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job, so she’d think I was ungrateful to quit a good job.
    Some things you have to keep to yourself.
    7:23 P.M.
    Piper just called. She’s hiring me! I start tomorrow.
    She said she hopes I’m not too afraid of hard work. I’m not! It’ll be easier to lose weight if I’m really busy.
    I’m going to email Zeke right away and tell him the good news.
    Monday 7/20
    8:09 P.M.
    Skipped lunch.
    Supper: Salad, small can of tuna, ¼ bagel (no butter), apple.
    I love my new job.
    It is so wonderful to do something IMPORTANT.
    Job Description: Feed dogs and cats. Organise and supervise dog run. Answer
    phone during breaks and lunch breaks.
    Piper says with more money they could redo the back of the building so every dog has it’s own run. She had lots of great ideas for improving the shelter.
    I wore new chinos and a white T-shirt to work today. Piper said I was dressed way too fancy for working at the shelter. “Save your good pants and T-shirts. On this job we don’t care how you look. We care about what you do.”
    Dad was always commenting on what I wore to his office. One say he’d say,
    “Isn’t that a little preppy?” The next day it would be, “That’s too dressy for the office.”
    How can a persona have so many clothes and not know what to wear? I don’t
    have any style. Thank goodness Amalia is helping me pick out something to wear for my date with Justin.
    Meanwhile, the police brought an injured dog to the shelter. She was hit by a car on the freeway. She’s a standard-poodle mix, but she didn’t have a collar. We named her Roxie.
    Besides a broken leg, Roxie is undernourished and big patches of her fur are
    missing. Piper said she was pretty sure that Roxie once had a owner but has probably been a stray for months. The vet set her leg and prescribed a special extra-nourishing diet.
    Piper said that the collie I like so much, Laddie, looked that bad when he came in. Now Laddie looks great.
    Laddie would be a good model for one of the posters for the benefit.
    To do: Talk to Mom about finding a photographer to take pics of animals at
    shelter.

THROWN-AWAY PET
Thrown-away pet
    Wandering on
    Crossing the highway
    Horns honk
    Cars swerve
    Fear
    Abandoned. Alone. And you left all alone
    Are men’s heart’s made of stone?
    Thrown -away pet
    Running for safety
    Car hits
    Bones break
    Pain
    Abandoned. Alone.
    Are men’s hearts made of stone?
    Maggie Blume
    Maybe those could be the lyrics of a song someday.
    Maybe. It would make kind of a tragic song, though.
    Mom and Dad both had dinner dates and it’s Pilar’s day off. Good. There’s no one here to bug me about eating. I’d rather eat along anyway.
    But titmouse is SO big when you’re the only one in it. It can be creepy.
    11:09 P.M.
    I heard Mom come in a little while ago. I met her in the family room. She was
    pouring herself a vodka and tonic (heavy on the vodka, light on the tonic). As I passed our crystal angel statue I touched her wing. I always that for good luck. The statue is on two figures—an angel protecting a child. I love that the angel’s wings are as big as the child and that the child looks up at the angel with total trust. The statue has been in the family room for as long as I can remember.
    I took a live-it soda from the refrigerator under the bar and sat on a stool next to Mom.
    “Well, that was the most boring meeting I’ve ever been to,” she mumbled.
    “What meeting?” I asked.
    “With my so-called committee. We are at the Tafts Hotel and tried out the meal
    they planned for the benefit. Boring. Boring people. Really, I don’t know why I’m bothering with this auction.”
    She had that faraway, unfocused look in her eyes. A knot of fear formed on my
    stomach. How cam she put on the benefit if she starts drinking?
    I reminded her that she accepted the chairperson’s job because HCA is an
    important cause. I started to tell her about the dog they brought in today, but she interrupted me.
    “Maggie, we have to do