monagustafsonaffinito   CONVERSATIONS

Explanatory note: Mr. Willson was the Chairman of the Board of Directors

Then there was the day Mona feared she’d been so bold she would lose her summer job at the Bristol Brass. Mr. Wilson had given her and the other girl the job of verifying his numbers. Two times they entered his numbers into the adding machine, taking turns on who read the numbers and who entered and cranked them. Two times they came up with the same total, but different from Mr. Wilson’s, so Mona reported the difference to him. “Just do it again,” he said. By the third time they got the same result, Mona was more annoyed than cautious. When Mr. Wilson came out of his office to check on them, she couldn’t restrain herself from saying, “But Mr. Wilson, you must have made a mistake.” She was only half aware of the men standing in their office doorways, as if expecting something to happen. But she was aware of fearing she would disappoint her father.

Mr..Wilson returned to his office, coming out later to acknowledge he’d arrived at the same numbers as the girls.

“Sometimes, you just have to do the brave thing,” Carl said on the way home.