“No children. That’s my rule. I don’t want no squalling babies in here.”

A long sigh, but Leah concealed it. “Yes, ma’am.” She’d look for a new place around the first of the year.

Darlene tossed her napkin onto the table. “Any of y’all have fifty cents I can borrow? I can’t find my pay from last week, and I want to see if the beauty shop can squeeze me in this morning.”

“I do.” Leah pushed back her chair. It felt so good to give rather than receive.

“Stay put, Mama. I saw your purse on your bureau.” Darlene trotted upstairs.

As she ate, Leah fielded questions. If only Miss Mayhew would receive Leah’s news as enthusiastically this afternoon.

Footsteps thumped downstairs. “Why, you little thief.”

Leah whipped around in her chair, and her blood ran cold.

Darlene marched to the dining room, brandishing dollar bills. “My pay! You stole it.”

“What? No. I didn’t steal—”

“Four five-dollar bills—exactly what I was paid on Friday.” Red-hot anger warped Darlene’s features, and she waved the bills in Leah’s face.

Leah’s breath raced. Just like in the orphanage. Stealing. Accusations. Falsehoods. “I was paid on Friday too. I promise, it’s mine. I would never steal from you—from anyone.”

“Liar!” Darlene kicked Leah’s chair. “You told me yourself—you used to steal from your friends.”

Leah ducked her head, her face tingling with coldness. It was all over. “Just little things—things they’d lost. I stopped years ago.”

“My mama said never to trust an orphan. I should have listened to her.” Darlene stomped her foot. “Mrs. Perry, I will not put up with this.”

Mrs. Perry stood, crossed her arms over her ample chest, and glared at Leah. “Two things I don’t abide—girls entertaining menfolk upstairs and thieving. Get out.”

Leah’s chest collapsed. “But I didn’t take her money. We all know she always loses things.”

“Convenient for you, eh?” Mrs. Perry barked out a laugh. “Should never have rented to a raggedy little good-for-nothing. Get out of my house.”

Leah stared. But only Thelma looked sympathetic. The hard expression on her landlady’s face and the appalled looks of the other girls said the sentence would never be revoked. “When do you want me to leave?”

“Right this minute. We’ll watch you pack, make sure you don’t snitch anything else.”

Nothing to do but obey. Leah trudged upstairs and pulled the dress shop box from under her bed.

“I’ll help.” Darlene flung open bureau drawers and dumped the contents on the floor.

Leah winced but kept packing. When girls ganged up in the orphanage, she’d learned to keep her head down, her mouth shut, and to escape quickly. And to never, ever cry.

Thelma knelt in front of her, holding her compact. “Where do you want this?”