They liked working in the shop. Each day was different and there were different people coming in all the time and new things to learn and they were good at what they did. It felt good to be working in the shop. Lunchtime was nice. There was a small park a couple of blocks away. They’d go and sit on the grass and eat the sandwiches they made at home on the kitchen bench in the mornings. Usually it was butter and grated carrots. Every now and then at the end of a meeting, someone would say, ‘Does anyone want to take the rest of the biscuits?’ and occasionally Peggy and Greta would say, ‘Okay.’ So sometimes they would have biscuits as well as the sandwiches.

Greta held up a Shrewsbury and said, ‘Where even do these come from?’ and they both laughed, because neither of them really knew. Some people in the meetings baked – like almost obsessively. Their friend Michelle had made a chocolate cake for them a couple of weeks ago when they were at her house – like in front of them.

Michelle went to meetings mainly out of town, by the dock, and had a kid. Her drinking had been different from theirs. She’d learnt to bake because she had a kid, and baking was cheaper so she had more money for alcohol. Baking was also a great excuse for drinking. She laughed at that. A lot of the women they met drank at home and were able to do a lot of drinking because they were alone a lot – doing the dishes, the laundry, looking after the kids while the kids slept. When they were at Michelle’s watching her bake the chocolate cake, they asked her the whole ‘How many times can you wear something before you have to wash it’ question and she listed off all the clothing items and their respective when-to-wash times. Underwear you only wore once, but a bra you could get maybe four or five wears out of, depending on what you were doing in it. If you had sex in anything it needed to be washed straight away, so Dell was right. Cardigans and sweatshirts could sometimes go seven wears. It was a good idea to maybe do a weekly wash of sheets and towels. ‘Really?’ Peggy said, and breathed out. ‘Wow,’ said Greta.