“What you want?”
“Come on with me,” Al said excitedly.
They walked away together.
“What’s a matter with you?” Tom asked.
“You’ll find out. Jus’ wait.” He led Tom to the torn-down car. “This here’s Floyd Knowles,” he said.
“Yeah, I talked to him.
How ya?”
“Jus’ gettin’ her in shape,” Floyd said.
Tom ran his finger over the top of the block.
“What kinda bugs is crawlin’ on you, Al?”
“Floyd jus’ tol’ me.
Tell ’em, Floyd.”
Floyd said,
“Maybe I shouldn’, but—yeah, I’ll tell ya.
Fella come through an’ he says they’s gonna be work up north.”
“Up north?”
“Yeah—place called Santa Clara Valley, way to hell an’ gone up north.”
“Yeah? Kinda work?”
“Prune pickin’, an’ pears an’ cannery work.
Says it’s purty near ready.”
“How far?” Tom demanded.
“Oh, Christ knows.
Maybe two hundred miles.”
“That’s a hell of a long ways,” said Tom. “How we know they’s gonna be work when we get there?”
“Well, we don’ know,” said Floyd. “But they ain’t nothin’ here, an’ this fella says he got a letter from his brother, an’ he’s on his way.
He says not to tell nobody, they’ll be too many.
We oughta get out in the night.
Oughta get there an’ get some work lined up.”
Tom studied him.
“Why we gotta sneak away?”
“Well, if ever’body gets there, ain’t gonna be work for nobody.”
“It’s a hell of a long ways,” Tom said.
Floyd sounded hurt.
“I’m jus’ givin’ you the tip.
You don’ have to take it.
Your brother here he’ped me, an’ I’m givin’ you the tip.”
“You sure there ain’t no work here?”
“Look, I been scourin’ aroun’ for three weeks all over hell, an’ I ain’t had a bit a work, not a single han’-holt. ’F you wanta look aroun’ an’ burn up gas lookin’, why, go ahead.
I ain’t beggin’ you.
More that goes, the less chance I got.”
Tom said,
“I ain’t findin’ fault.
It’s jus’ such a hell of a long ways.
An’ we kinda hoped we could get work here an’ rent a house to live in.”
Floyd said patiently,
“I know ya jus’ got here.
They’s stuff ya got to learn.
If you’d let me tell ya, it’d save ya somepin.
If ya don’ let me tell ya, then ya got to learn the hard way.
You ain’t gonna settle down ’cause they ain’t no work to settle ya.