"I fell carrying the bookcases. And after pushing the piano my arms and legs hurt so badly. I wanted to refuse, or at least to complain, but I was afraid She would fire me."
"She began to offer me her clothes, for a price. Impressed by these worn things, which looked simply gorgeous to a little girl who had only two dresses to wear to school, I bought a few.'
Still, I had trouble summoning the courage to discuss or object to the increasing demands She made.
The pizza hut was old and in the back it had three giant sinks instead of a dishwasher. One basin was for soapy water, one was rinsing and the other for sanitizing , using a tablet that made me cough when dropped it into the water.
I stayed on dish duty for weeks. My heart sank every time I arrived at work and saw my name written next to " dishes" on the position chart.
I asked Jeff when I could do something different. " Do you know why you're still doing dishes?" he asked. "Because you keep complaining about it. "Nobody like to work with a complainer, he said .
For one of the first times in my life, I felt empowered. By the time I was in 11th grade, Jeff had promoted me to shift manager. By my senior year, I was an assistant manager, responsible for much of the bookkeeping, inventory and scheduling. I was in charge when Jeff was away.
A few days later, when I reported from my after school shift, I saw my name penciled not in the dishes box but in the make table box. I was ecstatic. Jeff had a special way of running his restaurant.