"Suit yourselves. Girls. We're comfortable,"
M'Lady Two said, and started out.
"Wait a minute!" I cried.
She paused.
"1 can't stand it in here anymore."
She looked at Rabin and Teal.
-All right. How does it go again?" Teal asked. M'Lady Two smiled and repeated it for us.
None of us got it right the first time, so she repeated it
and again we mumbled it as accurately as we could.
They demanded we speak louder. Teal made an error and we were stopped and told to start again. I thought she wasn't going to do it, but she did and, of course, made a small mistake. All three of us were tired and groggy and uncomfortable. It was so hard to concentrate on words we hated anyway. Finally, we had it right almost to the end. when I left out a word and they jumped on me. Again we recited it and again one of us made a small error. Eventually, we had it
perfect and they agree
d we had done so.
"Orientation is over," M'Lady Three declared,
slapping her hands together. "We can move out and
take you to Dr. Foreman's School, Remember." she
added before we started. no talking without
permission."
We marched out of the room. I don't think I was
ever happier to leave a place than I was leaving there.
Even the hot evening air seemed a relief. A dirty,
white, windowless van was parked in front of the
building. The rear doors were opened and we were
told to climb in. There was nothing to sit on, just the
metal floor of the van. A solid wall separated the back
of the van from the driver. All three of us hesitated. It
smelled like some farm animals had been transported
in it only minutes ago. The odor of animal manure
was strong.
Teal raised her hand.
"What?" M'Lady Three asked. We understood