What the reason do george and Lennie give for being late to the new job?

George and Lennie had lost their previous job because Lennie was going to get blamed for raping a girl that lived in the farm in Weeds. You see the lady was wearing silky dress and since Lennie loved to touch soft things he wanted to touch the dress and keep it. When Lennie touched the dress and the girl screamed. Lennie got really scared that George had to hit him with a fence post. The girl claimed that she got raped and that is when George and Lennie hid in a irrigation ditch and ran away that same night.