Chapter 47

Novak tossed his chin up at Dubois, and mimicking Bishop, pointed to the snow piles. “No, this is dirty, rotten snow,” he said in a fake and thick English accent, loud enough for all to hear. “And this is the cleanone, you idiot!” To Joe’s great relief, Novak winked at him. “This is Mondaysnow and we’re shoveling Wednesdaysnow.’’ Around Novak, the men were beginning to catch on and chuckled along. “What are you? Who sent you here? Don’t you understand the difference between―”

“Shut up, Novak,” Bishop screamed, his cheeks turning a dark red. “You dumb Pole.”

But Joe looked around at the men and saw their crooked smiles. Novak had shown them the ridicule of their stance. It was themagainst the guards, no matter what, and Dubois was one of them too. Suddenly, they seemed to understand, and for this, Joe would be eternally grateful to Novak.

Their eyes met again and Joe nodded to Novak, letting him know how much he respected what he’d just done for Dubois.