The Grapes of Wrath Page #26

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PA:

(shaking his head)

It sure is hell jus' tryin' to get

enough to eat.

TOM:

Fella tells me they's three hunerd

thousan' aroun' here like us, a-

scrabblin' for work an' livin' like

hogs. Can't figger what it is, but

*sump'n's* wrong.

A BUICK ROADMASTER which has been speeding toward them stops

suddenly. Driving it is a husky man, named Spencer, whose

manner is amiable and disarming.

SPENCER:

Morning.

TOM:

Morning.

SPENCER:

You people looking for work?

TOM:

Mister, we're lookin' even under

boards for work.

SPENCER:

Can you pick peaches?

TOM:

We can pick anything.

SPENCER:

Well, there's plenty of work for you

about forty miles north, this road

just outside Pixley. Turn east on 32

and look for Hooper's ranch. Tell

'em Spencer sent you.

This is electrifying news, as their faces show.

TOM:

Mister, we sure that ya!

As they snap into action to get under way again the scene

dissolves to the FRONT SEAT, Al driving, with Ma and Tom

beside him. They are all smiles, their faces glowing with

excitement.

MA:

(excitedly)

Fust thing I'll get is coffee, cause

ever'body been wantin' that, an'

then some flour an' bakin' powder

an' meat. Better not get no side-

meat right off. Save that for later.

Maybe Sat'dy. Got to get some soap

too. An' milk. Rosasharn's got to

have some milk.

TOM:

Get some sugar too, for the coffee.

MA:

You know, I jus' can't remember when

I felt so good before!

AL:

Know what I'm a-gonna do? I'm a-gonna

save up an' go in town an' get me a

job in a garage. Live in a room an'

eat in restaurants. Go to the movin'

pitchers *ever'* night. Cowboy

pitchers.

The scene dissolves to the ENTRANCE OF THE HOOPER RANCH in

daylight. A gravel road leads from the paved highway to the

big wire gates, which are enclosed. Along the side of the

paved highway are parked a dozen jalopies, the migrants

sitting soberly in them. Fifty or sixty other migrants line

the gravel road and the junction with the paved highway.

Five jalopies are in line waiting to enter the gates. And

the scene is overwhelmingly policed. There must be ten

motorcycle cops around. Six are dismounted and strolling to

keep order among the migrants along the road. Three, their

motorcycles roaring, flank the line of five jalopies. As the

Joad truck drives up, we see the FRONT SEAT. Tom, Al, and Ma

are beholding the scene with bewilderment.

AL:

What is it, a wreck?

COP:

(on motorcycle)

Where you think you're going?

TOM:

Fella named Spencer sent us--said

they was work pickin' peaches.

COP:

Want to work, do you?

TOM:

Sure do.

COP:

Pull up behind that car.

(Calling)

Okay for this one. Take 'em through.

TOM:

(the truck moving)

What's the matter? What's happened?

COP:

Little trouble up ahead, but you'll

get through. Just follow the line.

The motorcycle escort forms around the line of six cars and

a deafening din is raised, of motorcycles, sirens, and an

inexplicable blowing of horns on the jalopies. At the same

time, as the gates open and the six cars start through,

flanked by the motorcycle cops, the migrants begin spasmodic

shouts, but what they say cannot be understood. As the cars

move slowly, Tom and Al in the FRONT SEAT are puzzled and

worried at the demonstration.

AL:

Maybe the road's out.

TOM:

I don't know what these cops got to

do with it but I don't like it.

(Looking out)

An' these here are our own people,

all of 'em. I don't like this.

AT THE GATES the heckling from the bystanders is spasmodic,

not continuous, as the six jalopies in line pass through the

gate into the Hooper ranch. Two men stand beside the gates

with shotguns. They keep calling.

MEN:

Go on, go on! Keep movin'!

The Joad truck passes through the gates. IN THE HOOPER RANCH

the six jalopies are halted at the end of a camp street. The

houses are small, square blocks, set in line. One, a little

larger, is a grocery store. Casually about are men in pairs

with metal stars on their shirts and shotguns in their hands.

Two bookkeepers are already passing down the cars and jotting

down information.

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