let anyone touch it.

That night on the way home from the ice cream parlor, Joe talks about how "swell" Slemmons is. They like the way he talks and the words he uses. Joe is also proud that Slemmons admires his wife. Missy May talks about his gold money and how nice it would look on Joe. She wishfully talks about neat it would be to "find" some gold along the road.

They go to the parlor on Saturday nights because Joe works the night shift every other night. He leaves around six and gets home around dawn. One night he gets off at eleven because the factory runs out of acid. Joe walks home and thinks about when he and Missy May will have children. He decides to quietly sneak in the front door to surprise Missy May. As he walks in the door, he bumps a pile of dishes and hears a shriek from his wife. He quickly reassures her and then hears a large movement coming from the bedroom. Fearing robbers or murderers, he strikes a match and enters the bedroom. To his surprise, he sees Slemmons, half-dressed and trying frantically to get dressed. All Joe can do is laugh. As he lights a lamp, he hears his wife crying and Slemmons pleading for his life. Joe chases Slemmons out of the house after grabbing his chest and punching him. After he has gone, Joe realizes he is holding Slemmons' broken watch chain and the gold coin charm.

Not knowing what else to do, he puts the coin in his pocket and goes to bed. Missy May is still crying, and Joe asks her why. She says she loves him and is sure he does not love her back. He tells her not to judge his feelings for her. She said she did it because Slemmons promised to give her the gold money. Joe told her not to cry because now she has the money.

Missy May figures for sure that Joe will leave her, and she will not be able to do nice things for him anymore such as fix him meals and clean his house. Joe surprises her, however, when he asks her for breakfast. She fixes it for him, but he refuses to eat. He tells her not to cry so much and not to look back at the past. Missy May does not leave Joe because she still loves him, but she does not know why he stays; he is polite and kind to her, but very distant.

They no longer romp and play with one another and Missy May often wonders what became of the gold coin. One night, three months later, Joe returns home at midnight needing a backrub. Missy May complies, happy to touch her husband again. They are intimate that night. The next morning, as Missy May makes up the bed, she finds the gold coin under her pillow. She realizes it is not even gold, but a gilded half dollar - this explains why Slemmons never let anyone touch his gold. She wonders why Joe had left it there: as a sign that her punishment is over, or as a "payment" for her actions the night before. She puts the coin in his Sunday pants pocket and leaves the house.

As she is walking away, she sees Joe's mother and decides her leaving is admitting defeat. She returns home determined to make Joe leave her. Every ten days or so, Joe comes home in need of a back rub. One morning when he returns from work, Missy May is chopping wood. He takes the ax and chops the wood for her. He tells her it is not appropriate for her to be chopping wood. She protests saying she has been doing it for some time now, anyway. He then says he knows she expecting a baby and that she should not be chopping wood in her condition. She tells him that it will be a boy and it will look just like Joe. He then reaches into his pocket to finger something that is in there (presumably the gold coin).

Almost six months later, Joe returns home from work to find that Missy May has had the baby - a boy. His mother tells him that the baby looks just like him and that Missy May is doing well. Everyday that week, he fools around the house during the day. Right before leaving for work, he goes into the bedroom and asks Missy May how she feels. On Saturday, he goes to the market and buys all the staples they need plus some apples and bananas. He then goes to the candy store. He tosses the coin on the counter and asks for fifty-cents worth of molasses kisses for his wife.

When he gets home, he stands at the kitchen door and tosses fifteen silver dollars through the door. Missy May is not able to walk yet, so she crawls to the door and tells him she is going to find him for that.