Judy's Journey (21 page)

Judy nodded. “Papa's got a good job now, and some day we're goin' to have a farm of our own.”

“Come and see me again, Judy,” said Barbara.

They trailed out the gate.

Barbara's friendliness eased the bitterness and pain in Judy's heart. When they got back to the corner where the movie theater was, she looked again for her shoes, but they were not there. Somebody must have picked them up. The same policeman was busy directing traffic.

Papa and Mama appeared. “We've been lookin' high and low for you,” said Mama. “Where you been?”

Judy told about the fight and the loss of her shoes. “Them kids was mean,” she growled. “They said mean things.”

“People are what you think they are,” said Papa. “If you think they're good and treat 'em right, they'll
be
good and treat
you
right. But first, you got to be plumb good your own self.” He turned to Mama. “Buy her some sneakers.”

The loss of the shoes she had worn only once faded away in new happiness over the unexpected sneakers. Judy could hardly wait to get back home.

“Angie! Angel
-eena
!” she called. She pointed to her feet. “Red sneakers like yours!”

“Good!” said Angelina, smiling.

O
NWARD, STILL GOING
UP
north
, the old jalopy rolled along, with the two-wheeled trailer bouncing behind and Missy bleating noisily. Apples and peaches were over in Delaware and the Drummonds were headed for New Jersey. It was the last week of August.

Through Delaware, they followed route 13 to New Castle. A short ferry ride across Delaware Bay and they were in New Jersey at last.

“Will there be school, Papa?” asked Judy.

“I hope so, honey,” said Papa. “But first we'll see what crops we can find. Holloway told me to go to Cumberland County and I'd find work a-plenty.”

“Do you reckon we'll see Tessie and Gwyn?” asked Judy.

“They're in New Jersey somewhere,” said Papa, “but it's not likely we'll run into 'em.”

Once again Judy had had to part with a friend—happy, carefree, good-natured Angelina. She tried not to think of her any more. She tried to remember what Tessie Holloway was like. Would she know her if she saw her again?

“Is this
up north
?” demanded Joe Bob.

“I reckon it is,” said Papa, laughing. “It's New Jersey.”

“But it's not cold enough,” said Joe Bob.

“It's hot summer now,” said Papa.

“But I thought they had snow up north,” insisted Joe Bob.

“Not till winter, boy.” They all laughed.

Papa stopped to see the County Agent who sent him out to the Simpson Company, a cannery and packing house three miles from town. Mama got a job peeling tomatoes and Papa a general job in the plant. They were to live in a dormitory camp owned by the company. Long barracks were divided into two-room apartments, which were furnished with two beds, a bureau, table, stove, and boxes for chairs. Other families from Tennessee and West Virginia were their neighbors. Mrs. Tyler from the end apartment, came in to greet them and get acquainted.

Judy inquired for the Holloways, but no one had heard of them. There were no other children in camp, but Judy learned that the school bus passed by every day.

Eagerly Judy waited for the opening of school.

A truck called at the camp before six every morning to take Mama and Papa and the other workers to the plant, so Judy had everything to do at home. She washed the children's clothes and borrowed Mrs. Tyler's iron, to iron them. She was glad when Mrs. Tyler, who was not working, offered to keep Lonnie during school hours.

Labor Day passed and the first day of school came.

Judy dressed the children, washed them and combed their hair, and gave them breakfast. Then she staked the goat out in a bushy field. The children stood out by the side of the road for half an hour before the bus came along.

That afternoon, Judy came running in from the bus, eager to tell Mama all about the first day of school. But the dormitory was bleak and empty. Mama was at the plant and had to work until six. There was supper to get.

Judy went over to Mrs. Tyler's. Little Lonnie met her at the door, crying hard.

“I got bad news for you,” said Mrs. Tyler. “Your mother's been taken to the hospital. She got sick at the plant. She should never have started working. She won't be home for a few days.”

Judy's world suddenly began to whirl. School! School! Only one day, and now already it was over. She sat down on the bed, sick at heart. She couldn't expect Mrs. Tyler to keep Lonnie every day. She would have to stay home and look after him. She would keep Cora Jane home too, like the teacher said, until she got over her cold. She would have to cook all the meals. She dragged Lonnie back to the dormitory.

“How was school?” asked Papa when he came.

“I got a real nice teacher, Miss Billings,” said Judy. “In our class we can go just as fast as we're able to. I'll bring my books home and study here till Mama gets well again.”

“Too bad, honey,” said Papa. “Seems like there's always somethin' to keep you outa school.”

“Papa, you got cash money for the doctor and medicines?” asked Judy.

“Now, sugarpie, don't you worry,” laughed Papa. “Don't you recollect that little nest-egg in Mama's stockin'? And here we are in a dry house with a floor and everything. Ain't we the lucky ones?”

“Papa, what'll we do when it snows?” asked Judy.

“Make snowballs and throw 'em like cotton,” laughed Joe Bob.

“Papa,” Judy went on, “if it gits cold, I'll have to git a new coat to wear to school, and some stockin's.”

“Me too,” said Joe Bob.

“Me too,” echoed Cora Jane and Lonnie.

“Lucky I got a good job,” said Papa. “Beeg money, like Mrs. Torresina used to say. Enough to pay for everything!”

“Can we start payin' for our farm?” asked Judy. “Is it beeg enough for that?”

“Honey, when this job's over, how would you like to go south again and hunt for that little farm?”

“Oh Papa!” Judy threw her arms around him. “Oh Papa!” She couldn't find any other words to say.

It seemed very lonely with Mama away. Papa bought groceries and Judy cooked the meals as well as she could. Mrs. Tyler sometimes sent over an appetizing dish to help out, and on the days when she offered to keep Lonnie, Judy went to school.

It was the strangest school that Judy had ever been in, and after a few days, she thought it was the nicest. She and Joe Bob and Cora Jane were all in the same class—a special class for migrant children, who ranged in age from six to thirteen. Some as old as ten or eleven had never been in school before. There were Southern Negro, Japanese-American, and mountain children from Tennessee and West Virginia, besides New Jersey children, some of foreign descent. Each child was allowed to advance at his own pace until he was ready to be placed in the regular grades.

One day in the playground, a little colored girl had a fall and the other children crowded round. Judy ran to see. The girl was not hurt, but her nose was bleeding badly.

“Look! Blood!” cried the children. “It makes me sick to see blood,” said one. “I'm scared, I wouldn't touch her,” said another.

“Don't be silly,” said Judy. “I'm not afraid of blood. I'm going to be a nurse.”

“Are you?” asked the little girl. “So'm I.”

Judy cleared a place on the steps and asked the girl to lie down. She bunched her sweater up under her neck, to tip her head back. Judy wished she could remember what the First Aid booklet said to do for nosebleed. “Wisht I had my First Aid kit,” she said. “We'll have to have water and a cloth.”

“Miiko's bringing them,” cried the children.

“Here they are.” A little Japanese-American girl with short bobbed hair and slanting eyes brought a basin of water and held it out. A towel hung over her arm.

“Thank you, Miiko,” said Judy.

Judy washed the blood off the girl's face, then wrung the towel out of water and laid it across her forehead. It was not long before she was able to be on her feet again.

“You feel-a better?” asked Rosa Maria, a little Italian girl who looked and spoke like Angelina.

“Good as new,” said the colored girl, getting to her feet.

Judy looked at her more closely. “Haven't I seen you before …? Why, you're the girl who fanned that boy who fell on the hoe. Let's see, that was back in …”

“South Carolina,” added the girl. “I'm Coreena May Dickson.”

“Oh, Coreena May, now I remember. How did you get up here?” asked Judy.

“Our crew leader brought us to pick beans,” said Coreena May. “We been here since July. I picked beans all summer. I can pick twenty hampers a day.”

“I never picked more than fifteen,” confessed Judy. “Where do you live, Coreena May?”

“At Oak Tree Camp,” said the girl, “about six miles from here. We're goin' back to Florida soon. Are you?”

Judy frowned. “Not yet. I like school, I want to stay in school …”

“I watched the way you bandaged that boy's head,” said Coreena May. “That gave me the idea of being a nurse too. So I thought I better come to school every chance I git. I ain't forgot the school in the box-car …”

“It was better than no school at all,” laughed Judy.

It was Coreena May who told Miss Billings about it. So Judy brought her old worn Geography to school the next day and all the children looked at the maps and found the places where their families had come from.

Then Miss Billings asked Judy to tell the class about her travels.

Judy felt very shy until she realized she had something to say that the children wanted to hear. She stood up in front of the class and talked about her travels from Alabama to New Jersey. She showed the class all the places she had been on the map and mentioned the crops raised there. She ended up by telling about the little farm her father was going to get.

All the children clapped and Miss Billings said, “You may have missed a good bit of school, Judy, but you have gained a good background of information from your travel and work experiences.” She called upon the children for comments.

“I liked the things Judy told us,” said Ramon, a Mexican boy.

“I am glad that Judy is in our class,” said Miiko.

“Judy was my friend in South Carolina,” said Coreena May, “and now she is my friend in New Jersey.”

“We are all glad that Judy is in our class, aren't we, children?” said Miss Billings.

“Yes, yes,” answered the children.

Nothing so important had ever happened to Judy before. She had had no praise in her life. She had never been publicly praised in school. She could hardly wait to get home to tell Mama about it. The children had not called her names or said she was dirty or made fun of her clothes.
They were glad to have her in their class
. She had contributed something to the group. When she got off the bus, she ran all the way to the dormitory and … then she remembered. Mama was not there. Mama was still sick at the hospital.

She stopped at the Tylers' for Lonnie, but neither he nor Mrs. Tyler was there. So she and Joe Bob and Cora Jane played with Barney for a while. Judy put off going home as long as possible, but at last she said, “I must go start supper.” As she ran across the yard, with the children at her heels, she heard voices talking and laughing. When she opened the door, a surprise met her eyes.

The first thing she saw was Mama, back again from the hospital, sitting up in bed. Papa was there too, and Mrs. Tyler had supper started on the stove. A pot of beef stew was cooking. The four children stood still and looked. Mama was well again, and there was the new baby in her arms.

“Oh Mama! Oh Mama!” they cried.

“Come and see your new little sister,” said Mama. “I've named her Jersiana.” They all crowded round.