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Back Black Ambrosia Save as PDF
Chapters (46)
  1. CoverImage
  2. Introduction by Grady Hendrix
  3. Acknowledgments
  4. 1
  5. 2
  6. 3
  7. 4
  8. 5
  9. 6
  10. 7
  11. 8
  12. 9
  13. 10
  14. 11
  15. 12
  16. 13
  17. 14
  18. 15
  19. 16
  20. 17
  21. 18
  22. 19
  23. 20
  24. 21
  25. 22
  26. 23
  27. 24
  28. 25
  29. 26
  30. 27
  31. 28
  32. 29
  33. 30
  34. 31
  35. 32
  36. 33
  37. 34
  38. 35
  39. 36
  40. 37
  41. 38
  42. 39
  43. 40
  44. 41
  45. About the Author
  46. About the Cover

There was something every night that kept me entertained, kept me awake, kept me from adjusting my schedule. My struggle against it was little more than wishful thinking, for always She had the final say, and when I was bunched up in my bedclothes, fists clenched against my eyes, She would come and whis­per in my ear and my touch-­starved body responded. I was lost. Again, lost.

As the night paled and the blackness of my little basement windows turned milky, exhaustion over­took me and I could no longer hold my head up. Sleep would finally come, dreamless sleep that held no rest.

REBECCA DEL ROSARIO: “I didn’t really want to bust Angelina, but she was really getting out of control. I look my time before turning her in, because I didn’t want it to sound like sour grapes, you know? I mean I really wanted my shift back—my boyfriend works midnights, too, so it’s just perfect, and it’s a total waste when I have to work days, I mean total.

“But Angelina was really getting out there. I mean, at first I thought she was just not doing her work, logging in the calls and that. I figured she was sleeping. Girls always used to sleep on the midnight shift, that’s one of the problems Mrs. Gardener has always had.

“So we covered her a little, I mean, we all cover for each other sometimes, and then the morning-­shift girls started telling me these weird stories about the way Angelina was acting. She must have been on some drugs or something. They said she’d talk real loud. You know with the headphones we wear, a whisper gets the point across real well, but they said she’d pace back and forth behind them, her phone cord hooked up to the board, and she’d answer calls and yell at the people and talk real loud and say terrible things.

“Once she told a customer that she would never date him because he was Italian, and everybody knows Italians eat garlic and she can’t stand to taste garlic on a man. God. Can you imagine? I mean, she was totally out of control.

“And when I found out she’d been leaving at night, well, that was it. I just had to tell Mrs. Gardener. I mean, Mrs. Gardener could lose a lot of clients, and that would be everybody’s job, right? Angelina had no right to rip us off like that.