Temporarily works in a warehouse for a minimum-staff retail chain. She counts the sheets, the pillow cases, the toy trucks as they arrive. It will do until she is married.
Yesterday in the lunchroom, the conversation turned to crime. Lorraine told them what her father said about single mums and the decay of the black family. "In some areas, people just aren't very nice," she said.
"Well bugger off somewhere where nice people are," said Jennette, a black woman of whom Lorraine has always been afraid.
"That's not very nice," said Lorraine, and they all roared.
She has watched the twiddle, the yawn, and the snooze spread down the row like a disease. She tries tapping her foot. Involuntarily, the foot across from her jerks. Lorraine gasps. The man next to her gasps and wakes up. Experimentally, Lorraine whistles George Michael. As if annoyed, the black man across from her starts whistling too.
So that was it. People follow each other, don't like anybody different. Not like her and Daddy.