In Dubious Battle

1

My pop always told me

to watch the scales.

Said the world

will always find a way

to cheat the working man.

I met Mac McLeod in 1933,

and I witnessed up close

the price of real change.

Gentlemen, ladies,

come in, come in.

Listen, please.

Hear what I have to say,

all right?

This price cut pains me

as much as it pains you.

With the market

as volatile as it is

a fella should

count himself fortunate

to garner a respectable wage

like I offer you.

Right?

Yeah, respectable like hell!

- What?

- Yeah!

Man can't live

on a dollar a day.

You promised us three a day,

and you know it.

But unfortunately, good man,

my hands are tied.

What are we gonna do today?

We gotta walk.

We'll just go on over

to the next field.

Yeah!

No, no, no.

Unfortunately,

that won't work either.

That's the rate for every field

for the Torgas valley.

And now you can either

take it as it is or leave.

Leave? I can't leave.

I spent nearly my last dimes

just to try and get out here.

Can't leave.

I'm sorry.

That's a pity.

But you can either whine

or go to work.

Let's go.

Let's go. Move out.

All right, come on, folks.

Let's do this.

As they said in the great war,

"it's daylight in de Banque,

the son of a b*tch

is in the swamp.

Hey, praise ye

to the god almighty.

"What are you gonna do,

sleep all day?"

Good people, good people.

My people, my people.

What do you want?

Oh, hey, you must be

the new recruit.

You... hey, that means

you met Harry.

Harry says you're okay,

you're okay.

What is it? Jack?

Uh, I'm Jim.

Jim Nolan.

Joy, let him in.

You say Nolan. Nolan?

Are you ray Nolan's kid?

Yeah, yeah.

Joy, where's your manners?

Why don't you invite

our new friend in here?

Oh, I'm sorry, yeah.

Here, nice to meet you, Jim.

Ah. Name's Mac.

Nice to meet you.

All right.

Uh, joy don't shake.

Hurts too much.

Busted his hands.

Yeah, because

I got beat real good.

That's right,

I been handcuffed to a bar

and smacked across the skull.

I gotten my hands stomped on

by police horses.

I been beat to hell,

ain't I, Mac?

Sure have, joy.

All right, Jay.

- Jim, sorry.

- Come on, have a seat.

Ray Nolan's kid, huh?

Yeah.

Heard he was the toughest mug

in the whole county.

Say he could lick five cops

with his bare hands.

Yeah. Too bad

every time he went out,

he managed to run into six.

Well, let's hope you got

more sense than that.

Now, this here's Edith Malone.

She's all right.

Little too tough

for her own good.

Pfft. Go to hell, Mac.

You can call me Edie.

He's just sore because I been

at this longer than he has,

and I'm better at it too.

Maybe, maybe, maybe so.

Mm-hmm.

You already met joy.

Joy's an old vet,

ain't you, joy?

Damn right.

And I ain't ever crawled.

Did I ever...

Did I ever break?

Did I ever beg them to stop?

Never.

I kept on calling them

sons of b*tches

right until they knocked me

cold, every damn time.

Well, maybe if you'd

kept your trap shut,

they wouldn't have knocked that

head of yours around so much

and you could keep straight

the days of the week.

All right,

don't get him started.

Yeah, well,

they were sons of b*tches

and so I told them.

You know, they may have

rode me down,

ground me into the dirt till

the soil was red with my blood

but I told them what they were!

- You sure did, joy.

- Yeah, damn right.

Hey, let me get you some coffee.

Just wait here.

Man, I know what day

of the week it is.

All right, joy.

Who produces the goods?

Uh, the workers do.

And who takes the profit?

The bosses and the owner?

By what right?

They don't produce nothing.

- What right do they have?

- Joy!

You sound like a two-bit

preacher in a one-horse town.

Will you just stop trying

to convince our own people

and leave the poor boy alone?

Jim, come on.

Joy, let him go.

I'm with you, joy.

All right.

Okay, Jack.

Just been smacked over the head

one too many times.

We take care of him,

try to keep him out of trouble.

Those the only clothes you got?

Uh, yeah.

Yeah, gonna have

to get you a costume.

What do you mean, a costume?

Cig?

No, thank you.

You got good timing, Jim.

Great, in fact.

Tomorrow morning,

I'm heading to the Torgas valley

and you're coming with me.

What's in Torgas?

Apples.

Fields of them. Succulent

like you wouldn't believe.

Thousands of boomers come out

for the season to pick them.

Poor bastards spend their every

last dime getting out there.

As soon as they're there,

bosses slash the wages in half.

Guys like that's

gonna be mad, furious.

There ain't nothing

they can do about it.

That's where you and me come in.

We're gonna fix

that job real quick.

We're gonna start a strike.

Well, look at that.

Kid's got some brains

to go with all that brawn.

So, what do you say?

You ready to pick some apples?

I'm in.

Jeez, man, my pops

used to work those fields.

He said no matter how bad

the docks were, working there,

way worse working the field,

because if they catch you

interfering in the field,

they'll kill you.

There's no one to stop them.

Why do you think

we're going out there?

Change all that...

One field at a time,

if we have to.

Real question is,

have you ever jumped

a train before?

Have I ever what?

Jumped a train?

Yeah.

You know, I never been

out of the city before.

Yeah.

Damn, this ain't a sight.

Is where we're going like this?

Better.

Better?

Trees dripping with apples

like red jewels.

You think you'd died

and found Eden.

You want one?

No, thank you.

All right.

What made you want to join

a bunch of radicals?

Did you know the industrial

workers of the world

are violent anarchists

and dirty communists?

According to most folk.

Had a lot to do with my old man.

Seeing that poor old bastard joy

reminded me of my old man.

He took so many beatings

that he went punch drunk.

One time, I found him

walking in circles

in the middle of the street.

Got hit with a pair of brass

knuckles by a scab real good.

Never could steer straight

after that.

Where's he at now?

He's gone.

Finally took charge

a buckshot to the chest

from a cop's riot gun.

Say he was dead

before he even hit the ground.

Damn.

Yeah.

You know, I had

all this inside me.

I never had anywhere to put it.

I just fought.

But now I have a chance

to fight for something.

I want to fight for something.

I want that.

That's all I want.

I like the way you think,

Jim Nolan.

You and me's gonna make

a pretty good team.

You ever do anything

like this before?

Nope, never.

The key is,

they gotta think

we're like any other pickers.

Let's get to work.

- Where you boys from?

- Up north, sir.

You two pick before?

Yes, sir.

Well, why don't you find

an empty tree and get to work?

All right.

All right, I got a name.

London.

Find a tree, pick,

talk to some folks,

feel them out.

See you after.

Don't bruise them.

Rot sets in a bruise.

You hear me?

Yeah, hear.

You got a problem, kid?

No, sir.

Well, god, he's awful, huh?

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