Chapter 3

Mick is feeling like she is in a trap. She goes to work, comes home exhausted, and goes back to work the next day. It is seven oÂ’clock. She has worked overtime today. The boss always chooses her to stay late because she is the only girl at work who can handle the extended day. She knows that if she goes home now, she will cry in exhaustion, so she goes to BrannonÂ’s cafe to have a sundae and a beer. The motto of her store is "Keep on your toes and smile." She has to smile all day and when she gets off, she frowns for a long time to get her face back to its natural shape.

Biff offers her some dinner, but she refuses. She thinks of how bad life is now that Mr. Singer had killed himself and she has to work at WoolworthÂ’s. She was the one who found Mr. Singer. They had heard the shot, but thought it was a car backfiring. The next day, she had gone upstairs to listen to the radio and found him covered n blood. She had run out and hit herself with her fists. The next day, the body was laid out in the living room. The undertaker had painted makeup on Mr. SingerÂ’s face to make him seem natural, but Mick had been shaken by how unnatural he looked and smelled.

Her thoughts turn to the problem of stockings. She has to go home and sew. She always wears holes in her stockings and has to sew them. She is also worried about the hole in her shoe. She has to find a way to get it fixed or she will get a blister and then have to miss work. When Mr. Brannon comes with her sundae and beer, she acts as if she is preoccupied so he wonÂ’t stay and talk. She thinks he has forgotten about the stolen gum because now he wants to talk to her all the time. She drinks the beer and feels good. She thinks beer is next to music in her list of favorite things. She hasnÂ’t been able to think of music since she started working. She feels shut out of the inside room altogether.

Notes

MickÂ’s last chapter sees her worn down by work so much that she feels locked out of the inside room, the place in her mind where she goes to compose music and think private thoughts. Like JakeÂ’s last chapter above, however, it ends on a note of hope as Mick plans to save money to buy a piano.

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