privacy.”
“But we’re a team,” Ginny said with a worried look. “I feel bad to think we haven’t included you in our conversation. Please, you don’t need to feel aloof . Won’t you join us?”
Helen felt awkward as she sat down at their table. Even their lunches were different from hers, with their thick sandwiches and homemade cookies. Helen had a Thermos of canned soup and some crackers.
“We were talking about all the adjustments we’ve had to make since we started working here,” Jean explained.
“I hate getting up so early in the morning,” Rosa said. “I wanted the cemetery shift—”
“You mean the graveyard shift?” Jean asked, smiling.
“Yeah, that’s it!” Rosa laughed along with the others. “I knew it had something to do with dead people. Anyways, I’m a night owl, so I was hoping they’d let me work here all night so’s I could sleep all day.”
“You could ask for a transfer once you finish training,” Jean said. “They don’t let greenhorns work the graveyard shift right away.”
“But we would miss you, Rosa,” Ginny added. “It’s only been a week, but I think we all work so well together, don’t you?” The others nodded, their mouths full of food. Helen noticed how hard Ginny always worked to make everyone feel important—everyone but herself.
“Yeah, but I’m not getting along too good with my in-laws,” Rosa said. “I wanted to work nights so’s I wouldn’t ever see them. Me and Mr. Voorhees are always locking horns. He just about had kittens when I first told him I took a job here. He thinks women belong at home. Period.”
“So does my husband,” Ginny said.
“Did he have kittens, too, when you took this job?”
Helen looked up from her soup, waiting for Ginny’s response. She had been wondering all week how Virginia Mitchell had ever talked her husband into allowing her to work. Ginny didn’t meet anyone’s gaze as she folded the sheet of waxed paper that had held her sandwich into smaller and smaller squares.
“He doesn’t know I’m working here,” she finally said.
“How on earth have you kept it a secret?” Helen asked.
“I … I didn’t mean to. He has been working out of town all week. … I plan on telling him as soon as he gets home.”
“When’s he coming home?” Rosa asked.
“Tonight.”
That will be the end of her working career, Helen thought. Harold Mitchell definitely wore the pants in that family, and if he didn’t want Ginny to work, she wouldn’t.
“What if he makes you quit?” Rosa asked.
“I’m hoping he won’t. I really like working here. I feel like I have a real purpose in life for the first time since the boys were babies. They don’t really need me anymore—in fact, they hardly even notice me—and I feel so useless at home.”
“Is that why you took this job?” Rosa asked. “To get your husband’s attention and make him notice you?”
“No, I … I don’t think so. I wanted to do something that really mattered for once, besides cooking meals and washing clothes. I went from living under my father’s roof to living under my husband’s in a single day and never had a chance to make my own decisions. I felt like I … like I was losing myself! Anyway, don’t mind me,” Ginny added with a wave of her hand. “It’s the same way for all women, isn’t it? What else is there for us to do besides be wives and mothers?”
Helen was about to enter the conversation and set Ginny straight, but Rosa spoke first.
“Just stand up to your husband,” she said. “That’s what I did with my father-in-law. I told him I’d move back to Brooklyn if he didn’t quit trying to boss me around, and he don’t want that because he knows it would upset Dirk. He finally stopped giving me a hard time about it, but he shoots me dirty looks all the time, and he doesn’t talk to me much—which is fine by me. The next fight is going to be about church. I went with them for two Sundays and I’m not
“But we’re a team,” Ginny said with a worried look. “I feel bad to think we haven’t included you in our conversation. Please, you don’t need to feel aloof . Won’t you join us?”
Helen felt awkward as she sat down at their table. Even their lunches were different from hers, with their thick sandwiches and homemade cookies. Helen had a Thermos of canned soup and some crackers.
“We were talking about all the adjustments we’ve had to make since we started working here,” Jean explained.
“I hate getting up so early in the morning,” Rosa said. “I wanted the cemetery shift—”
“You mean the graveyard shift?” Jean asked, smiling.
“Yeah, that’s it!” Rosa laughed along with the others. “I knew it had something to do with dead people. Anyways, I’m a night owl, so I was hoping they’d let me work here all night so’s I could sleep all day.”
“You could ask for a transfer once you finish training,” Jean said. “They don’t let greenhorns work the graveyard shift right away.”
“But we would miss you, Rosa,” Ginny added. “It’s only been a week, but I think we all work so well together, don’t you?” The others nodded, their mouths full of food. Helen noticed how hard Ginny always worked to make everyone feel important—everyone but herself.
“Yeah, but I’m not getting along too good with my in-laws,” Rosa said. “I wanted to work nights so’s I wouldn’t ever see them. Me and Mr. Voorhees are always locking horns. He just about had kittens when I first told him I took a job here. He thinks women belong at home. Period.”
“So does my husband,” Ginny said.
“Did he have kittens, too, when you took this job?”
Helen looked up from her soup, waiting for Ginny’s response. She had been wondering all week how Virginia Mitchell had ever talked her husband into allowing her to work. Ginny didn’t meet anyone’s gaze as she folded the sheet of waxed paper that had held her sandwich into smaller and smaller squares.
“He doesn’t know I’m working here,” she finally said.
“How on earth have you kept it a secret?” Helen asked.
“I … I didn’t mean to. He has been working out of town all week. … I plan on telling him as soon as he gets home.”
“When’s he coming home?” Rosa asked.
“Tonight.”
That will be the end of her working career, Helen thought. Harold Mitchell definitely wore the pants in that family, and if he didn’t want Ginny to work, she wouldn’t.
“What if he makes you quit?” Rosa asked.
“I’m hoping he won’t. I really like working here. I feel like I have a real purpose in life for the first time since the boys were babies. They don’t really need me anymore—in fact, they hardly even notice me—and I feel so useless at home.”
“Is that why you took this job?” Rosa asked. “To get your husband’s attention and make him notice you?”
“No, I … I don’t think so. I wanted to do something that really mattered for once, besides cooking meals and washing clothes. I went from living under my father’s roof to living under my husband’s in a single day and never had a chance to make my own decisions. I felt like I … like I was losing myself! Anyway, don’t mind me,” Ginny added with a wave of her hand. “It’s the same way for all women, isn’t it? What else is there for us to do besides be wives and mothers?”
Helen was about to enter the conversation and set Ginny straight, but Rosa spoke first.
“Just stand up to your husband,” she said. “That’s what I did with my father-in-law. I told him I’d move back to Brooklyn if he didn’t quit trying to boss me around, and he don’t want that because he knows it would upset Dirk. He finally stopped giving me a hard time about it, but he shoots me dirty looks all the time, and he doesn’t talk to me much—which is fine by me. The next fight is going to be about church. I went with them for two Sundays and I’m not
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