The Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck [91]
Got to take it, but, Jesus, mister, it cuts into our money! We ain’t got much left.
Well, I ain’t no charity. Take her along.
Got to, I guess. Let’s look her over. Open her up, look a’ the casing— you son-of-a-bitch, you said the casing was good. She’s broke damn near through.
The hell she is. Well—by George! How come I didn’ see that?
You did see it, you son-of-a-bitch. You wanta charge us four bucks for a busted casing. I’d like to take a sock at you.
Now keep your shirt on. I didn’ see it, I tell you. Here—tell ya what I’ll do. I’ll give ya this one for three-fifty.
You’ll take a flying jump at the moon! We’ll try to make the nex’ town.
Think we can make it on that tire?
Got to. I’ll go on the rim before I’d give that son-of-a-bitch a dime.
What do ya think a guy in business is? Like he says, he ain’t in it for his health. That’s what business is. What’d you think it was? Fella’s got— See that sign ’longside the road there? Service Club. Luncheon Tuesday, Colmado Hotel? Welcome, brother. That’s a Service Club. Fella had a story. Went to one of them meetings an’ told the story to all them business men. Says, when I was a kid my ol’ man give me a haltered heifer an’ says take her down an’ git her serviced. An’ the fella says, I done it, an’ ever’ time since then when I hear a business man talkin’ about service, I wonder who’s gettin’ screwed. Fella in business got to lie an’ cheat, but he calls it somepin else. That’s what’s important. You go steal that tire an’ you’re a thief, but he tried to steal your four dollars for a busted tire. They call that sound business.
Danny in the back seat wants a cup a water.
Have to wait. Got no water here.
Listen—that the rear end?
Can’t tell.
Sound telegraphs through the frame.
There goes a gasket. Got to go on. Listen to her whistle. Find a nice place to camp an’ I’ll jerk the head off. But, God Almighty, the food’s gettin’ low, the money’s gettin’ low. When we can’t buy no more gas—what then?
Danny in the back seat wants a cup a water. Little fella’s thirsty.
Listen to that gasket whistle.
Chee-rist! There she went. Blowed tube an’ casing all to hell. Have to fix her. Save that casing to make boots; cut ’em out an’ stick ’em inside a weak place.
Cars pulled up beside the road, engine heads off, tires mended. Cars limping along 66 like wounded things, panting and struggling. Too hot, loose connections, loose bearings, rattling bodies.
Danny wants a cup of water.
People in flight along 66. And the concrete road shone like a mirror under the sun, and in the distance the heat made it seem that there were pools of water in the road.
Danny wants a cup a water.
He’ll have to wait, poor little fella. He’s hot. Nex’ service station. Service station, like the fella says.
Two hundred and fifty thousand people over the road. Fifty thousand old cars—wounded, steaming. Wrecks along the road, abandoned. Well, what happened to them? What happened to the folks in that car? Did they walk? Where are they? Where does the courage come from? Where does the terrible faith come from?
And here’s a story you can hardly believe, but it’s true, and it’s funny and it’s beautiful. There was a family of twelve and they were forced off the land. They had no car. They built a trailer out of junk and loaded it with their possessions. They pulled it to the side of 66 and waited. And pretty soon a sedan picked them up. Five of them rode in the sedan and seven on the trailer, and a dog on the trailer. They got to California in two jumps. The man who pulled them fed them. And that’s true. But how can such courage be, and such faith in their own species? Very few things would teach such faith.
The people in flight from the terror behind—strange things happen to them, some bitterly cruel and some so beautiful that the faith is refired forever.
Chapter 13
THE ANCIENT overloaded Hudson creaked and grunted to the highway at Sallisaw and turned west, and the sun was blinding. But on the concrete road Al built up his speed because the flattened springs were not in danger any more. From Sallisaw to Gore is twenty-one miles and the Hudson was doing thirty-five miles an hour. From Gore to Warner thirteen miles; Warner to Checotah fourteen miles; Checotah a long jump to Henrietta