Гроздья гнева
Chapter 20
«Youtellingmehowtorunmyownbusiness?»
Floydsaid,«’Fwe’reworkin’foryou,it’sourbusinesstoo.»
«Well,youain’ttellingmewhattodo.ItoldyouIneedmen.»
Floydsaidangrily,«Youdidn’sayhowmanymen,an’youdidn’saywhatyou’dpay.»
«Goddamnit,Idon’tknowyet.»
«Ifyoudon’know,yougotnorighttohiremen.»
«Igotarighttorunmyownbusinessmyownway.Ifyoumenwanttosithereonyourass,O.K.I’moutgettingmenforTulareCounty.Goingtoneedalotofmen.»
Floydturnedtothecrowdofmen.Theywerestandingupnow,lookingquietlyfromonespeakertotheother.Floydsaid,«TwicetnowI’vefellforthat.Maybeheneedsathousan’men.He’llgetfivethousan’there,an’he’llpayfifteencentsanhour.An’youpoorbastards’llhavetotakeit’causeyou’llbehungry.’Fhewantstohiremen,lethimhire’eman’writeoutan’saywhathe’sgonnapay.Asttaseehislicense.Heain’tallowedtocontractmenwithoutalicense.»
ThecontractorturnedtotheChevroletandcalled,«Joe!»Hiscompanionlookedoutandthenswungthecardooropenandsteppedout.Heworeridingbreechesandlacedboots.Aheavypistolholsterhungonacartridgebeltaroundhiswaist.Onhisbrownshirtadeputysheriff’sstarwaspinned.Hewalkedheavilyover.Hisfacewassettoathinsmile.«Whatyouwant?»Theholsterslidbackandforthonhiship.
«Everseethisguybefore,Joe?»
Thedeputyasked,«Whichone?»
«Thisfella.»ThecontractorpointedtoFloyd.
