Page 30 of Resilience on Canvas

Chapter Sixteen

Henry

It had been twenty-three and a half hours since Raymond Davis’s funeral, and Henry still hadn’t worked out how to tell Robert that his family was moving to California.

Or that he’d come to the conclusion that Robert and his family ought to come, too.

Henry couldn’t ignore the fact that there was no future for none of them in Guymon no more.

Henry had finally internalized this realization the previous evening, when Robert had hinted at not wanting to stay in that house of his.

Which meant maybe there was a chance for everyone to start over somewhere else. Somewhere like California.

But leaving Guymon together would mean that Robert would be even more beholden to Henry’s family for the travel expenses.

Henry’s parents were taking a train to the West Coast in only a couple of weeks.

When they had broken the news of their plan to Henry before Raymond’s funeral, Henry had inquired about the cost of the train tickets, and oh, him and Robert wouldn’t never make enough at the store to pay for Robert’s family in time.

But if Henry stayed behind in Oklahoma with Robert, where would they live once the bank took Robert’s farm ?

At first, Henry had the thought that maybe Robert and his family could travel by car.

And Henry could come with them. Henry had heard of a lot of other families in Guymon leaving that way—packing everything up and loading their belongings into their vehicles—and he figured it would make the most sense for everybody.

But then he remembered poor May, who was coughing a whole heck of a lot nowadays.

Even when she’d been staying in the house most of the time.

Her poor little lungs. Henry couldn’t imagine what would happen if they somehow had car trouble on the way, necessitating that they spend a whole bunch of hours outside. It wasn’t worth chancing.

Good Lord, everything was changing so fast, and there were so many things for Henry to consider when trying to work out a plan.

He knew his parents still expected him to come with them.

But he had promised himself that he wouldn’t leave Robert.

Probably his parents would welcome the Davis family to come with them, especially once they caught wind of the fact that Robert’s family would soon lose their home, but Robert. ..

Oh God, it would break him to owe Henry’s family for both the move and the funeral.

And so, Henry had kept this bit of life-changing news a secret. Now the secret was festering in his mind, its black tendrils feasting on his conscience like them creepy crawly little bugs he had seen on Raymond’s body, eating him up from the inside out.

Henry was so torn up over it that he hadn’t even taken Robert up on his offer for the two of them to go on a walk by themselves the previous evening.

When Henry had seen the look in Robert’s eyes—wicked and playful and filled with want —he had known exactly what Robert had been hoping might happen if the two of them were to wander off to be by themselves, maybe find their way to the shed or somewhere else with privacy.

And Henry couldn’t bring himself to be with Robert like that right now, not when he was keeping something from him like this.

Not when he hadn’t yet figured out how to fix everything so that Robert and his family could come to California too.

Thankfully, Henry’s flimsy excuse of being too exhausted had placated his friend well enough.

And then, in the morning, Robert had left for church with his family.

Henry’s parents hadn’t been too happy that Henry had insisted on staying home, but they hadn’t forced him to come, neither.

So, for now, Henry and his secret were safe.

But Sweet Virgin Mary, Robert would surely want to see him later, and then.

.. oh, that would be it! Henry knew himself.

He knew that the moment Robert moved to kiss him, the secret would spill out of him like water flowing from a faucet.

If only he could figure out how to bring Robert’s family to California without having to beg his parents for the money.

Because that would solve everything. Robert and his family could look forward to their future in the state that many had come to think of as the Promised Land.

Out there on the coast, surely the two of them could find some work.

Together, they could take care of Robert’s family.

Everyone could live together, too. How magical it would be!

Anxious for a solution, Henry thought he might pick Joe’s and Rose’s brains for a while.

Both of them were smart people. And social.

Sometimes they knew of opportunities that plumb near no one else knew of, simply because they talked everyone’s ears off every chance they had.

It was possible that they’d know of someone who was selling their train tickets for cheap.

Or maybe they’d have a suggestion for some kind of medication that May could take to help heal her lungs. Henry needed to try something .

Since Henry’s parents had taken the car to church, Henry needed to walk over to Joe and Rose’s house.

Most likely, they’d be in church, too, but Henry could wait for them on the porch.

It was better than staying home by himself, studying the wallpaper and counting the minutes he had left before he’d have to tell Robert that he thought they all ought to start over in California.

On the way through town, Henry checked every store window he passed for flyers in case someone was looking for extra help.

Every cent him or Robert could make might help them reach California.

But, of course, there weren’t no signs like that.

Folks who needed to hire someone, even for something relatively small, probably had a list of interested parties that was over a mile long.

After leaving the town center, Henry took one of the unpaved roads to the farms in Guymon that were farthest east, where Joe and Rose’s home was.

Along the way, he kicked up puffs of parched soil with his feet and watched each of the little clouds slowly fade as he walked past. Gosh, he couldn’t walk nowhere without being confronted with how badly their land was hurtin’.

Whether he was looking out at the stretches of farmland—land that used to be prosperous and profitable—or whether he was staring at his shoes expecting to see earth packed flat to make a path for cars but seeing a bunch of powdery topsoil instead, the fact that Oklahoma wasn’t nothing like it used to be was never far from Henry’s mind.

After walking for a mile or so, Henry came to Joe and Rose’s house.

He was surprised to see their car still parked there.

Worry prickled at Henry’s insides, and he removed the cloth mask from his face as he approached.

Rose and Joe never missed an opportunity to socialize, even if the opportunity happened to be at church.

Henry hurried to the porch and rapped a series of furious knocks on the front door. Only moments later, Joe answered wearing a huge smile. Excitement was radiating off of him so fiercely Henry could feel it too. He found himself smiling back before they even said hello.

“Henry Sherwood! Shouldn’t you be in church?” Joe teased .

“I could say the same to you,” Henry replied before tilting his head. “Why’re you home?”

“We’re headin’ out to Alva!”

Alva? Why were they heading to Alva? While Alva was bigger than Guymon—a small city with maybe four or five thousand folks living there—Henry couldn’t think of a reason why Joe and Rose would be traveling the four or so hours to visit. Maybe for work?

“What’s out there?”

“Dancin’!” Joe exclaimed.

Henry’s eyebrows shot up, and he reeled back a bit. “Dancin’?”

What the heck?

Rose’s soft, bubbly laughter floated into Henry’s ears as she made her way out onto the porch.

“Joe,” Rose scolded in a playful tone, placing her hands on her hips. She turned to Henry. “We’re traveling to Alva for a competition.”

“Oh!” Henry said. “One of them dancin’ competitions? Like the, uhm, the ones where folks have to try to stay on their feet for a real long time?”

“That’s right,” she confirmed, shimmying her shoulders back and forth, like she couldn’t even wait to start. “Grand prize is seven hundred dollars!”

Henry sucked in a fast breath. “Seven hundred?!”

Holy heck, that was a whole ton of money!

Gosh, with that kind of money, Robert could pay Henry’s parents back and afford the train tickets to California.

And there’d be enough left for them to start some kind of life out there.

Maybe rent a place like the one that Rose had had back when she’d lived in New York.

“Isn’t that fantastic ?” Rose said, clasping her hands together.

Joe threw one of his arms around her shoulders. “Me and Rosie know we can win. ”

“When’s the competition?” Henry asked, his heart fluttering with hope.

“It starts tonight. I think four o’clock?” she said, and Joe confirmed with a nod.

“Four,” Henry repeated, thinking this over. “Four o’clock in Alva.”

Covering his mouth with his hand, Henry began tapping his cheek with his index finger.

He remembered hearing stories about these competitions.

Sometimes they could last a couple of days.

He could have sworn he’d even heard of one lasting for a whole week.

He couldn’t leave Robert here for a week.

But, well, that particular competition had been a big one.

One that had taken place in one of the bigger cities.

Alva’s wasn’t likely to last that long. Goodness, he had to try to win that money!

“Mind if I come?” Henry asked, pressing his palms in mock prayer. “Please?”

“Well, sure, if you want,” Joe said.

Rose’s eyes went wide. “Henry can partner with my cousin Audrey!” Letting out a happy shriek, she hopped on the balls of her feet a few times. “She wanted to come, but I was having the hardest time figuring out who she could enter with. She’ll be thrilled!”

Half of Henry’s excitement rushed out of him in one long exhale.

It made sense that he’d have to have a partner.

But that would mean splitting the winnings.

He’d only be left with three hundred fifty if him and Audrey won.

It wouldn’t be enough for everything. Train fare plus one sleeping berth (or two) plus meals for Robert, Clara, and the kids plus storage for luggage would come to.

.. oh, maybe seventy or eighty. Or more!

On top of that, they’d need money to start over in California.

Dang, that meant that Robert would still owe Henry’s parents for at least one ticket if not more, especially if he paid his parents back for the remainder of the funeral expenses.

Still, Henry supposed winning any money would be an improvement over their current situation.

Maybe Robert would be more likely to want to start a life with Henry out west if it meant that he’d only owe Henry’s parents a fraction of what he owed them now.

Henry had to try to win.

“Uhm, yeah, I suppose I can be her partner?” Henry said, mustering as much enthusiasm as he could, which, really, wasn’t so much.

Rose smiled warmly. “Don’t worry, Henry. Audrey is so sweet. And she’s only seventeen. It’s not like she’ll be expecting something romantic with you.”

“Aw, yeah, Henry, she won’t be no trouble for you,” Joe said.

“Uhm, okay.” Henry faked a smile. It wasn’t like he had a choice in the matter. He couldn’t exactly find someone else to enter with right now, not with there only being a few hours left before the competition. “Are we leavin’ soon?”

“Mm-hmm. I just need to pack the last of my things,” Rose confirmed.

“Will I need... clothes and stuff?” Henry asked.

Rose shrugged. “What you’re wearing should be fine.”

“Yeah, and the flyer said that the organizers will be providin’ snacks and water,” Joe said. “We can rest for fifteen minutes every couple of hours, too, I think, so they’re supposed to have pillas and cots for everyone.”

Henry whistled. Wow. What an experience this would be.

“Mind if I stop at home first?” he asked.

“And maybe we can head over to the Davis’s house, too, so that I can talk to Robert?

” Only once the suggestion left Henry’s mouth did he realize that he couldn’t tell Robert where he was heading.

Because then he’d have to tell Robert why he was entering one of these strange, silly marathons in the first place.

He’d have to tell Robert that it wasn’t only to help pay his parents back but also to find some money to take everyone out to California.

And Robert, stubborn man that he was, would try to stop Henry from entering, if only because he’d be too proud that Henry would be exhausting himself to try to win the grand prize, one that wouldn’t even be enough for the whole of everything.

“Or, no. Never mind. Just my house. I need to tell my folks where I’ll be. ”

“No problem,” Rose said.

She left to finish packing, and Joe went inside to fetch an extra pair of shoes.

Henry was left on the porch with his thoughts.

Even if he only had a tiny chance of winning, even if the prize money wouldn’t even be enough for everyone’s train tickets, even if Robert might kill him for trying something like this, Henry wanted to try.

Because he wanted a life with Robert. He wanted one so badly.

One without none of these ruthless black blizzards.

And one where Robert and his siblings didn’t have to resort to splitting a couple of cans of beans for supper.

Henry wanted a life with Robert in California.

One with fruit trees and sunshine and a view of the ocean.

And warm summer rain.