I Thought About This Girl
19.
Then suddenly he didn¡¯t say it any more. He still thought the world of her. We all did, but he was just as worried as the rest of us. What was wrong? Why was she no longer happy?
20.
Before we could find an answer, and before our vague irritation could turn to anger, however, she come to us. She said she was leaving.
21.
It was typical of her to wait until we were all together before she told us. She could have told my father
or my mother or any one of us, but she knew how we felt about her. It was hard for her to say it to all of
us at the same time. She picked the harder way, because it seemed to her to be the right way.
22.
¡°Leaving?¡± we asked, startled.
23.
¡°Yes,¡± she said quietly, dropping her eyes from ours. ¡°I must leave.¡±
24.
Apparently it was something she had been wanting to tell us for a long time, something she had been afraid to tell us.
25.
¡°But why?¡± we asked. ¡°Why are you leaving?¡±
26.
She didn¡¯t answer. She just shook her head and bit her lip.
27.
¡°Aren¡¯t you happy here,¡± we said.
28.
¡°Don¡¯t we pay you enough?¡± we asked. ¡°Do you want more?¡±
29.
She shook her head quickly.
30.
¡°No,¡± she said. ¡°You pay me enough.¡±
31.
We didn¡¯t want to make her cry, but somehow we could not stop asking questions.
32.
¡°You have another job, maybe? A better one?¡±
33.
She shook her head again.
34.
¡°No, I have no other job.¡±
35.
¡°But you need a job, don¡¯t you?¡±
36.
¡°Yes,¡± she said. ¡°I need a job.¡±
37.
¡°Then why?¡±
38.
She didn¡¯t want to tell us, but we liked her too well not to insist on knowing.
39.
¡°You can tell us, Mary,¡± my mother said kindly. ¡°We are your friends. You can tell us.¡±
40.
She looked up at us. She seemed confused and beaten, but she saw she would have to tell us.
41.
¡°My mother,¡± she began almost inaudibly, ¡°my mother wrote me a letter from Poland---¡±
42.
She stopped to blink away the tears, and then began again.
43.
¡°My mother wrote me it isn¡¯t right.¡± she said softly, brokenly. ¡°She says it isn¡¯t right to --- it isn¡¯t right to work for Jews.¡±
44.
She kept her puzzled, tearful glance upon us for another moment. Then she turned and walked away, her shoulders shaking with her sobs.
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