The Eatonville Anthology by Zora Neale Hurston

Mrs. Clarke is Joe Clarke's wife. She is a soft-looking, middle-aged / woman, whose bust and stomach are always holding a get-together.

She waits on the store sometimes and cries every time he yells at her / which he does every time she makes a mistake, which is quite often. She / calls her husband "Jody. " They say he used to beat her in the store / when he was a young man, but he is not so impatient now. He can wait / until he goes home.