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wittle baby.” The insulting smugness turned Ellen’s stomach. “Well, that’s not the way the powers that be see it, so suck it.”
    â€œListen to me,” Thelma said in a low, composed voice. “If you don’t go to Billy and tell him what really happened, I’ll—”
    â€œYou’ll what?” Eric sneered. He used the baby voice again to say, “Hit me? Tell your girlfwend on me? Ooh, I’m so scared.”
    Ellen reached up and flipped the closet’s light switch off, then she turned the knob and pulled the door open a millimeter. Thelma’s back was to her, but she could see Eric’s face over the top of Thelma’s head. Though the produce manager was much shorter than Eric, she was a strong woman and she did not seem intimidated, and that, it appeared, Eric had not anticipated.
    â€œI’ll report you to corporate,” Thelma said, pausing while he laughed. Then she went on. “And not just for this. I’ll let the ‘powers that be’ know all about the rumors that you and your buddies are doing drugs at work and faking your time cards. All of that will go in my report, too.” She turned and started away. Ellen could see the determined set of her face.
    Behind her, Eric blanched and his whole body went slack, but his brief lapse into weakness appeared to only fuel his anger, and he pulled himself together. “It’s my word against yours!” he shouted. “I’ll say you’re making it all up because you’re afraid of men. It’s not like
that’s
a big secret.”
    Thelma froze and spun back. “What did you say?”
    â€œWhat? Aren’t you supposed to be all proud and equal rights and crap? You decided to be a dyke.” He sniggered, but the sound choked off in his throat as Thelma reversed direction and strode fearlessly back to him.
    She crossed the few feet in a beeline to Eric, not stopping until she was inches away from him. A thin sheen of sweat appeared on the dock manager’s face and reflected the ugly fluorescent lights overhead. It gave him a nauseous, puce tinge. Thelma gazed steadily up at Eric, her fists balled and her body rigid with controlled fury. “I am
gay
,” she pronounced emphatically. “But straight or gay, I will never be afraid of a bigoted idiot like you.”
    Clearly unsure of how to deal with this woman he couldn’t bully, Eric muttered something inaudible and backed away, beating a hasty retreat.
    When he was gone, Thelma stood looking after him for a moment, head high and perfectly still. Noble, really, Ellen thought. Then Thelma checked to make sure she was alone, and burst into tears.
    Startled at the reaction, Ellen silently closed the tiny gap that had given her a view into Thelma’s world and took out her notebook. She recorded the conversation, Thelma’s reaction, and then added a comment—
Frightened bullies can be dangerous.
    She packed her book away, switched off the light, checked to make sure the hallway was clear, and went to collect her cart, which she’d left outside the break room. But she stopped a few yards away when she saw that she was not alone.
    Standing near the break room door with their own carts were two of the other night-shift cleaners, whom Ellen had nicknamed the Crows because of their habit of sticking their beaky noses into everyone else’s business. Gossip was the Crows’ religion, as far as Ellen could tell, and church was in session. Ellen took her cart and moved away quickly.
    Just inside the dock doors that led to the sales floor, Ellen could see Squirt preparing to climb onto the large floor polisher. One of the dockworkers shouted at him, “Hey, buddy, need a leg up?” He and his friends laughed meanly. Squirt ignored him, but encouraged by the amusement, the worker shouted out again. “Hey, Squirt! They call you that because if you don’t have a step stool for the