“Don’t pay them any mind.” A girl stopped next to Sophia’s desk with a forearm crutch strapped to each arm. She had a thick braid tossed over her shoulders. “I’m Nancy, by the way.”
“Sophia.”
“Nice to meet you.” Nancy put all her weight on one of the grip handles and stretched out her free hand to Sophia. “I’m new this year too.”
The teacher cleared her throat, and all the students who were up and about got to their seats. Nancy lowered herself in the chair beside Sophia.
“Good afternoon, ladies. Please turn to page seven in your textbooks, and I will explain the notes up on the board.”
Once her physics class was dismissed, Sophia sat through literature and then Latin. Her last class of the day was applied mathematics. All afternoon, her teachers had been polite, and the curriculum felt doable. If the day seemed long, it was because she had been hungry for most of it, and she was happy to find Wilhelmina waiting for her in front of the girls’ building when she descended the stairs.
“How was it?” Wilhelmina asked, leading Sophia down the path in the direction of the dining hall.
“Not too bad.”
“Good for you. Claude Portis, one of the boys who started last year, told me that he had a terrible first day.”
“What happened?”
A group of boys in letterman jackets strolled passed them, and Wilhelmina lowered her voice so that only Sophia could hear her. “He was cornered in front of the boys’ building by six huge football players. Since he played too, he assumed they were teammates coming to welcome him to the school.” Wilhelmina grimaced. “Instead, they pushed him around and called him Sambo and other nasty words, then chanted for him to go back to Africa where he belonged.”
Sophia opened the door to the dining hall as Wilhelmina continued, “Poor thing ran into the bathroom crying. It took three teachers to pry him out of the stall.”
Sophia gulped. “Wilhelmina, that’s awful.”
“Tell me about it. And please, call me Willa. Wilhelmina is such a mouthful.” She repositioned the strap of her leather bag on her shoulder.
“Sorry. Willa, I mean.” Sophia pinched herself for forgetting.
Willa led the way, moving like a girl who was confident and completely at ease. As Sophia walked slightly behind her, she found herself pushing her chest forward and trying to imitate Willa’s poise and sureness.
The school’s dining hall was expansive and mirrored the nicerestaurants that Sophia had gone to with the Old Man on fresh-egg deliveries. The cafeteria at Brooks High was merely a room with three laminate tables, plastic chairs, and plates of food that looked and smelled like an afterthought.
“This is the cold food station.” Willa pointed. It was piled high with sandwiches, a variety of cold salads, and sliced fruit. “On the other side are the hot stations,” she said. “That’s where I’m headed.”
The hot stations were filled with burgers, hot dogs, french fries, spaghetti, meat loaf and gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, and cabbage. Sophia’s mouth watered at all of the choices. Then she remembered that she didn’t have any money.
“I can’t pay for this,” she whispered to Willa, who had grabbed two brown trays and was handing one to Sophia.
“Your parents have already paid for it.” Willa looked at her incredulously. “The meals are included in our tuition. And it’s all you can eat, even the dessert.” She pointed to another station on the far side of the room.
Sophia’s face blanched with embarrassment. She should have known that and felt silly for being so ignorant. Behind the counter of one of the hot stations stood a cinnamon-colored woman wearing a black hairnet. Her lips were painted fuchsia, and she had a pencil tucked behind her ear.
“Welcome. What’s your name, sugar?” She dished a piece of juicy meat loaf onto Sophia’s plate.
“Sophia Clark.”
“Well, folks call me Miz Peaches ’round here. You look like you’ve been skipping a few meals,” she said, spooning two helpings of mashed potatoes and then a heap of cabbage onto Sophia’s plate. “Here, baby, don’t forget the corn bread. Just came outta the oven.”
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, sugar.” She flashed her deep dimples. “Anything you need. Anything at all, you come find Miz Peaches. Hear?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Willa, you be sure to show Sophia how we do things ’round here.”
Willa chuckled. “Will do, Miz Peaches.”
