MARY stepped into the elevator and descended several hundred feet. At the Second Level she pressed a button and the elevator stopped. The doors opened with another button and the doors to her Unit with still another.
Mrs. Cuberle sat on the floor by the T-V, disconsolate and red-eyed. Her blond hair had come slightly askew and a few strands hung over her forehead. "You don't need to tell me. No one will hire you."
Mary sat beside her mother. "If you only hadn't told Mr. Willmes in the first place—"
"Well, I thought he could beat a little sense into you."
The sounds from the T-V grew louder. Mrs. Cuberle changed channels and finally turned it off.
"What did you do today, Mother?" Mary smiled.
"Do? What can I do, now? Nobody will even come over! I told you what would happen."
"Mother!"
"They say you should be in the Circuses."