The Girl With 500 Middle Names by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Author:Margaret Peterson Haddix [Haddix, Margaret Peterson]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780689841361
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2001-01-01T08:00:00+00:00

But when Momma finally came out, I knew that wasn’t true. She was doing her angry walk. Her face was paler than ever. She heaved the bags of sweaters into the back of the truck. Then she slid onto the seat beside me and silently took the keys I held out to her.

She started the truck and backed out.

“Well, let’s go shopping,” she said. “We won’t let that ruin our day.”

But her voice shook. Her eyes glittered, like they were wetter than they were supposed to be.

“Mr. Creston didn’t give you a check, did he?” I asked in a small voice. “He’s not going to buy any more of your sweaters, is he?”

“No,” Momma said. Her voice was steadier now. “But I got him to tell me the truth. He found someone who can get women in Mexico to knit sweaters really cheap. So he makes more money if he sells those sweaters instead of mine. Even for some of the special orders I already made. . . . And I was too stupid to get him to sign a contract, so he can do that, hand back months of my hard work, just like that . . .” Her voice was rising. She broke off.

“Why don’t you just let him pay you what he’s going to pay the Mexican women?” I asked.

“Those starvation wages? My time’s worth more than that,” she snapped. “So’s theirs, I think, but”—she glanced over at me—“oh, Janie, this is all grown-up stuff. Don’t worry about it. We can still get your clothes today. We’ll be fine.”

But she didn’t sound fine. I didn’t feel fine.

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