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her away, into the
15 other line, made up of people, I would later learn, who were
16 immediately gassed, instead of put to work. They were not
17 supposed to tattoo you if you were to be gassed right away, but
18 with her, they made an exception.
19 My sister was standing just in front of me watching all of
20 this. I saw her open her mouth, and I covered it with my hand
21 and pushed her back behind me so I could be tattooed before
22 her. I wanted her to see that it wouldn’t be so bad.
23 “It’s only a little ink, just a number. Don’t scream,” I whis
24 pered to her. “Don’t struggle. Just be quiet and do what
25 they ask.”
26 Her almond eyes stared back at me, so wide they could
27 burst. She opened her mouth again but no sound came out.
28S I held out my arm, closed my eyes. My skin singed and
29N cried out in pain, but I did not say a word. I bit my lip.
I opened my eyes again, and there it was, thick dark ink 01
on my forearm: The letter A, followed by five seemingly ran 02
dom numbers. 03
My sister went just after me, and her number was one 04
digit higher than mine. 05
“It doesn’t mean anything,” Mother said afterward. “It is 06
nothing. It cannot mean something. We cannot make nothing 07
mean something, girls.” 08
“When we go home, it’ll be a badge of honor,” my sister said. 09
10
11
“Margie.” Shelby interrupts my thoughts. “Are you okay? You 12
look like you’ve seen a ghost.” 13
“Yes,” I whisper. So many ghosts. Everywhere, all the time. 14
I am one myself, am I not? 15
“Your face is so flushed,” Shelby says. “It’s warm in here. 16
Take your sweater off. It’s 1959, for goodness’ sakes. A girl can 17
show a little skin.” She laughs and holds out her own bare 18
pale freckled arms, which radiate from her blue cotton short 19
sleeveddress. 20
But I shake my head. I will not take my sweater off. I will 21
never take it off. 22
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01
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04 Chapter Ten
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14 When I walk outside at 5 p.m., my arm through
15 Shelby’s, who is trying to convince me to go get a drink with
16 her, I see Bryda Korzynski sitting on the bench outside the
17 office building, and then I think my heart may stop.
18 She stares right at me: brown eyes, hard like stones. So I
19 know she has been waiting there, just for me.
20 “You go on ahead,” I murmur to Shelby. “I should study
21 tonight.” But I’m wondering whether I can outrun Bryda. I am
22 a fast runner. I outran a train, once; outran the men who I
23 thought were chasing after me. When my life depends on it,
24 I can run.
25 “Oh, Margie,” Shelby says. “One of these days I’ll loosen
26 you up a little bit.” Paragon of virtue, my sister taunts in my
27 head, the way she always did when she teased me about being
28S too good. But Shelby goes on without me, without any more
29N of a fuss, because, as she mentioned in the elevator on the
way down, Ron has agreed to leave work early for once and 01
meet her there. 02
“Miss Franklin,” Bryda says. She doesn’t stand, but I stop 03
by the bench. Mainly because she is Joshua’s client and I 04
don’t want her to tell him I am rude. Without that, I’m pretty 05
sure I would be running right now. 06
“Yes,” I say to her. “Can I help you with something?” 07
“You not from Poland,” she says. 08
“What?” I let out a laugh that catches in my throat, so it’s 09
possible it’s not a laugh at all, but a scream. “It’s been a long 10
time. But I am,” I say. Lying is a second skin. It suits me bet 11
ter than the first one, maybe. It is not the kind of skin a para 12
gon of virtue wears, is it? 13
“Where in Poland?” she asks, her eyes narrowing to slits. 14
“Kraków,” I say, too quickly. 15
“You not from Kraków,” she says. “Austria, maybe. Germany?” 16
I shake my head. “But I am,” I say meekly. “It’s just been 17
so