A girl lived with her mother in a trailer house. They lived in the back half of the trailer and they didn't have a kitchen, so they ate a lot of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, and drank pop most of the time.
Her mom cleaned hotel rooms in town, and sometimes she would bring back presents. Some chocolates, half a bottle of champagne. The big stuff like coats or shoes and once even a purse she handed in like she was supposed to. She was going to keep a blonde wig with sparkles in it, but then she thought she had no use for it, so why keep it?
When she found the child's nightgown she didn't think twice, she brought it home for her daughter.
``I might get in trouble,'' she said, ``but this was made for you.'' It was sweet white cotton with tucks and ruffles.
``I love it!'' the girl said. She wondered about the girl who had worn the gown the night before. Was she rich? Was she happy?
Her mother wondered other things, but said nothing. The child could have been his daughter, but even so, just the one bed...
They lived in the back of the trailer because there was a meth kitchen in the front. The woman's brother cooked up the stuff and sold it to mill workers on the late shifts.
The cops came late one night. Just the girl and her mom were there. The cops were all dressed in their hazmat gear and they arrested the woman.
The girl was put in a group home. She never let go of her white gown though. She never let go for seven months, when her mom came to get her.
When she was safe in the car she unrolled the bedraggled gown.
``I knew where uncle hid it, so I got the money when I heard them breaking down the door,'' she said.