5
" Oh, Dad,” I said, letting out a breath.
“I’m sorry,” said Dad simply.
“Hey, you don’t have to apologize,” I told him quickly. “It wasn’t your fault.”
“He got a pink slip,” Claire spoke up. She was sitting on the floor, playing with Vanessa’s hair. “He got it at five o’clock.”
“Those stinkers!” I exploded. “Why did they wait so long to tell you? Why didn’t they give out all the slips in the morning, instead of driving people crazy making them wait all day?”
“I don’t know.” Dad sighed. “Maybe they were still making decisions about who should go and who should stay. Those aren’t easy decisions.”
“Well, I still think the people who run your company are really stale.”
“Look,” said Dad, sounding cross. “I got fired and that’s that. I don’t want to spend all night discussing it.”
“Okay. Sorry,” I replied.
I was taken aback. Mom and Dad usually don’t talk that way. My brothers and sisters and I do sometimes, but not our parents and especially not Dad. He’s a sensitive, gentle person. "
― Ann M. Martin , Poor Mallory! (Baby-Sitters Club #39: Collector's Edition)
8
" That is so mean!” cried Mary Anne. “Why would Nan White start something like that? Well, actually I can see why she would do that, but why would Valerie and Rachel join in and laugh and stuff?”
“I don’t know,” I replied. “I’m glad they’re not close friends. If they were, I’d feel like a real outcast. Instead, I just feel … hurt, I guess.”
“You have every right to feel hurt,” spoke up Jessi. “They were being cruel.”
“I wonder why some kids always want to hurt other kids,” I mused.
“I don’t know,” said Jessi slowly. “I guess Nan was just born that way. "
― Ann M. Martin , Poor Mallory! (Baby-Sitters Club #39: Collector's Edition)
