The guard boomed, “Girl, I said one more time, and I damn well meant it.”
Three
One more time was all it took for Regina to be stripped of her library duties.
Daily, I debated on whether to ask the warden for the job again and risk her piling on more responsibilities. In the end, I decided sleep was more important.
Inside the kitchen, I blew on my arm, the latest burn still pained from my afternoon in laundry, worrying if I could ever properly use the heavy newfangled contraption or when my arm might fully heal and leave me less clumsy.
I’d destroyed one prison dress and three guards’ shirts last week alone and had at each time suffered the supervisor’s wrath. Fearful of Estelle and her devil machine, I felt my hands shake as soon as she ordered me to press the laundry. It didn’t take long before I started believing that maybe Ihadgone daft.
Stupid. Idiot. Imbecile.She’d hurl the insults with such fervor that soon a few of the women in Laundry picked up on her cruelty and followed suit. And it weren’t no time before the harsh words turned to vicious slaps and shoves.
It was all I could do but climb into the cot each evening to escape. But like the wild Kentucky tobacco flower that awakens only at night to sip the moon, the bloom of grief opened to pull in the pain and loneliness swallowing me.
Waldeen interrupted my thoughts as I squeezed out the kitchen mop with one hand. The supervisor stood there for amoment, studying me before pulling out a pack of Winstons from her apron. She offered me a cigarette. “Helps numb the nerves some.”
I shook my head. There weren’t enough tobacco in all of Kaintuck to do that.
She glanced at my new wound and sighed. “I see you’re still having troubles in Laundry.”
“It’ll get better once my arm is healed and I can handle the bulky iron.”
Waldeen reached over and grabbed a gallon can of institutional green beans. “When you get that cast off, take this and lift it every chance you get until that arm builds back its muscle.” She raised it several times. “It’ll take another month for it to right itself.”
“Obliged, ma’am.”
“You’ve done a good job helping me keep the books, especially with Warden breathing down my back about the budget. Not everyone can do that. For the first time in a long time, we’ve stayed out of the red. Most of these girls peel away the meat of the potatoes and carrots, leaving nubs. Throw away heels from the loaves of bread. Waste so much. But not you. You stretch the food and help the cook make use of everything they give us.” She snorted. “It’s like ya know hunger.”
Starvation.I’d felt its burning in my gut too many times, the pains knocking around my cramping, empty belly. The hills had been filled with those living off nothing but mashed bean sandwiches and nettle soups, or suffering the pellagra when I rode the library route in the thirties.
“Go on, put your mop up, Cussy. Warden is waiting to see ya about monthly reports.”
I stared at her, riddled by the unexpected summons.
“Go on, kid. It’s not wise to keep Boss Lady waiting.”
Quickly, I folded my apron and scurried out of the kitchen.
***
As I made my way to Warden Sanders’s office, I fretted on what the laundry supervisor might have said about me. Inside her office, the warden seemed pleased, but I’d found out that moods quickly shifted behind these gloomy walls.
I squirmed under her gaze.
Warden finally cast her eyes to the papers. “Let’s see, you’ve been working in Laundry for several weeks now. Your work has been pretty good despite your clumsiness with that cast.” The last word dripped into a hiss.
“Yes, ma’am. I’m still learning the electric iron, sure enough.”
She studied some notes. “Estelle says that while you work hard, you have too many mishaps and it’s costing her money—memoney.”
Estelle had reported the losses.
“Yet Waldeen notes how much money you saved the kitchen. Hmm. In fact…” Warden ran her finger down the page and tapped. “The numbers are the best I’ve seen in years. She credits that to you.”
I felt my face warm, pleased that the kitchen supervisor appreciated my work.
“Waldeen is impressed. And when Waldeen is impressed, so am I. She has vast experience with bigger numbers, given her former occupation.”
