Mary Coin by Silver Marisa

Author:Silver, Marisa [Silver, Marisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Penguin Group US
Published: 2013-03-07T05:00:00+00:00

19.

Nipomo, California, 1936

They had been traveling together for two months. During that time, they had worked only fourteen days between them. After a spate of unemployment, something would turn inside Earl and he would grow restless and disappear, sometimes for a few days. When the children asked after him, she would make up excuses that he had gone looking for work or that he had a sick relative living nearby he needed to visit. The relief she felt when he returned scared her. One of these times he would be gone for good, and she needed to remain strong in the belief that she could do this thing on her own. For the first time in her life, she was careful at night, making sure that he was outside her before he let go. She wanted no possibility between them.

The Hudson had broken down the night before outside Nipomo, near a pea field. The baby had a chesty cough. It would not do to have him sleep out-of-doors in the tent, so everyone slept cramped inside the car. When Mary woke, the windows were fogged, and she wiped her sleeve on the windshield. The hood of the car was up, and Earl was bent over the engine. She put her lips to the baby’s forehead. He was warm. His eyes were glassy. She opened the car door and stepped outside, tucking him beneath her coat. Her shoes broke through a thin layer of frost. A cold wind carried voices from the clutter of shacks in the pickers’ camp. She would find out if someone there had medicine they were willing to give her. She could ask about jobs, too. There was no hiring sign, but it was cold and people could be sick. There might be at least a day or two of work for Earl.

“The radiator is busted,” he said.

“You wouldn’t happen to know how to fix it?” she said.

His look was his answer. Ellie came out of the car, pulling on her coat.

“Come with me,” Mary said to her daughter. “Let’s see the new people.”

Ellie shrugged and followed slowly, her eyes scanning the ground. Mary had taught Trevor and Ellie how to judge the smell of dead birds to determine their freshness. The birds were keeping them going now. Birds and whatever winter produce fell off trucks. Ellie was listless; all of Mary’s children were. They were down to one hot meal a day, but she knew the dullness signified a worse kind of vacancy.

At the camp, people dismantled tents and roped mattresses to the tops of cars. Others hoisted their bundles and suitcases and walked toward the road.

“That’s not right,” Mary said.

“What’s not right?” Ellie said.

The fields were empty. Mary spoke to a woman and learned that an overnight frost had killed off the peas. All of the workers had been let go.

The baby coughed and then moaned. His cheeks were splotchy and red, and Mary could feel the heat coming off him. No one she asked had medicine, or if they did they were not willing to give it to a stranger.

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