Page 113 of Resilience on Canvas

“You’ve never moved everyone out of Guymon before, neither, and look how nice that’s turnin’ out.” Robert nodded back toward Henry and the kids, who were having a ton of fun playing by the edge of the water, splashing in the shallow waves. “It was a huge thing, comin’ out here. You had to learn how to navigate a whole new city. You had to learn how to live with new people, too.AndI heard that you helped the Sherwoods finish furnishing everyone’s rooms over the last few weeks, offerin’ suggestions for the types of furniture and rugs and such.”

She pulled her hands back. “Oh, who... who told you that? I—”

“Didn’t want me to find out because you thought I’d be a bastard, right?” Clara scrunched her nose and shrugged as though to say that was exactly the case. Robert forced a tight-lipped smile in response. “Yeah, well, lucky for you, I’m learnin’ how to not take offense to every little Goddamn thing that happens in my life. I know that Henry’s parents are only tryin’ to help everyone. Lord knows I can’t furnish a set of bedrooms for you and the kids right now. Me and Henry were lucky that we found a fully furnished rental house for ourselves. We’d have been fuckin’ on the Goddamn hardwood otherwise.” Clara’s eyes flew wide, and Robert cringed. “Sorry. I forgot myself for a second there.”

Clara burst out laughing. Robert’s cheeks burned, but he found himself smiling.

When Clara reined in her laughter, she said, “I’m happy for you, Robert.”

“Thanks.” Robert wiggled his eyebrows a few times. “I’m happy for me, too.”

Pursing her lips, Clara rolled her eyes and shook her head. Robert chuckled.

After a moment, Robert tilted his head and asked, “Do you like livin’with the Sherwoods?”

Clara chewed on her bottom lip for a few seconds, maybe working up the courage to be honest in her response.

“Yes,” she finally said, her voice as reserved as ever. But, hey, she was being honest. Honesty took courage. That much, Robert knew. “I like it more than I thought I would.”

Robert braced himself for pain. But there wasn’t any.

“Are you mad?” she asked.

Robert shook his head. “No.” He let out a breath, allowing his muscles to relax and the tension to fall away. “Go work with Charles for a while. I think you’ll like it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. Yer smart, Clara. You ought to be challenging yerself.” He sucked on his teeth for a moment. “Would you need me to, uh, to watch the kids or somethin’ while yer at work?”

“Oh, that’s sweet of you to offer, but, uhm, Lillian wants to watch them. At least, for a little while. School will be startin’ soon. She won’t be workin’, but the kids will be occupied.”

“Or so we hope,” Robert teased. “Well, if you ever need me—”

“I’ll tell you. I promise.”

Robert only nodded. He waited for the familiar feeling of envy to take him by the throat, to make him mad that Clara would be earning more money, if only because it would mean that she would be supporting the family now.

But instead, he felt happy. Happy that she had found her voice. And happy that he had helped support her in this new, wonderful way.

Clara pulled him in for a hug.

“Thank you,” she whispered into his ear. “For everything.”

Robert melted into her embrace, and his eyes filled with tears as his whole body began to hum with bubbly, tingling warmth. He was so Goddamn proud of her. And of himself.

How far he had come.

“Yer welcome.”

***

On Saturday, Robert was on his way to one of the corner stores to pick up some eggs for the following morning. After church, Robert was planning on making potato pancakes for May, Peter, and Thomas. All three had been craving them for the last week or so, probably because Lillian Sherwood hadn’t wanted to cook them herself. It seemed like the Sherwoods were happy to leave Oklahoma behind, even if they had supposedly liked living in Guymon. Perhaps it was the fact that so many folks in California were harboring a sort of hatred for people who had traveled from places like Oklahoma. Sometimes, over the last couple of weeks, Robert had been forced to rethink his plans because out of nowhere, there’d be a sign outside a candy shop or a theater that said “No Okies Allowed.” What Goddamn horseshit that was. Everyone who had come out west from Oklahoma had only been hoping to save their families from the storms. It wasn’t like so-called “Okies” like Robert and the rest of the Davis family were trying to harm no one.

But Charles and Lillian, well, they seemed to want to forget their heritage now.

When Robert reached the first intersection, he stopped to wait for the trolleys to pass. Rocking back on his heels, he shoved his hands in the pockets of his well-worn khaki pants and tried not to let himself become stuck on the fact that he wasn’t dressed as nicely as everyone else. Other men who were waiting to cross had nicely tailored suits and either straw hats or bowlers. Robert had owned abeat-up old fedora back in Guymon, but he hadn’t brought it with him. Which was probably for the best. He’d have felt silly wearing a hat with a Goddamn hole in it here. Maybe sometime in the next couple of months, he’d have enough money saved up to purchase some nicer clothes that he could wear on the weekends. In the meantime, he’d have to settle for sticking out like a sore thumb. It was becoming easier to ignore the occasional wrinkled noses and sneers from passersby. At least Clara and the others hadn’t been faced with much of that since Charles and Lillian had helped them purchase a handful of new outfits each. Robert supposed he was alittlethankful for that, though he still wished he could have bought them himself. Or, hell, he’d have been happy enough if Henry had been the one who bought them. But, of course, him and Henry were each still only making seventy or eighty cents on their trips out to the valley. It was barely enough to live on. Certainly it wasn’t enough to purchase a whole bunch of clothes, even cheaper clothes, like outfits for the kids.

Finally, there was a break in the traffic, and Robert was able to cross. Halfway to the trolley tracks, one of the men passing by clipped him with his shoulder, causing Robert to stumble back a step. Probably intentional. Because of his Goddamn clothes.

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