Summary

In Chapter 9, while Mia was at school, the washing machine at the motel broke down. Yao accused Mia’s father of breaking the machine and said Mia’s parents would have to pay for the new machine. Because it would take a few days for a replacement machine to come, Mia’s parents had to wash towels by hand.

When Mia visited Hank to request he and the weeklies limit their towel use, he shared a hamburger with her. Mia was surprised how good the burgers tasted because Hank and the weeklies were adding crushed up saltines to the patties because they did not have enough meat.

Even though the weeklies used only one towel a day, the dirty towels still stacked up. Mia’s father washed the towels in buckets, but Mia had a better idea. She put the towels in the...