hush!
thank god. oh thank god. tommy, you didn't *bust* out, didya? you ain't got to hide, have you?
i was so scared we was goin' away without you--and we'd never see each other again.
we *got* to, tommy. but that's gonna be awright. i seen the han'bills, about how much work they is, an' high wages, too. but i gotta fin' out somepin' else first, tommy. did they hurt you, son? did they hurt you an' make you mean-mad?
sometimes they do.
sometimes they do somethin' to you, tommy. they hurt you--and you get mad--and then you get mean--and they hurt you again--and you get meaner, and meaner--till you ain't no boy or no man any more, but just a walkin' chunk a mean-mad. did they hurt you like that, tommy?
thank god. i--i don't want no mean son
i'm ready.
rosasharn honey! wake up the chillun. we're fixin' to leave.
but who'd cook for you? how'd you live?
wait. there's a half a bottle a soothin' sirup here. it put the chillun to sleep.
and they's some coffee here. i could fix him a cup.
got some saved for you, grampa. got 'em warmin' now. here's a cuppa coffee.
we're goin' to california, ain't we? awright then, let's *go* to california.
i never had my house pushed over before. i never had my fambly stuck out on the road. i never had to lose.  ever'thing i had in life.
tommy.
wasn't that the state line we just passed?
your pa tol' me you didn't ought to cross it if you're paroled. says they'll send you up again.
maybe they got crimes in california we don't know about. crimes we don't even know *is* crimes.
now don't you go gettin' nimsy-mimsy.
well, can't nobody get through nine *months* without sorrow.
they use' to be a sayin': a chile born outa sorrow'll be a happy chile. an' another: born outa too much joy'll be a doleful boy. that's the way i always heard it.
sometimes. a little. only it ain't scairt so much. it's just waitin' an' wonderin'. but when sump'n happens that i got to do sump'n-- --i'll do it.
no. no, it don't. i can't do that. i can't let m'self. all i can do is see how soon they gonna wanta eat again. they'd all get upset if i done anymore 'n that. they all depen' on me jus' thinkin' about that. that's my part--that an' keepin' the fambly together.
don't you worry, granma. it's gonna be awright.
don't you fret now.
's awright, honey. everything's gonna be awright.
we can't give up, honey. the family's got to get acrost. you know that.
yes, ever'thing's all right. i--i guess i dropped off to sleep.
look, mister. we got a sick ol' lady. we got to get her to a doctor. we can't wait. you can't make us wait!
i swear we ain't got anything. i swear it. an' granma's awful sick. look!
no, i swear it.
tell tom he don't have to stop. granma's all right.
ya say we're acrost?
thank god! an' we're still together-- most of us.
no.
granma's dead.
since before they stopped us las' night.
i was afraid they'd stop us an' wouldn't let us cross. but i tol' granma. i tol' her when she was dyin'. i tol' her the fambly had ta get acrost. i tol' her we couldn't take no chances on bein' stopped.
so it's all right. at leas' she'll get buried in a nice green place. trees and flowers aroun'. she got to lay her head down in california after all.
on a gallon a gas? let's set up the tent. maybe i can fix us up some stew.
you want to get ast to eat, hunh?
didn' you have no breakfast?
didn' none of these have no breakfast?
then you ain't hungry, are you?
well, it's a good thing *some* a you ain't hungry, because they ain't enough to go all the way roun'.
go get tom an' al. i dunno what to do. i got to feed the fambly. what'm i gonna do with these here?
we can't send 'em away. take your plates an' go inside. take a plate to rosasharn. look. you little fellas go an' get you each a flat stick an' i'll put what's lef' for you. but they ain't to be no fightin'! i don't know if i'm doin' right or not but--go inside, ever'body stay inside. they ain't enough. all you gonna get is jus' a taste but--i can't help it, i can't keep it from you.
i done fine! now nobody got enough!
you don't know *no* girls around here. you're lyin', *you're runnin' away*!
you'll *what*?.  come on, pa. come on an' whup me. jus' try it.
al ain't a-goin' away, an' you gonna *tell* him he ain't a-goin' away. an' if you think diff'unt, you gotta whup me first. so some on.
but ef you *do* whup me, i swear you better not ever go to sleep again, because the minute you go to sleep, or you're settin' down, or your back's turned, i'm gonna knock you belly-up with a bucket.
sassy my foot! i'm jus' sick and tar'd a my folks tryin' to bust up. all we got lef' in the *worl'* is the fambly--an' right down at bottom that's all we *got* to have! ef some of us dies, we can't he'p that--but ain't nobody else runnin' away!
well, you ain't a-goin'! ain't *nobody* else a-goin'! we *got* here an' we gonna *stay* here, together! as long as we got the fambly unbroke i ain't scared, but it's a long bitter road we got ahead of us-- --an' i'm here to tell ya ef anybody else tries to bust us up anymore i'm a-goin' cat wild with this here piece a bar-arn!
connie's gone. lit out this e'enin'--said he didn't know it was gonna be like this.
pa! shh!
maybe that's jus' what he done.
tom--you tol' me--you promised you wasn't like that. you promised me.
you promised, tommy.
you gotta keep clear, tom. the fambly's breakin' up. you *got* to keep clear.
don't you min', tommy. you done good. you done jus' good.
sump'n got to happen soon. we got one day's more grease, two day's flour, an' ten potatoes. after that.  an' rosasharn, we got to remember she's gonna be due soon.
fust thing i'll get is coffee, cause ever'body been wantin' that, an' then some flour an' bakin' powder an' meat. better not get no side- meat right off. save that for later. maybe sat'dy. got to get some soap too. an' milk. rosasharn's got to have some milk.
you know, i jus' can't remember when i felt so good before!
why, sure. it won't be so bad once we get her washed out.
this got a floor. wouldn't leak when it rains.
six. all y'all go. me an' rosasharn'll unload.
no. that's all. you made a dollar, an' that's a dollar's worth.
they charge extry at the comp'ny store but they ain't no other place.
well, tomorra you'll get in a full day--full day's pay--an' we'll have plenty.
you be careful, tommy. don't you be stickin' your nose in anything.
anybody ask anything?
stand by the door.
how's it feel, tommy?
looks like you done it.
folks ain't talkin' about much else. they say they got posses out. talkin' about a lynchin'--when they catch the fella.
that ain't the way they're tellin' it. they're sayin' you done it fust.
they know he got hit in the face.
it's awright, tommy. i wisht you didn't do it, but you done what you had to do. i can't read no fault in you.
tom! they's a whole lot i don't understan', but goin' away ain't gonna ease us. they was the time when we was on the lan'. they was a bound'ry to us then. ol' folks died off, an' little fellas come, an' we was always one thing-- we was the fambly--kinda whole an' clear. but now we ain't clear no more. they ain't nothin' keeps us clear. al--he's a-hankerin' an' a- jibbitin' to go off on his own. an' uncle john is just a-draggin' along. pa's lost his place--he ain't the head no more. we're crackin' up, tom. they ain't no fambly now. rosasharn-- --she gonna have her baby, but *it* ain't gonna have no fambly. i been tryin' to keep her goin' but--winfiel'-- what's he gonna be, this-a-way? growin' up wild, an' ruthie, too-- like animals. got nothin' to trus'. don't go tom. stay an' help. help me.
comes night we'll get outa here.
it's jus' till we get some distance. then you can come out.
we got a job offered--good job.
you done good, al. just good.
don't matter. just got to go--an' keep a-goin', till we get plenty a distance away from here.
i know, honey, an' just as soon as we get settled al's gonna set out an' look for him. how 'bout gas, tommy?
what is it?
what's that?
you mean you got *washtubs?* an' runnin' water?
you don't look so good.
why, honey, it makes folks happy to see a girl that way--makes folks sort of giggly an' happy.
you an' me's goin' together--jus' you an' me. we're a-goin' to that dance an' we're a-goin' to jus' set an' watch. if anybody says to come dance--why i'll say you're poorly. but you an' me, we're gonna hear the music an' see the fun.
no--an' look what i got for you.
i used to wear these--when your pa come callin' on me. you'll look pretty in 'em tonight.
thank you kin'ly but she ain't well.
maybe you wouldn't think it, but your pa was as nice a dancer as i ever seen, when he was young. kinda makes me think a ol' times.
girl with a baby *always* gets prettier.
ain't you gonna tell me goodbye, tommy?
it had to come, i reckon, soon or later.
i could hide you, tommy.
awright, tommy. what you figger you gonna do?
he was a good man.
tommy, they'll drive you, an' cut you down like they done to casy.
you don't aim to kill nobody, tom!
how'm i gonna know 'bout you? they might kill you an' i wouldn't know. they might hurt you. how'm i gonna know?
then what, tom?
i don't understan' it, tom.
good-by, tom. later--when it's blowed over--you'll come back? you'll try to fin' us?
good-by, tommy.
i'll get rosasharn.
try to be strong, honey. someday it'll be diff'rent--someday you'll have another one. you're still jus' a little girl, remember.
she'll be awright.
maybe. maybe twenny days work, maybe *no* days work. we ain't got it till we get it.
no. ain't ever gonna be scared no more. i was, though. for a while i thought we was beat--*good* an' beat. looked like we didn't have nothin' in the worl' but enemies--wasn't *no*body frien'ly anymore. it made me feel bad an' scared too--like we was lost.  an' nobody cared.
woman can change better'n a man. man lives in jerks--baby born, or somebody dies, that's a jerk--gets a farm, or loses one, an' that's a jerk. with a woman it's all one flow, like a stream, little eddies, little waterfalls, but the river it goes right on. woman looks at it like that.
i know. maybe that makes us tough. rich fellas come up an' they die, an' their kids ain't no good, an' they die out. but we keep a-comin'. we're the people that live. can't nobody wipe us out. can't nobody lick us. we'll go on forever, pa. we're the people.