The sun hadnât yet arisen when Tracey and Buttercup were woken by Zeta, who was naked like everyone else, slightly podgy with a mass of black curly hair which flowed in ringlets to half-way down her back. She stood at the doorway with a very broad grin looking at the two girls whose only source of warmth through the night had been from each otherâs closely entwined body.
âWe have to start early if we have any hope of getting into the factory,â she explained as she hurried them on their way.
âWhere is the factory?â wondered Tracey, yawning and only half aware, as they staggered across the dark fields.
âAnother couple of miles. Itâs good that itâs not been raining for a while: that can make the journey quite horrible,â replied Zeta. âYouâll get used to it, though. But if you get there too late then youâve got no choice. Itâs first come first served most of the time.â
Eventually, just as the first rays of the sun appeared over the horizon, they came to the intimidating dark shadows of a large functional building, where only one or two windows were lit and where already there were a couple of dozen other women: all naked and all with very long hair and all standing around outside the building. And then Tracey and Buttercup stood with Zeta for about an hour as more and more women gathered. There was very little conversation amongst the women standing there, all of them tired and many of them yawning. Tracey shivered and clung to Buttercup for warmth, aware of the stares she was attracting. As wakefulness crept up on her, she became aware that this was because the two girls looked very different from the others, with the short hair on their vaginas: nearly none at all in Buttercupâs case, and in Traceyâs case with the hair on her head strikingly short.
And then the doors to the factory opened and a man in overalls and a flat cap emerged from the light inside to the shortening shadows outside. He stood warily by the entrance, until he was joined by three other men, wearing blue work uniforms and peaked cloth hats.
âLetâs be having you, then!â one of the men shouted, which was a cue for the women to gather in an orderly procession at the factory doorsâ entrance and to file in. As they did so, they were evaluated in a desultory fashion by the men who clearly saw this as a routine rather than a pleasure. Some women were greeted with familiarity and some were turned away. These, Tracey noticed, were generally the older women.
As the queue brought Zeta, Tracey and Buttercup towards the welcoming bright glare of the neon lit interior, the men could see the girls more clearly.
âFuck! Youâre a fucking beauty, ainât you?â a corpulent man with a cigarette in his hand commented to Buttercup. âYou wanna fuck rather than work like the others, dearie?â
Buttercup shook her head, and hurried after Zeta as she went in. Tracey was aware of a disapproving glare at her shorter hair as she entered herself, and was frightened that this might disqualify her; but fortunately not and she soon caught up with Zeta and Buttercup.
And then the girls were lined up by a conveyer belt under the harsh neon light amidst the loud noise of the cranking machinery and the gusts of heat emanating from their engines. They were in an enormous open room with machinery and lines of conveyor belts stretching in all directions. As they stood in anticipation, more and more women filed in, and soon all the available spaces were filled. And then, although there were many women still outside waiting to get in, the factory doors were closed and the working day began.
And tedious, tiring, monotonous and unrelenting it was too. Fortunately, Tracey had had her share of factory jobs in the past, so she knew more or less what was expected of her. Like the other girls on her conveyor belt, she was issued with a pair of clear plastic gloves which was all anyone had to wear, besides a little factory-issue ribbon which was secured through the hair to keep it off her face. Her job, like Zeta and Buttercup was to take the icy cold chicken legs, breasts and wings as they trundled by, place the lump into a polystyrene tray, and then wrap it tightly in a square of cellophane. The wrapped piece of chicken was then replaced on the conveyor belt where it trundled along to where some other women were weighing them and sticking sticky-back labels on them. And that was it. Chicken breast after chicken leg after chicken wing.
Tracey soon got into the rhythm of it. Boring, monotonous jobs like this was all the work sheâd ever had, and soon the rhythm and routine overcame any sense of meaning and purpose. Buttercup however was far less adept than her, and had great difficulty in getting into any routine. She was packing one piece of chicken for every three that Tracey packed, and the plastic was creased and too loose. She began to weep with frustration as the effort of it became too great for her.
Inevitably, her slower performance attracted attention from the male supervisors who were wandering around in their blue overalls, cloth caps and cigarettes. One came behind Tracey and Buttercup, and watched the two of them with surly interest.
âWhatâs your name, dearie?â he asked Buttercup, stubbing his cigarette out on the cold hard factory floor. Nervously, Buttercup told him.
âFuck! What sort of fucking ponced-up name is that? And what about your friend. Whatâre you called?â
âTracey.â
âFuck me! We got a right pair of fucking wierdies here. At least âbuttercupâ means something. But when in the name of fuck did âtraceyâ ever fucking mean anything. Youâre both a couple of fucking immigrants, ainât you? Well, youâd better pull your fucking socks up, Buttercup sweetie, (if you were ever allowed to wear the fuckers) or youâre out. Thereâre lotsa other women out there whoâd do your job if they got the fucking chance.â