HF+draft

Dina Levy-Lambert 02/19/2009 823 ELA __ The very great, Great Depression __ __ Chapter 1 __ William George was jobless. And so was the rest of the country, in 1932. He couldn't stay with his family, because work was not sufficient where he and his family lived, so he left them, but with a lot of food. “I love you and I'll be back as soon as I can, hon. I'm really s'rry.” he told his wife confidently, although he wasn't sure he would be able to, “Tell the kids their Daddy loves them and I'll be back soon. I love you and I'll always, whenever and wherever I might be, never forget that..,” and so he left, into the unknown, with a bindle on his shoulder, walking away from his family. Walking away from Sacramento. Walking away from all he had. Far, far away. //Am I doing the right thing?// he thought, //It is,we won't survive if I don't.// He spent his first day traveling. He passed a few big, dry sycamore trees, as the sun was hitting on his extremely dry skin. The heat was extreme, yet no rain would fall out of the big, baby blue sky. //I love watching the sun set, it's so beautiful, one of the only beautiful things at this time in this country//, he thought. It had been a few months since it had started the “very great” great depression. A little wind blew, carrying all sorts of things, even bad odors. The wind carefully approached Will, and suddenly he felt a slap on his face. No, it wasn’t a person slapping him, yet it was a newspaper. “Franklin D. Roosevelt elected President and enjoying his new and easy life, while the country’s suffering!” was the headline. Will might not have been rich, but he was pretty smart and wasn’t illiterate. // The president’s enjoying life? Such a stupid fella, he ain’t carin’ nothin’ about his // //country, only usin’ it! Da economy is bad ‘nough!// He thought. //I’m leavin’ ma family, while he’s livin’ the life? That ain’t right…// He walked over to a little open site from where he could observe the stars and the very dark, amazing and beautiful looking night sky. He took out his very thin covers that were the only ones he could afford with still being able to buy beans and save a little, because who knew? He might not get a job in a while. He was collecting a few branches of wood to start a little cooking fire. He took out one of his few and precious matches and “Crack” lit the little fire. “Clack” was the sound of him slamming his can of beans against a rock, opening it and ready to put it over the fire. After ten minutes, the beans were ready. He ate his food and tried to enjoy the rest of his evening. He woke up to dust balls hitting his tired face. //Ow, stupid dust balls, I’m so tired!// It was his direct thought. It was early, but to succeed, everything what a person can do is what they should do. He stood up, packed his stuff and continued his journey. As the wind blew harder, his hat lifted from his head, his hand reaching fast and securing it back onto his head. The dust balls were everywhere, rolling on the dry land and up to no good. “Work ticket place 1 mile away” a board said. “Good” Will mumbled. He walked and walked. A minute later, he heard a scream, “AHHH, MY EYES! DAMN DUST BALLS! AHHH!”. He looked back but just saw a blur of what seemed to be the person, //I can't go back there, I have my own problems to deal with right now.// He thought. His legs kept on dragging him, until something brought him to a stop. “Hello, looking fo' a job m'ster?” a voice asked behind him. //Who could that be?// He thought. Surprised, he turned around, facing another probably jobless man. “Yes. Are you too?” he responded. “Hell yeah, fella” the man answered, “Wha's the name?” “Will, Will George and who are you?” “James Smith, call me Jamie” “Nice meeting ya Jamie” “Sure, now let's go, I can see the damn ticket place ov'rthere and there ain't many people around, so we'd better hurry before the folks come” and so both men made their ways to the little house and entered. “NEXT, I need two people!” the counter man said and Will and James looked at each other, then walked towards the counter. “You'll both go to the nearest farm, a few miles North, be ready to work tomorrow morning there, or you ain't gettin' far fellas” “Thanks, Mista” Jamie and Will responded, taking their tickets. They walked away and made their way. For half an hour, they walked in silence, until Jamie noticed something. “Hey Will, see the farm ov'r there?” “Sure, think it's a rich fella's farm, so we might get a good pay” “Can't be too sure, last time, ain't no nice fella da boss, he gave us the same crappy pay as to the nigga there...” And both men came nearer and nearer to the farm, until they reached it. The sun was already setting and the darkness spread. Will knocked at the door, and a fat man came and said, “So you're the fellas sent here...You betta work good or you'll be back to where you started at”. The men went to the cabin they were told to sleep in. The cabin was small, with a few bunks lying next to each other. There was one window, that looked onto the very dry fields. “Hey, what's the names?” a strong and confident looking worker said. “I'm Jamie and that's ma friend Will” “I'm John, hope da boss didn't scare you two too much, he ain't that nice of a guy, but if you work good, you'll stay. I been here for two months already and ain't plannin' on leavin'. There're two bunks over there, you can sleep there.” “Thanks” they said. Jamie and Will each walked towards a bunk and put their stuff down. It didn't seem that comfortable, but at least they had it and both were really tired. They fell deeply asleep into the night. __ Chapter 2 __ At 6 o'clock the next morning, John woke up, stretched a little, massaged his slim, muscular arms and walked over to the other four bunks. Will was sleeping at one end, next to Jamie, who was sleeping next to Joe, who's bunk was next to Henry's, who's was next to a non occupied one. “Hey, guys, wake up!” he shouted. Joe and Henry immediately jumped out of bed and put on his shoes. “What?” Jamie sleepily mouthed. “Da boss won't be happy to know you lazy fellas don't wanna wake up, now get up Jamie. WILL! WAKE UP!” “Okay, I heard you the firs' time! Ain't no reason to shout a' me...” Will stood up and got himself ready. Five minutes later, Will saw a shadow, a wide and short one, walking slowly towards the little cabin. //It's the boss again, ugh I have a bad feelin' 'bout this fella,// Will thought. “The work ain't doing itself on its own! Even da nigga is already out there. C'mon, you don't wanna end up like da last fool who I fired! 'Heard his body was found next to the river, 'cause he didn't have 'nough food.” The enormous man shrieked. “We're coming,” the workers said. As if their lives depended on it, Joe and John sprinted out of cabin, then followed by Jamie and finally Will, who didn't seem to understand what was happening, because of a lack of experience. When Will got outside, he saw a very small cabin labeled “Niggers”. //OH...That's probably where the nigga's sleepin'// he realized. “He got nerves,” Will told Jamie, who quickly turned around and looked if anybody was behind them. “Shhhh. Nev'r say that again without checking if any fellas' around. Ya could get us in real big troubles and you ain't wanting that.” Jamie whispered. //I better watch that I ain't making no comments before lookin' around...// What the workers called breakfast came right after. Each worker had a little plate filled with the cheapest oatmeal and a plastic spoon next to it. //Ew... well at least I have somethin' to eat...// All workers seemed happy to have this food, so Will decided to eat it too. The workers only had five minutes to eat and then it was straight to work. “John! Go tell the new ones what to do! They're gonna help the nigga!” The boss yelled out. “Okay boss.” He quickly ran over to the “new ones”. “Hey, boys, Imma explain to you whatch'a gonna do...You gonna help da nigger ” Jamie and Will nodded and walked towards “the nigga”. Jamie just stood there while Will was trying to get to know him. “So, what's ya name? I'm Will” Will asked. The Nigger didn't respond. “What's ya name I asked” Will spoke up. “Why are ya talkin' to me. No fool ain't talking to a nigger.” “I was just trying to be nice...” “The name's George...Anyways, you two fellas gonna help me on the field. We gonna go make holes in the ground, plant some corn and then get the ripe corn and put it in buckets.” “Sounds easy...” “It ain't as easy as it look...You might not wanna talk to me anymore, 'cause da boss ain't liking it. I'm a nigga and niggas get people in trouble.” //I don't get this,// Will thought. Will walked beside Jamie on the way to the small field. “Why you been talking to da nigger? Don't ya know you ain't supposed to talk to no nigger!” Jamie asked. “I'm gonna stop, I was just curious. George seems pretty nice though.” “Nobody ain't calling no nigga by a name. A nigga is a nigga, IT ain't no person.” “Okay, I get it...” So the day went on, and Jamie and Will were working. //This is so hard,// Will thought, //This is the hardest I've worked forever.// The sun was shining so hard, as if it really wanted to, and the heat was extreme. Will had just taken the shovel and planted it in the soil. He looked up at the blinding sun and collapsed. “Damn it Will” Jamie said, but Will didn't respond. Afraid that Will would get fired or that something would happen to him, Jamie carried his friend and placed him under a tree's shadow. He got some water and a towel, and put it on his forehead. About an hour after that, Will woke up. “Wha-What happened?” Will stuttered. “You fell unconscious man, but it's alright, I got ya covered. I finished your work.” “Oh, thanks. I owe you.” And so Will knew he had found a great friend that he would be able to trust for good. __ Chapter 3 __ It was Sunday now, and nobody had to work a the farm. The workers also got their weekly pay, five dollars, which was good, considering it was the great depression and they had a place to eat and sleep that didn't cost them anything. “This was a long week 'f work” Will muttered. Nobody except for Jamie seemed to care. //Seriously, it was,// he thought, //I miss my family. Are they okay?.// “Oh, you thought th't was tiring Will? Wait 'til it's hotter, you'll be like dead.” Jamie responded. “Oh great” Will mumbled. As soon as Will got his pay, he safely put it in a secret pocket in his bindle, because he didn't want to lose this precious money. “Our pay is so low man. That fella makes us work like we're some stupid niggas and he ain't givin' us good money.” Will told Jamie. “Ya should be happy you getting' any money Will. Many people ain't got nothing right now. We got some stack, food and a shelter. You gotta love what ya have.” “Sure, but it ain't great.” “Oh and ya shouldn't be talkin' like that around here. Da boss ain't a nice fella, he might be over hearin' us right now and we'd get in a hell lot of trouble.” Jamie informed Will. The workers enjoyed their only day off of the week and relaxed. “You fellas wanna play some horseshoes?” John asked. “Sure. Wanna bet some money?” Henry asked. “Um I don't know man, we worked a hell lot for our stack...But hey, whatever, we gonna die one day.” Jamie answered. Will simply followed the men and brought a couple of dollars to bet. “Everybody wanna play for money?” Joe asked. “YEAH, let's start. Let's play for five whole dollars, our weekly pay. If two fellas win, we'll split the money” Everybody nodded, so Will went along. “It's a regular game of horse shoes, the winner gets everything.” John announced. “How do ya play that game Jamie?” Will whispered. “It's simple, ya throw that horseshoe and try to get it around the hook thing” John went up first, threw five horseshoes and got three around the hook. “Not bad,” Jamie congratulated. It was his turn now, he threw the horseshoes and also got three around the hook. “Ya not that bad yourself Jamie” John replied. Joe went up and only got one around the hook. Right after Joe, Henry went and got none around the hook. “Pffff, I wasn't even warmed up. I could'a gotten every single one in. But I ain't got interest in showin' of.” Henry bragged, though there really was no point in doing so. It was Will's turn now. “Okay. I'm gonna try this...So you have to get it around the hook” He took the first horseshoe, concentrated and got it around the hook. “Beginner's luck,” Joe said. “We'll see” Jamie said, “My friend here's pretty smart, ya know.” Will took the next one and got it in again. John started to be nervous, he might lose all his pay. And again, Will got the next one around. John was really shaking now, sweat was all over face and dripping. Will took the fourth one, but missed by an inch. //Damn it! Okay, I can do this. I can do this,// he thought. Will took the last horseshoe. A sweat tear was flowing down his face and finally dropped on the floor. There was nothing but silence. He swung the horseshoe up, then back down, leading to him throwing it and it perfectly getting stuck around the hook. “WOW,” Jamie exclaimed. “Are you sure that was the first time you were playing that game? Man, ya got a talent. Congrats'.” “Yeah, first time eva. Thanks Jamie, I learned from the best” he responded. “Beginner's luck” John mouthed as Will took the money, it was twenty-five dollars. Everybody walked away but Will. “Hey, Jamie, come here. I gotta give you somethin'...” Will shouted. Jamie came turned around and ran over. “What's up Will?” Jamie asked. Will took ten dollars out from his big win and handed it over to Jamie. “Here...Rememba? I owed ya, because you helped me out. We're buddies, we gotta stick close together or we won't make it through this “very great” great depression.” “Are you sure? That's a whole lot of money. Thanks man, you the best fella in this world.” Jamie responded. “You know what? Let's travel togeth'r foreva. We'll be best buds. We'll only take jobs together and we'll help eachoth'r out. What ya think?” “Yea, that'd be great” And so there friendship grew stronger and was meant to last forever. __ Chapter 4 __ The following week flew by, everybody worked and the Sunday came. All the workers got their weekly pay of five dollars they had worked hard for. Will finally adjusted to this hard life and tried to enjoy it. Everybody also played horseshoes, but only bet two dollar each, scared to lose all their money again. Again, Will won and gave some part of the money to Jamie. John’s hands were so sweaty and his face as red as a tomato. //It ain’t right that Will always gives me some of his money,// Jamie thought. “Hey Will, I gotta say, you should keep the money, ya won it” Jamie explained. “No. Look, we’re like family. If it wasn’t for ya, I wouldn’t be here winnin’ all this money.” Will responded. The next morning, something unexpected happened. The workers woke up like usually, but something was wrong. Where was John? All of his belongings were gone too. //I think it’s my fault he left. He was probably to win a lot of money playing horseshoes, and then I came. Whatever, he probably had a lot of money from it,// was what was going through Will’s head. “Anyone know what happened to John?” The Boss asked. “I don’t know Boss. He was here yesterday, but he ain’t today. I think he left…” Joe answered. The Boss rolled his eyes. //Really? I didn’t know that Joe,// was his imaginary continuation of this talk. //That fella’s so annoying. If he wouldn’t work so hard and be so strong like a bull, I would have kicked him out a long time ago.// George, the “nigger”, looked like he knew. Will looked around him and saw no one was there. He walked over to George’s cabin and knocked. “Hey George…Do ya know by any chance what happened to the fella, John?” Will whispered. “Kind’a, I saw him yesterday evening, he left.” George answered. “Did he take anything with him?” “Yea, he was carrying all his stuff, with his bindle and looked mad and sad. The look ya know, when ya don’t have nothin’ left.” This made Will feel guilty again. //Even he thinks it’s ma fault. Well, indirectly, but still.// Will thought. __ Chapter 5 __ Three days later, a new worker came. He was tall, slim and had big muscles. The Boss brought him to the cabin. “Hey fellas, this is Jeremy. Show him around, he’ll be taking over your job Will, and you’ll take John’s…Oh and you and Jamie will get a raise, you’ll now get seven dollars a week, but you’ll have to work twice as hard” The Boss explained with an annoyed look on his face as his legs eager carried him out of the cabin. //I can finally go to my house,// The Boss thought. “So, Jeremy, ya’ll be sleepin’ on this bunk. I’ll be waking you up in the morning, ‘til you get used to it…Tomorrow, I’ll show you ya job…” Will told the new worker. “Okay, thanks…Is it just me or ain’t da Boss a nice fella?” “It ain’t just you. He ain’t nice to no one…but who cares? He’s givin’ us food, a shelter and some extra money, so I’m okay here…There’s one thing ya should know. If you ain’t workin’ hard, he’ll kick ya out and you’ll be on the streets again…” “So, where ya from Jeremy?” Jamie asked. “I’m from Sacramento, where you guys from?” “I’m from San Francisco and my buddy Will is from Sacramento too…” On the next morning, Will showed Jeremy his new job. It was took quite a while, because Jeremy wasn’t that intelligent, but at the end he got it and did a beautiful job at it. Will also did good with his new job and the boss seemed happy. At the end of the day, when he had finished his work, he walked around. He then saw “The Boss” with his family. Will directly felt a big, fat knot forming in his stomach and a tear ran down his cheek. //I miss my family…When I get enough money, I’ll go back and provide them with food and a shelter. Only a few more weeks, I would need about three hundred dollars, and I already have about sixty. So, I need um, two hundred fourty? If I play horseshoes for a month or two and also get my pay, I would have enough.// Will thought. As he wandered around on the farm, he passed The Boss’s house and heard a voice. No, not a human voice, but it sounded more robotic like. It was a radio inside of The Boss’s house. “Franklin D. Roosevelt, the new president loves his new life. He just bought a vacation house in Europe for him and his family, and has been traveling around the world…He has been spending the government’s money for his benefit…” //What? That Roosevelt fella again? He ain’t no good president, he ain’t good with economy, we’d be better off without an enemy of the public!// Will thought. Will went back to the cabin, where everybody was sleeping except for Jamie, who was sitting on his bunk looking up. “Hey Jamie, come ova here,” Will whispered. Jamie came over. “What’s up Will?” “I’m really sad…I saw da Boss with his family and it…it reminded me of my own that I left behind.” “At least you had one…” “What do you mean at least I had one?” “It ain’t nothin’…” A few tears were coming out of Jamie’s eyes. “You can tell me, we’re best buds!” “A week before I left my hometown to find jobs like this one, my wife and kids were really sick…Then they, ‘sniff’ ‘sniff’, they died…” Jamie sobbed. “Ya know what? We can save up money together and when we’ll have ‘nough, we’ll go find my family, buy a house and grow old together…” “Tha-that sounds great…Ya da best Will,” “I think we’ll need about three hundred dollars…I already have about seventee, how much do you have?” “I have about fifty…so together we have, um, one hundred and twenty?” “That sounds right…And it’s almost Sunday, so we’ll get some money, and you could play horseshoes…” __ Chapter 6 __ Sunday came fast, everybody got their pay and was happy. //Umm, so now we have fourteen dollars more, so we have a hundred and thirty four? I’ll go ask the others if they wanna play some horseshoes, they’re so stupid, they’ll lose all of their money!// Will walked to the cabin and came in. “Any of ya fellas wanna play some horseshoes?” Will asked. “Sure, why not?” Jeremy answered. “I don’t know man, I already lost a lot of money…” Joe answered. “Are you sayin’ you’re a coward?” Jamie asked. “I ain’t a coward, so okay, fine…” “How about you Henry, wanna play?” Jamie asked. “Yeah, sure, I ain’t a coward, how much we bettin’?” Henry responded. “How about seven dollars? Or are all of ya fellas cowards?” All of them agreed. //Maybe,// //Will’s// gonna //lose…Yeah, and I’ll win and have a lot of stack!// Joe thought. //Seven dollars ain’t much, right?// Jeremy thought. The men played the game, and of course Will won. “Hey Jamie, we just won, um, fifteen dollars, so we have one hundred and forty nine whole dollars, we like half way done…” Will excitedly told Jamie. A whole month went on, every Sunday the men played horseshoes and Will won. It was Friday now, Jamie and Will had already saved three hundred and ten dollars! “Ain’t this amazin’?” Jamie asked Will. “It sure is, ya know, we should get going, but we should stay ‘til Sunday evening, to get our pay and play some horseshoes with the dumb ones…” Will planned. Friday and Saturday flew by and it was Sunday. The men got their weekly pay and bet all of it on their game, which not surprisingly Will won. //So now we have, um, three hundred and thirty seven dollars, YES!// When the sun set, the workers slept and the Boss was in his house, Jamie and Will snuck out of the farm, with stolen covers that were thicker than their own and six stolen cans of beans each. The “invisible” George stood outside of his little cabin and saw them. His hand made a gently “goodbye” motion. Will did the same back, as a sign of respect towards his non respected friend. __ Chapter 7 __ They put their bindles on their backs and started walking. They walked to the sound of their canned beans clinging and swinging left, right, left, right, left… //Ah, finally independent!// Jamie thought. //I’m so excited//, Will thought. “So, how far is the hometown?” Jamie asked. “It’s twenty miles, a two days route,” Will answered. “We’ll have fun, you know, travelin’ around outside, lookin’ up at the stars…” This same night, they traveled five miles and found a little open site. Both took out their stolen covers, lay them on the floor and cooked two cans of beans. Then, they fell in a deep, night’s sleep. They woke up the next morning to a light morning breeze. They quickly stood up and continued traveling. At about lunch time, they were halfway done, only about ten miles away. “Let’s stop a little and share a can of beans for lunch” Will suggested. “Sure, how many do ya have left?” “I have five left, you?” “Six, because I still had one from before.” The two shared one of Jamie’s cans for a quick lunch. //I think we’re about half way done,// Will thought. The two continued on traveling. They were passing sycamore trees, dust balls and other people. As they approached evening, they passed a sign that read “Sacramento, California: 5 miles away”. “Saw that Will? Only five more miles! How ‘bout we now find a site and set up our stuff, so that we’ll be in good shape t’morrow and finish quickly?” “Sure, that might be faster,” //I’m so eager to see my family! We’ll then buy a small house and food!// The next morning they continued the Journey. Then they saw a sign that read “Welcome to Sacramento, California”. “It will only take a few minutes, my little place is near the border” Will explained, and it was true, it only took a few minutes and they arrived. //I can’t wait to see them,// Will thought. //I can’t wait to see his family, they must be really nice,// Jamie thought. “Okay, this is the place,” Will excitedly announced as they went in the little cabin like place. This was a very small place, the walls were plain white, the ceiling low. “Honey, it’s me, Will!” Will shouted. No response. They went in another room, nobody was there. //Ew, what’s that disgustin’ smell? It smells like, I don’t know, rotten meat?// Jamie thought. Thousands of flies were dancing in the rotten air, as if they were enjoying a festival. The light was dim and was getting dimmer the further they went into the apartment. They went to the last room in the place, to find Will’s family lying on the ground. The room was the darkest of all of them. The few windows were broken and the tension started getting intense. “They’re probably takin’ a little nap,” Will told Jamie, but as they approached Will’s family, they found out they were wrong. Will’s wife had her eyes and mouth open, but insects were eating her body, coming in and out of it. Will’s children were the same. His family was dead. Tears started flowing out of Will’s eyes. //I can’t believe it, it’s all my fault, I shouldn’t have left them alone. It’s my fault. IT’S MY FAULT!!!!!!// He thought. “It’s okay, everythin’ is gonna be alright, I lost my family too, and I’m alright now,” Jamie tried to soothe Will. “It ain’t okay, it’s all my fault! IT’S ALL MY FAULT! I DON’T DESERVE TO LIVE! I AIN’T A GOOD HUSBAND AND FATHER!” Will sobbed. “It wasn’t your fault. It wasn’t my fault either when my family died. Ya know what? We’ll go buy da house and live a nice life,” “Can I g-get a l-little t-time alone?” “Sure, but don’t do anything bad to yourself…” //I don’t deserve to live! Their lives have// //been taken and I deserve the same for not having protected them!// Will thought. He took a knife and stabbed himself precisely in the heart, as he was lying next to his dead family. “Ah, ahhh” were the last quiet sounds that came out of his mouth. //What was that?// Jamie thought. //I’ll go check on Will.// Jamie walked over to the room he had left Will in. He almost fainted when he saw Will’s body, his dead body. //This was my entire fault! It was obvious he was gonna take his life! What have I done? I don’t deserve to live!// And so Jamie ended up like Will and his family. The Great Depression wasn’t great, not at all. Many people ended up heartbroken and took their lives, the whole country was depressed. It wasn’t just in the United States, but all over the Globe, the “great” Great Depression.