Of Mice and Men Extract Question 45 Mins

The boss stepped into the room with the short, quick steps of a fat-legged

man. “I wrote Murray and Ready I wanted two men this morning. You got your

work slips?” George reached into his pocket and produced the slips and handed

them   to   the   boss.   “It  wasn’t  Murray  and   Ready’s   fault.   Says  right   here   on   the

slip that you was to be here for work this morning.”

George looked down at his feet. “Bus driver give us a bum steer,” he said.“We hadda walk ten miles. Says we was here when we wasn’t. We couldn’t get

no rides in the morning.”

The boss squinted his eyes. “Well, I had   to   send   out   the   grain   teams   short

two buckers. Won’t do any good to go out now till after dinner.” He pulled his

time book out of his pocket and opened it where a pencil was stuck between the

leaves. George scowled meaningfully at Lennie, and Lennie nodded to show

that he understood. The boss licked his pencil. “What’s your name?”

“George Milton.”

“And what’s yours?”

George said, “His name’s Lennie Small.”

The names were entered in the book. “Le’s see, this is the twentieth, noon the

twentieth.” He closed the book. “Where you boys been working?”

“Up around Weed,” said George.

“You, too?” to Lennie.

“Yeah, him too,” said George.

The boss…