thousand miles off the car in a few minutes! And by the time I
fi nish, the car's only done ten thousand, and I tell the customer,
"It belonged to an old person who only used it once a week for
shopping." ' He laughed loudly.
'But daddy,' said Matilda, who was listening carefully, 'that's
terrible. It's not honest, and -'
'You're just a stupid little girl!' he shouted.
'That's right, Harry,' said his wife. 'Keep your ugly little mouth
shut, Matilda. We want to watch the TV!'
They were in the living-room, eating their supper with their
plates on their knees in front of the TV
'Mummy,' said Matilda, 'can I eat my supper in the diningroom
so that I can read my book?'
Her father looked at her. 'Supper is a family meal,' he said
angrily. 'Nobody will leave the table until we've finished.'
'But we don't eat at the table,' said Matilda. 'We always eat
with our plates on our knees while we watch the TV.'