[Section opener]
Meg
Chapter 6
It must have been a dead scientist or a old Roman who decided each day has the same number of
minutes. Whoever it was, let me tell you, it is not true. By ten in the morning, I would swear a
couple years have passed while I been sitting in this office. Lord, I might have turned fourteen
just waiting on lunch. By five o’clock, I would not be surprised to look down and see I had
grown bosoms.
I try to plan tasks to fill the day, but there are always a couple hundred hours left to burn.
First thing I do when I sit down is rearrange my desk supplies. Somebody comes in here
and messes with them, and I bet I know who it is too. Those other ladies will not hardly set foot
in this smelly room. Just stroll on by like they do not see the mildew or that boarded-up window.
First I center the Bible perfect on the desk and line up my three yellow pencils with the
pink eraser beside it. Next are the View Day cards which I stack up perfect. I measure it all with
the wooden ruler to get it just right. Last, I mark the desk leg for how many more days until I see
Ava. It looks like something a criminal would do in jail. I got six months and eight days left here
if Dorella doesn’t kill me first. She is next to go to the cannery, six weeks before me. Last night,
she held my head up under the wash pump again so long, if Miss Mildred had not come out there
and hollered, I might been drowned.
This morning, I also see little pink eraser turds on the desk which I know I did not leave.
I keep my area tidy. When Miss Garnett strolls in here, I am already in a mood.
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