Her back ached, her arms were sore, and it even hurt to sit. "Thanks for covering for me, Maria, you can get back to it," the pretty, light-skinned girl told her. Maria wanted to groan, but this was her first day so she forced a polite smile. "Sure, any time," she said as she got up and grabbed her mop bucket. "Oh, one more thing," the pretty one began hesitantly, "the, uh—well you might want to start in the lady's room."...

Maria very stealthily made her escape, tiptoeing across the squeaky floors and darting past dilapidated equipment. She ducked inside the ladies locker room and allowed herself to breathe. Her heart hadn't settled down yet and just made it more difficult to think. She couldn't get her head straight. All she wanted to do was get out of there, to slip out unnoticed. She stood up tall on her toes and reached into the locker....