Гроздья гнева

           "Mister,"shesaid,"yougotatinbuttonan’agun.WhereIcomefrom,youkeepyourvoicedown."Sheadvancedonhimwiththeskillet.Heloosenedthegunintheholster."Goahead,"saidMa."Scarin’women.I’mthankfulthemenfolksain’there.They’dtearyatopieces.Inmycountryyouwatchyourtongue."

           Themantooktwostepsbackward."Well,youain’tinyourcountrynow.You’reinCalifornia,an’wedon’twantyougoddamnOkiessettlin’down."

           Ma’sadvancestopped.Shelookedpuzzled."Okies?"shesaidsoftly."Okies."

           "Yeah,Okies!An’ifyou’reherewhenIcometomorra,I’llrunyain."Heturnedandwalkedtothenexttentandbangedonthecanvaswithhishand."Who’sinhere?"hesaid.

           Mawentslowlybackunderthetarpaulin.Sheputtheskilletintheutensilbox.Shesatdownslowly.RoseofSharonwatchedhersecretly.AndwhenshesawMafightingwithherface,RoseofSharonclosedhereyesandpretendedtobeasleep.

           Thesunsanklowintheafternoon,buttheheatdidnotseemtodecrease.Tomawakenedunderhiswillow,andhismouthwasparchedandhisbodywaswetwithsweat,andhisheadwasdissatisfiedwithhisrest.Hestaggeredtohisfeetandwalkedtowardthewater.Hepeeledoffhisclothesandwadedintothestream.Andthemomentthewaterwasabouthim,histhirstwasgone.Helaybackintheshallowsandhisbodyfloated.Heheldhimselfinplacewithhiselbowsinthesandandlookedathistoes,whichbobbedabovethesurface.