the truck.
Elsa drove out to the old squatters’ camp and parked near the Deweys’ truck. She and Jeb and Loreda got out. A wood and metal roof had been built over the bed. Another roof extended out to the side, created a covered cooking area where the children now sat. Jean lay on a mattress in the back of the truck.
“Tell us what to do,” Jeb said.
Elsa climbed up into the truck bed and knelt beside Jean. “Hey, you.”
“Elsa,” Jean said, her voice almost too soft to be heard. Her eyes had a glassy, unfocused look. “I told Jeb you’d be at relief today.”
Elsa placed a hand on Jean’s forehead. “You’re burning up.” She yelled to Jeb: “Get me some water.”
Moments later, Loreda handed Elsa a cup of warm water. “Here, Mom.”
Elsa took the cup. Cradling Jean’s neck, she helped her sip water. “Come on, Jean, take a drink.”
Jean tried to push her away.
“Come on, Jean.” Elsa forced the water down Jean’s throat.
Jean looked up at her. “It’s bad this time.”
Elsa looked down at Jeb. “You got any aspirin?”
“Nope.”
“Loreda,” Elsa said. “Take the truck to the company store. Buy us some aspirin. And a thermometer. The keys are in the ignition.”
Loreda ran off.
Elsa settled herself in closer to Jean, held her in her arms, and stroked her hot brow.
“It’s the typhoid, I reckon,” Jean said. “You should probably stay away.”
“I’m not that easy to get rid of. Just ask my husband. He had to run off in the middle of the night.”
Jean smiled weakly. “He was a fool.”
“Jack said the same thing. So did Rafe’s mom, come to think of it.”
“I sure could use me some of that gin we been talkin’ about.”
Elsa ran her fingers through Jean’s damp hair. Heat radiated from Jean’s body to Elsa’s. “I could sing…”
“Please don’t.”
The women smiled at each other, but Elsa saw Jean’s fear. “It’ll be okay. You’re strong.”
Jean closed her eyes and fell asleep in Elsa’s arms.
Elsa held Jean, stroked her hot brow, and whispered quiet words of encouragement until she heard the rumbling sound of the truck returning.
Thank God.
Loreda drove up and parked. She opened the truck’s door and got out, banging the door shut behind her. “Mom!” she yelled. “The store wasn’t open.”
Elsa craned her neck to see Loreda. “Why not?”
“Probably because of the strike talk. They want to remind us how much we need them. Pigs.”
Jean’s body suddenly arched and stiffened. Her eyes rolled back in her head. Her body began to shake violently.
Elsa held her friend until she stilled.
“There’s no aspirin, Jean,” Elsa said.
Jean’s eyes fluttered open. “Don’t fret none, Elsa. Just let me—”
“No,” Elsa said sharply. “I’ll be right back. Don’t you dare go anywhere.”
Jean’s breathing slowed. “I might go dancin’.”
Elsa eased Jean’s head back and got out of the truck. “You stay here,” she said to Loreda. “Try to get Jean to drink more water. Keep a wet rag on her forehead. Don’t let her kick the covers away.” She turned to Jeb. “I’ll be right back.”
“Where yah going?” Jeb asked.
“I’m getting her aspirin.”
“Where? You got any money to buy some?”
“No,” Elsa said tightly. “They make sure we never have money. Stay here.”
She ran to the truck and started it up, drove out to the main road.
At the hospital, she walked across the parking lot and pushed through the doors, leaving dirty brown footprints across the clean floor as she walked to the front desk, where a woman sat alone, playing solitaire.
“I need help,” Elsa said. “Please. I know you won’t let us come to the hospital, but if you could just give me some asprin, it would be such a help. My friend has a fever. Really high. It could be typhoid. Help us. Please. Please.”
The woman straightened in her chair, craned her neck to look up and down the hall. “You know that’s contagious, right? There’s a nurse at the new government tent camp in Arvin. Ask her for help. She treats your kind.”
Your kind.
Enough is goddamned enough.
Elsa walked out of the hospital, went back to the truck, and grabbed Ant’s baseball bat from out of the bed. Carrying it, she walked across the parking lot, trying to stay calm.
This time she banged through the doors, took one look at the woman sneering up at her, and slammed the baseball bat down on the front desk hard enough to dent the wood.
The woman screamed.
“Ah, good. I have your attention. I need some aspirin,” Elsa said calmly.
The woman spun around, yanked open a cabinet. With