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Nice one She mentally hit herself in the head

“Not like you” Virginia heaved another bag of soil from the flat to the pile on sale “You’re white like you’ve never worked a day in your life And trust h that made Julia feel about two inches tall “—that’s not a nice white”

Well, you’re not a nice woinia Holmes or not, Julia wanted a job And she wanted a job here, as of dirt and flats of jade plants, the blossowoods and cherry trees She wanted to water the pine trees with their burlap-covered root balls and the rose bushes in their black planters that lined the asphalt

She wanted to take care of the damn plants

“Mama?” Ben asked from where she’d parked him about five feet away next to the hose equipment

“And another thing—” Virginia jerked her gloves higher on her wrists and then plunked her hands on her thick waist “—who brings their son to get a job?”

“A woman who doesn’t know any better!” Julia finally said between clenched teeth “A wo the best I could for you, but if you want to be a racist jerk, that’s fine I don’t need this job” She stiffened her sagging spine and stopped her runaway led from the adrenaline that flooded her system That’s a first She took a deep breath and shook out her hands She alhed—the first time in her life she actually stands up to someone and the woman clearly couldn’t care less

“Thanks for your tied to say politely

She turned away, hoping that Vons had a flower departer didn’t care how small she was She and Ben were halfway past the annuals when Virginia’s rusty bark called out after her

“Fill out an application and leave it with ht now, but you never know”

Julia turned to thank her, but the cantanker ous old woman had already moved on

“Great,” she muttered