Leaving Serenity by Alle Wells Read Free Book Online Page B

thing is someone who wants to work. If you want to work, we’ll get along fine. If you don’t, then it won’t work out, you see.”
    I hopped off the stool. “Oh, yes ma’am! I really want a job. I’ll work real hard for you.”
    Rosie laughed. “Well, we hustle around here when we need to and rest when we don’t.”
    She turned back toward the kitchen and pointed a finger at me. “You can start two weeks from Saturday if your mama and daddy say it’s all right. I don’t need none of them child labor revenuers knocking at my door. If your mama and daddy say it’s all right, then we’ll see how it works out.”
    When she was out of sight, Andy and I got so tickled that we nearly exploded. He muffled his snicker with a dish towel. I stuck my head in the crook of my arm until I regained my composure.
    “We did it, Sister! You’re in.”
    “I really appreciate this, Andy. You’re a good friend. But how does she get her hair to stay up like that?”
    Andy shrugged. “Beats me. I’ve wondered if a nest of birds lives up in there.”
    We laugh ed again.
    ***
    The horn sounded off on Earl Junior ’s Chevy truck. “Oooga, Oooga.”
    Jeff and Beth scraped their chairs across the kitchen floor. Jeff gathered his fishing gear. Beth snatched the picnic basket and ran to keep up with him, call ing out, “We’re leaving, Mama!”
    Mama rushed into the kitchen.
    “Don’t forget to use sunscreen, dear.”
    I started clearing away the breakfast dishes. Helping Mama in the kitchen was the only thing I knew to do to get on her good side. She started washing, and I grabbed a towel.
    “Mama, do you think I could get a summer job?”
    Mama chuckled. “Annette, you have the strangest ideas. Why on earth do you want to do that?”
    I shrugged. “I don’t know. Just something to do, I guess.”
    Mama looked out the window over the sink. “Do you have something in mind?”
    I tried to play it cool. “I don’t know. There’s the Bluebird Café near the school. Maybe I could get a job there.”
    Mama drained the water out of the sink. “Well, I’ll speak to your father about it.”
    I jumped up and down ins ide. That was as good as a yes!
    That night, I crouched behind the living room couch and listened to Mama and Daddy in the kitchen. I heard Mama say, “She’s good help in the kitchen.”
    “Her grades are horrible,” Daddy said.
    Mama sighed. “I know. Surely, there’s something she can do.”
    “She barely made it through this year. Her teachers tell me that she shows no initiative in class. Well, maybe she should get a summer job and learn some sort of trade. The others do well in school. I have high hopes for them. I just don’t understand that girl.”
    Mama massaged her temples and sighed again. “I guess you’re right, dear. If she gets a job, at least she’ll be good for something!”
    When I heard my parents’ decision, I silently cried, Yippee! I didn’t care that my parents were disappointed in me or that they didn’t understand me. Going to work at the Bluebird was all that mattered to me. I wanted to jump and shout, but crawled quietly to my bedroom.
    I was up and ready at six o’clock on my first day of work. I sat at the breakfast table while Daddy read the morning paper. Mama stood over a frying pan, tending to the eggs. I was so excited that I could hardly sit still.
    I looked at Daddy hopefully. “Daddy, will you drive me to work early?”
    He stared at his paper. “Nope.”
    I panicked and looked at Mama’s back at the kitchen sink. Her movements told me that she was in a bad mood.
    I looked back at Daddy. “But I have to be there at nine. How will I get there?”
    He put his paper down. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a key hanging from a white AAA key ring. I glanced at the strange key lying on the table.
    “You’ll drive yourself.”
    I searched his face. “What?”
    Daddy’s face softened, and his eyes twinkled. “I’m pulling your leg, Trooper. Those are the