On Thursday, after ten hours of picking cotton, Loredaโs entire body hurt, and tomorrow morning, she would have to get up and do it all again.
For ten percent less in wages.
Ninety cents for a hundred pounds of picked cotton. Eighty cents if you counted the cut taken by the crooks at the company store.
She thought about it endlessly, obsessively; the injustice of it gnawed at her.
Just as she thought about the meeting. And her motherโs fear.
Loreda understood the fear more than her mother suspected. How could Loredaย notย understand it? Sheโd lived through the winter in California, been flooded out, lost everything, survived on barely any food, worn shoes that didnโt fit. She knew how it felt to go to bed hungry and wake up hungry, how you could try to trick your stomach with water but it never lasted. She saw her mother measuring beans out for dinner and splitting a single hot dog into three portions. She knew Mom regretted every penny she added to their debt at the store.
The difference between Loreda and her mother wasnโt fearโthey shared that. It was fire. Her motherโs passion had gone out. Or maybe sheโd never had any. The only time Loreda had seen genuine anger from her mother was the night theyโd buried the Deweysโ baby.
Loredaย wantedย to be angry. What had Jack said to her the first day they met?ย You have fire in you, kid. Donโt let the bastards snuff it out.ย Something
like that.
Loreda didnโt want to be the kind of woman who suffered in silence. Refused to be.
Tonight was her chance to prove it.
At eleven oโclock, she lay in bed wide awake. Waiting. Counting every minute that passed.
Ant lay beside her, hogging the covers. Usually she wrenched them back and maybe even gave him a kick for good measure. Tonight she didnโt bother.
She eased out of bed and stepped onto the warm concrete floor. For as long as she lived, she would be grateful for flooring. Always.
A quick sideways glance confirmed that her mother was asleep.
Loreda grabbed a blouse and her overalls from the coatrack and dressed quickly, buttoning the bib after sheโd stepped into her shoes.
Outside, the world was still. The air smelled of ripe fruit and fecund earth. A hint of woodsmoke from extinguished fires. Nothing ever really left here; things lingered. Scents. Sounds. People.
She closed the door quietly behind her, listening for footsteps. Her heart was pounding; she felt afraid โฆ and keenly alive.
She waited, counted to ten, but she didnโt see any foremen out and about. Moving quietly, she headed into the night.
In town, she walked past the theater and City Hall, and turned onto a back street, where the grass was overgrown and most of the houses and businesses were boarded up. Dodging the streetlights, she stuck to the shadows until she came to the hotel theyโd stayed in during the flood.
It was so quiet out here, she hoped they hadnโt canceled the meeting. All day, as sheโd sweated and strained in the field, dragging her heavy sack behind her, pocketing the coupon that devalued her labor, she thought about tonightโs meeting.
There were no lights on in the El Centro Hotel, but a few cars were parked out front, and she saw that the heavy chain that locked the doors together hung slack from one of the doorknobs.
Loreda cautiously opened the front door.
A man with a beak of a nose and small round spectacles stood behind the reception desk, staring at her.
โYou need a room?โ he said in a heavily accented voice.
Loreda paused. Could she be arrested for just showing up? Or was this man an employee of the big farmers, here to identify rabble-rousers? Or was he a friend of Jackโs, here to make sure only the right people made it to the meeting?
โIโm here for the meeting,โ she said. โDownstairs.โ
Loreda moved toward the stairs. Nervous, suddenly. Excited. Scared.
She touched the smooth wooden banister as she made her way down the narrow stairs, past a broom closet and laundry room.
She heard voices, followed the sound to a room in the back, its door open to reveal a crowd inside.
People stood shoulder to shoulder. Men, women, and a few kids. Bobby Rand waved at her.
Jack stood in the front of the room, commanded attention. Although he was dressed like many of the migrants around him, in faded, stained overalls and a frayed denim shirt beneath a dusty brown suit coat, there was vibrancy to him, anย alivenessย that was like no one sheโd ever met before. Jackย believedย in things and fought to make the world a better place. He was the kind of man a girl could count on.
โโฆ one hundred and fifty strikers were herded into cages,โ he was saying in a passionate voice. โCages. In America. The big farmers and their corrupt coppers and citizens-turned-vigilantes put your fellow Americans inย cagesย to break a strike of workers who just wanted an even shake. Two years ago, a bunch of Tulare farmers shot into a crowd of people just forย listeningย to strike organizers. Two people were killed.โ
โWhy are you tellinโ us this?โ someone yelled. Loreda recognized him from the squattersโ camp theyโd lived in. A man with six kids and a wife who had died of typhoid. โYou trying to scare us off?โ
โIโm not going to lie to you good people. Striking against the big farmers is dangerous. Theyโll oppose us with everything theyโve got. And, folks, as you know, theyโve got it all: money, power, the state government.โ He picked up a newspaper, held it out for everyone to see. The headline read: โWorkers Alliance Un-American.โ โIโll tell you whatโs un-American, and thatโs big farmers getting richer while you get poorer,โ Jack said.
โYeah!โ Jeb said.
โWhatโs un-American is cutting pickersโ wages just because the growers are greedy.โ
โYeah!โ the crowd yelled back.
โThey donโt want you to organize, but if you donโt, youโll starve, just like the pea pickers did in Nipomo last winter. I was there. Children died in the fields. Starved. In America. The big growers are planting less because cotton prices are down, so they pay less. God forbid their profit diminishes. They arenโt even pretending to give you a living wage.โ
Ike yelled out: โThey think we ainโt human!โ
Jack looked out at the crowd, made eye contact one by one with his audience. Loreda felt an electricity of hope move from him to the crowd. โThey need you. Thatโs your power. Cotton has to be picked while itโs dry and before the first frost. What if no one picks it?โ
โA strike!โ someone called out. โThatโll show โem.โ
โIt isnโt easy,โ Jack said. โCotton is spread out over thousands and thousands of acres and the growers stand together. They pick a price to pay and stick with it. So we need to stand together. Our only chance is to join forces, all of the workers. Everyone, everywhere. We need you all to spread the word. We have to shut down the means of production completely.โ
โStrike!โ Loreda yelled.
The crowd joined in, chanting, โStrike, strike, strike.โ
Jack saw Loreda at the same time someone grabbed her arm. Loreda yelped in pain and wrenched free, turning.
Her mother stood there, looking angry enough to blow smoke. โI canโt
believeย youโd do this.โ
โDid you hear what he said, Mom?โ
โI heard.โ Mom glanced sideways, across the room, saw how many people were here.
Jack pushed through the crowd, coming their way. โYour speech was great,โ Loreda said as he drew near.
โI noticed you showed up alone,โ he said. โItโs late for a girl your age to be out by herself.โ
โWould you say that to Joan of Arc?โ Loreda said. โYouโre Joan of Arc now, are you?โ Mom said.
โI want to go on strike, Jackโโ
โLoreda,โ Mom said sharply. โItโs Mr. Valen. Now go upstairs and let me speak to him. Iโll deal with you later.โ
โYou canโt make meโโ
โGo, Loreda,โ Jack said evenly. He and Mom stared at each other. โOkay, but Iโm striking,โ Loreda said.
โGo,โ Mom said.
Loreda turned away and trudged up the stairs. She didnโt care what her mother said. She didnโt care how much trouble she got in or how dangerous it was.
Sometimes a person had to stand up and say enough was enough.
โHOW LONG HAVE YOUย been back in Welty?โ Elsa asked Jack when they were alone.
โA week or so. I was going to send word to you.โ
โOh, Iโd say you sent word.โ She stared at him, wishing that things were different, that she was different, that she had her daughterโs fire and courage. โSheโs a fourteen-year-old girl, Jack, who snuck out in the middle of the night and walked a mile to get here. You know what could have happened to her?โ
โWhat does that tell you, Elsa? Sheย caresย about this.โ
โWhat does that prove? We all know itโs wrong, but your solution wonโt make our lives better. Youโll just get us fired, or worse. Our survival hangs by a thread, do you get that?โ
โI get it,โ he said. โBut if you donโt stand up, theyโll bury you, one cent at a time. Your daughter understands that.โ
โSheโs fourteen,โ Elsa said again.
Jack lowered his voice to match hers. โA fourteen-year-old who is picking cotton all day. I assume Ant is, too, because itโs the only way for you to feed them.โ
โAre you judging me?โ
โOf course not,โ he said. โBut your daughter is old enough to decide for herself about this.โ
โSays the man with no children.โ โElsaโโ
โIโm making the decision for her.โ
โYou should teach her to stand up for herself, Elsa. Not to lie down.โ โAnd now you are definitely judging me. If you thought I was a brave
woman, youโve misjudged me.โ
โI donโt think so, Elsa. I think you believe it, though, which is tragic.โ โStay away from Loreda, Jack. I mean it. I wonโt let her be a casualty in
this war youโre playing at.โ โNo one is playing, Elsa.โ She walked away.
He started to follow her.
โDonโt,โ she snapped, and kept walking.
Outside, she grabbed Loredaโs arm and half dragged her out to the street, where they began walking home in the dark. Automobiles rumbled past them, headlights bright.
โMom, if youโd listen to himโโ
โNo,โ Elsa said. โAnd neither will you. Itโs my job to keep you safe. By God, Iโve failed at everything else. I will not fail at that. Do you hear me?โ
Loreda stopped.
Elsa had no choice but to stop, too, and turn back. โWhat?โ โDo you really think youโve failed me?โ
โLook at us.ย Walkingย back to a cabin smaller than our old toolshed. Both of us skinny as matchsticks and hungry all of the time. Of course Iโve failed you.โ
โMom,โ Loreda said, moving close. โIโm alive because of you. I go to school. I can think because you want to make sure I always do. You havenโt failed me. Youโve saved me.โ
โDonโt you try to turn this around and make it about thinking for yourself and growing up.โ
โBut it is about that, Mom. Isnโt it?โ
โI canโt lose you,โ Elsa said, and there it was: the truth. โI know, Mom. And I love you. But I need this.โ
โNo,โ Elsa said firmly. โNo. Now start walking. We have an early wake- up.โ
โMomโโ
โNo, Loreda.ย No.โ
LOREDA WOKE AT FIVE–THIRTYย and had to force herself out of bed. Her hands hurt like the dickens and she needed about ten hours of sleep and a good meal.
She put on her tattered pants and a shirt with long, ripped sleeves and trudged out to get in line at the bathroom.
The camp was strangely quiet. People were out and about, of course, but there wasnโt much conversation. No one made eye contact for long. A field foreman stood at the chain-link fence, hat drawn low, watching people. She knew there were more spies about, listening for any talk of a strike.
She got in line for the bathroom. There were about ten women in front of her.
As she waited, she saw a flash of movement back in the trees. Ike, at the water pump, filling a bucket. Loreda wanted to walk right over to him, but she didnโt dare.
She finally made it to the front of the line and used the bathroom.
She exited from the back door, closing it quietly behind her. She looked around, didnโt see anyone loitering or watching. Trying to look casual, she strolled over to the water pump.
Ike was still there. He saw her coming and stepped aside. She bent over and washed her hands in the cold water.
โWeโre meeting tonight,โ Ike said quietly. โMidnight. The laundry.โ
Loreda nodded and dried her hands on her pants. It wasnโt until she was halfway back to her cabin that she felt a prickling of awareness along the back of her neck. Someone was watching her or following her.
She stopped, turned suddenly.
Mr. Welty stood there in the trees, smoking a cigarette. Staring at Loreda. โCome here, missy,โ he said.
Loreda walked slowly toward him. The way he looked at her, through narrowed eyes, sent a shiver down her spine. โYes, sir?โ
โYou pick cotton for me?โ โI do.โ
โHappy for the job?โ
Loreda forced herself to meet his gaze. โVery.โ โYou hear any of the men talking about a strike?โ
Men. They always thought everything was about them. But women could stand up for their rights, too; women could hold picket signs and stop the means of production as well as men.
โNo, sir. But if I did, Iโd remind them what itโs like not to have work.โ Welty smiled. โGood girl. I like a worker who knows her worth.โ
Loreda slowly walked back to the cabin, shutting the door firmly behind her. Locking it.
โWhatโs the matter?โ Mom said, looking up. โWelty questioned me.โ
โDonโt draw that manโs attention, Loreda. What did he ask?โ
โNothing,โ Loreda said, grabbing a pancake from the hot plate. โThe trucks just drove up.โ
Five minutes later, they were all out the door, walking toward the line of trucks parked along the chain-link fence.
Quietly, they joined their fellow workers and climbed up into the back of a truck.
When the sun rose on the cotton fields, Loreda saw the changes that had been made by the growers overnight: coils of spiked barbed wire topped the fencing. A half-finished structure stood in the center of the field, a tower of some kind. The clatter and bang of building it rang out. Men sheโd never seen before paced the path between the chain-link fence and the road, carrying shotguns. The place looked like a prison yard. They were readying for a fight.
But withย guns? It wasnโt as if they could shoot people for striking. This was America.
Still, a ripple of unease moved through the workers. It was what Welty wanted: the workers to be afraid.
The trucks rumbled to a stop. The workers got out.
โTheyโre afraid of us, Mom,โ Loreda said. โThey know a strikeโโ Mom elbowed Loreda hard enough to shut her up.
โHurry up,โ Ant said. โTheyโre assigning rows.โ
Loreda dragged her sack out behind her, took her place at the start of the row sheโd been assigned.
When the bell rang, she bent over and went to work, plucking the soft white bolls from their spiked nests. But all she could think about was tonight.
Strike meeting. Midnight.
At noon the bell rang again.
Loreda straightened, tried to ease the cricks out of her neck and back, listening to the sound of men hammering.
Welty stood on the scalesโ raised platform, looking out at the men and women and children who worked themselves bloody to make him rich. โI know that some of you are talking to the union organizers,โ he said. His loud voice carried across the fields.
โMaybe you think you can find other jobs in other fields, or maybe you think I need you more than you need me. Let me tell you right now: that is not the case. For every one of you standing on my property, there are ten lined up outside the fence, waiting to take your job. And now, because of a few bad apples, I have had to put up fencing and hire men to guard my property. At considerable cost. So, I am lowering wages another ten percent. Anyone who stays agrees to that price. Anyone who leaves will never pick for me or any other grower in the valley again.โ
Loreda looked at her mother over the row of cotton that stood between them.
The structure in the middle of the field was nearly complete. It was easy now to see what theyโd been building all morning: a gun tower. Soon one of the foremen would be up there, pacing, carrying a rifle, making sure the workers knew their place.
You see?ย Loreda mouthed.
ELSA LAY AWAKE,ย DEEPย into the night, worrying about the ten percent cut in wages.
Across the small, dark room, she heard the other rusted metal bedframe squeak.
Elsa saw the shadow of her daughter in the moonlight through the open vent. Loreda quietly got out of bed.
Elsa sat up, watched her daughter move furtively; she dressed and went to the cabin door, reached for the knob.
โWhere do you think youโre going?โ Elsa said.
Loreda paused, turned. โThereโs a strike meeting tonight. In camp.โ
โLoreda, noโโ
โYouโll have to tie me up and gag me, Mom. Otherwise, Iโm going.โ
Elsa couldnโt see her daughterโs face clearly, but she heard the steel in her voice. As scared as Elsa was, she couldnโt help feeling a flash of reluctant pride. Her daughter was so much stronger and braver than Elsa was. Grandpa Wolcott would have been proud of Loreda, too. โThen Iโm going with you.โ
Elsa slipped into a day dress and covered her hair with a kerchief. Too lazy to lace up her shoes, she stepped into her galoshes and followed her daughter out of the cabin.
Outside, moonlight set the distant cotton fields aglow, turned the white cotton bolls silver.
The quiet of man was complete, unbroken, but they heard the scuttling of creatures moving in the dark. The howl of a coyote. She saw an owl, perched in a high branch, watching them.
Elsa imagined spies and foremen everywhere, hidden in every shadow, watching for those who would dare to raise their voices in protest. This was a stupid idea. Stupid and dangerous.
โMomโโ
โHush,โ Elsa said. โNot a word.โ
They passed the newer section of tents and turned into the laundryโa long, wooden structure that held metal washbasins, long tables, and a few hand-cranked wringers. Men rarely stepped foot in the place, but now there were about forty of them inside, standing in a tight knot.
Elsa and Loreda slipped to the back of the crowd.
Ike stood at the front. โWe all know why weโre here,โ he said quietly. There was no answer, not even a movement of feet.
โThey cut wages again today, and theyโll do it again. Because they can. Weโve all seen the desperate folks pouring into the valley. Theyโll work for anything. They have kids to feed.โ
โSo do we, Ike,โ someone said.
โI know, Ralph. But we gotta stand up for ourselves or theyโll destroy us.โ
โI ainโt no Red,โ someone said.
โCall it whatever you want, Gary. We deserve fair wages,โ Ike said. โAnd we arenโt going to get โem without a fight.โ
Elsa heard the distant sound of truck engines. She saw people turn around, look behind them. Headlights.
โRun!โ Ike yelled.
The crowd dispersed in a panic, people running away from the laundry in all directions.
Elsa grabbed Loredaโs hand and yanked her back toward the stinking toilets. No one else was going this way. They lurched into the shadows behind the building and hid there.
Men jumped out of the trucks, holding baseball bats, sticks of wood; one had a shotgun. They formed a line and began walking through the camp, backlit by their headlights, their footsteps muffled by the chug of their engines. They beat their weapons into the palms of their hands, a steady thump, thump, thump.
Elsa pressed a finger to her mouth and pulled Loreda along the fence line. When they finally made it back to the cabins, they ran for their own, slipped inside, locked the door behind them.
Elsa heard footsteps coming their way.
Light flashed through the cracks in the cabin; men moved past, accompanied by the sound of baseball bats hitting empty palms.
The sound came closeโthump, thump, thumpโand then faded away. In the distance, someone screamed.
โYou see, Loreda?โ Elsa whispered. โTheyโll hurt the people who threaten their business.โ
It was a long time before Loreda spoke, and when she did, her words were no comfort at all. โSometimes you have to fight back, Mom.โ