Page 104 of Resilience on Canvas

“Yeah, he might be crushed for a bit,” Henry said. “But, uhm, I’m sure Robert would move past it. Eventually. And it would be easier for me and him, too, because we wouldn’t need to find such a large house if you and May and the twins wanted to stay here instead. Though, well, with how things are lookin’, me and Robert might never even have enough to rent one of them single bedrooms. Not when we’d be chippin’ in for expenses here, too. Robert wouldn’t nevernotpay my parents for yer rent and food and such. It’s killin’ him now that he can’t pay them as much as he wants. Not to mention the funeral money that we still owe them.”

“I know.” She pressed her lips together in a thin line, her brow furrowing, and shook her head. “I hope y’all can find somethin’ better soon.”

“Me too.”

Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, Clara said, “Would you mind not tellin’ Robert what I said tonight? I can’t bear the thought of hurtin’ him right now.”

“Nah, I won’t tell him. I promise.”

After one more hug, Henry and Clara went up the stairs together and parted for their respective bedrooms. Quietly, Henry changed into a bed shirt and slipped beneath the covers, careful not to wake Robert as he climbed into bed. Soon, Joe and Rose would move out into their own place. Once that happened, Robert and Henry would no longer be permitted to share a room. Unless they found a way to move out, their nights of snuggling together were numbered.

Days of backbreaking labor that only ever yielded enough money for a meal or two had Henry close to surrendering to melancholy, to letting himself believe that nothing would ever change. But he still wanted that future with Robert. He wanted it so Goddamn much.

Henry wrapped Robert up in an embrace and pulled him close. He soon fell asleep clutching tight to the man he loved. And to that tiny thread of hope.

***

One week later, Henry honestly couldn’t take living with his parents no more. Not that his folks had been mean or nothing. In fact, they had been fairly pleasant. Both of his parents seemed to have enough sense not to make Robert feel worse about the fact that him and Henry had been making pennies in the fruit fields.Henry’s father, of course, continued to urge them to find “real work.” But, other than that, his remarks weren’t too biting.

Still, Henry knew Robert was hating every second in that house. He was keeping a total of the money he thought he owed the Sherwoods for their hospitality, listing out things that him and his siblings had eaten, as well as the cost of clothes and even the meager cost of fabric swatches or patches that Clara had used to mend the clothes they had. Robert had been keeping track of the “rent” he felt that he owed the Sherwoods, too. Every single day that passed while Robert and his family were living with the Sherwoods, the larger the total became. Making matters worse was the fact that soon, him and Robert wouldn’t even be sleeping in the same room as each other, much less the same bed. Because Rose had been hired by that theater company. Her and Joe would move out within a week or two. Henry could feel it in his bones. And then, once they moved out, things would start to feel so permanent. Robert would have his room with the twins. Henry would have his own by himself. Everything would be unfolding the way Henry’s parents wanted it to. Goodness, how sad that would be. Even if him and Robert couldn’t be intimate right now, they still held each other every night. Honest to God, the only thing keeping Henry together was having that time with Robert, snuggled up close. He had a feeling it was the only thing holding Robert together, too.

Henry couldn’t let them lose the little they still had.

Still, Henry wasn’t sure how the heck he could fix things. Or to what extent heshould. Would Clara want to leave with them even though she was enjoying life with the Sherwoods? Probably Clara would prioritize Robert’s needs over her own wants. Which wasn’t right. And yet, Clara knew as well as Henry that her confessing she and the kids wanted to stay with the Sherwoods might break Robert completely. Henry would have to figure out how to makesure Clara could stay with the Sherwoods without Robert realizing it was what she wanted. Somehow.

Squeezed between Joe and Robert as the three of them rode back from their long, exhausting day in the fields, Henry racked his brain for ideas. He tried not to let Robert’s still-somber mood pull him into the pit of misery. Over the last week, Henry had spent hours pretending to sleep while feeling Robert’s body shake from secret, silent sobs, and it had taken every bit of strength he had not to reveal that he’d heard every soft whimper and that he’d wanted to burst out crying too.

Staring out the window, Henry continued to search his brain for a solution, but with each city block, it was becoming harder and harder not to surrender to the lure of hopelessness. Then, when they were only about a minute from Henry’s parents’ house, they passed a really large home, one with two separate front entrances, which was interesting. Henry caught sight of a sign out front that said, in big block letters, “For Rent: Multi-Family Home.”

Henry’s heart leapt into his throat.

Good Lord, why hadn’t he thought of it before?

Henry’s heart began to hammer from excitement, the solution to their biggest problem bursting into his mind with brilliant clarity. He fought to hold himself back from blurting it out. First, he needed to propose his plan to Joe in private, and then, if Joe liked the idea, he’d need to propose it to Robert, who probably wouldn’t like it in the least.

Oh, God, he hoped they would both say yes.

After Joe parked in front of Henry’s parents’ house, everyone climbed out of the car, but when they started toward the stairs, Henry took Joe by the sleeve and kept him back.

“Hey, uhm, Robert?” Robert stopped and looked over his shoulder. “I need to talk to Joe for a little minute.”

Robert raised an eyebrow. “Uh, yeah, okay. I’ll see you inside, then.”

Once Robert was inside, Henry said to Joe, “So, have you and Rose found a house yet? Or a room to rent or somethin’?”

“Nah, not yet. Rentin’ a home out here is ex-or-bi-tant.”

Henry pursed his lips for a moment to keep himself from smiling. Good old Joe and his fancy words. Henry’s father had used that one a bunch recently, which was likely where Joe had picked it up.

“Yeah, they’re real expensive.” Henry felt a little ping of nervousness in his belly as he prepared to propose his plan. “But maybe we could help each other out in that respect? Like maybe our families could... share a home?”

“What, like, you and me and Rose and Robert and everybody?”

“Yeah.”

Joe narrowed his eyes. He started nodding like he was thinking it over. Henry’s stomach churned from nervousness. Hopefully Joe would say yes. Henry hadn’t thought of no other solution to the housing issue yet.

“Yeah, I think that’d work,” Joe said. “But will Robert want to live with me and Rosie?”

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