on. He always stood awhile, visitin, bein friendly. One time Raymond seen me talkin to him and spent the whole night in a snit. Said I was flauntin myself. Said he seen me laugh and demanded to know what we were talkin about. I told him we was just visitin, that was all. I knew it upset him, but it wasn’t like he thought. I told him Mr. Burris was a nice man and I wasn’t goin to run and hide ever’time he come around, that as long as we was livin in his house and he was payin Raymond’s wages, I was at least goin to be neighborly.
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14
October 23, 1941 (Thurs.) [Max 57°, Min 40°.] Fair and cool all day with last evening’s high cold wind from Mt. Hood’s glacier continuing all day attaining an average velocity of from 25 to 35 miles per hour. A brand of weather to which I am unaccustomed, I worked in the bulbs in spite of the wind.
R AYMOND WASN’T HAPPY with what the job turned out to be. Mr. Burris expected him to work even when the wind blew, and if there was anythin Raymond hated, it was wind. But that wasn’t what ended it.
Dorothy had give me a ride to town and seen how I was tryin to stretch the grocery money. She asked if her husband wasn’t payin Raymond enough to feed his family. I told her that wasn’t it. I said Mr. Burris was real generous, it was just that after Raymond paid our tithe to the church it left me short. I should of kept that to myself. She went right home and told her husband.
Mr. Burris jumped down from his truck, and started yellin at Raymond. “Jesus Christ, man, the reason I don’t charge you rent on the god-damned house is so you’ll have money to spend on your family. Buy groceries. Buy clothes for your kids. Get that pretty wife of yours a new dress. If you’ve got money to give away, I’ll damn well start chargin you rent.”
Well, Raymond wasn’t goin to put up with nobody takin the Lord’s name in vain like that, so he says, “I quit! I won’t stick around and work for a man who uses that kind of language.”
“Fine, quit if you want,” Mr. Burris said, “but you ain’t draggin Veda and them babies along while you look for a new job. You leave them here until you find work and a decent place to live.”
Raymond didn’t argue, he just turned around and went in the house. I stood there and watched my world fall down around me. This was the first good job Raymond’d had and I was so happy when he got it. Now he’d gone and quit without givin me and the kids a thought. Tears stung my eyes. Raymond already had it in his head there was somethin between Mr. Burris and me, and I knew I should refuse Mr. Burris’s offer to stay, but I had the kids to think about. It was clear that Mr. Burris, who barely knew me, cared more about us than my husband did. Raymond left the next mornin, vowin to send for us as soon as he found work. Swore he wasn’t goin to leave us with a “blasphemer” any longer’n he had to.
October 30, 1941 (Thurs.) [Max 60°, Min 38°.] Mostly clear all this a.m. following the coolest morning we have had this fall, becoming hazy and cloudy this p.m. but remaining quite cool until late. I left the Burris place this a.m. and I have found a job picking up potatoes. I will be getting 40 cents an hour instead of the 30 cents I was getting from Mr. Burris. I expect to start tomorrow.
Landin a job that paid better was sort of like thumbin his nose at Mr. Burris, but I wasn’t dumb enough to think the ten-cent difference made up for losin the house. Then after crowin about the better wages, Raymond wrote to tell me the weather was bad and he wasn’t gittin much work after all.
The dollars dribbled in from Raymond a few at a time, always with a letter sayin he was barely makin enough to keep himself fed and he couldn’t see his way clear to find us a place to live. I knew how lucky I was we had a roof over our heads, but I needed money to buy groceries. I decided to ask Dorothy Burris if she had some work I could do.
When I seen the little
.
14
October 23, 1941 (Thurs.) [Max 57°, Min 40°.] Fair and cool all day with last evening’s high cold wind from Mt. Hood’s glacier continuing all day attaining an average velocity of from 25 to 35 miles per hour. A brand of weather to which I am unaccustomed, I worked in the bulbs in spite of the wind.
R AYMOND WASN’T HAPPY with what the job turned out to be. Mr. Burris expected him to work even when the wind blew, and if there was anythin Raymond hated, it was wind. But that wasn’t what ended it.
Dorothy had give me a ride to town and seen how I was tryin to stretch the grocery money. She asked if her husband wasn’t payin Raymond enough to feed his family. I told her that wasn’t it. I said Mr. Burris was real generous, it was just that after Raymond paid our tithe to the church it left me short. I should of kept that to myself. She went right home and told her husband.
Mr. Burris jumped down from his truck, and started yellin at Raymond. “Jesus Christ, man, the reason I don’t charge you rent on the god-damned house is so you’ll have money to spend on your family. Buy groceries. Buy clothes for your kids. Get that pretty wife of yours a new dress. If you’ve got money to give away, I’ll damn well start chargin you rent.”
Well, Raymond wasn’t goin to put up with nobody takin the Lord’s name in vain like that, so he says, “I quit! I won’t stick around and work for a man who uses that kind of language.”
“Fine, quit if you want,” Mr. Burris said, “but you ain’t draggin Veda and them babies along while you look for a new job. You leave them here until you find work and a decent place to live.”
Raymond didn’t argue, he just turned around and went in the house. I stood there and watched my world fall down around me. This was the first good job Raymond’d had and I was so happy when he got it. Now he’d gone and quit without givin me and the kids a thought. Tears stung my eyes. Raymond already had it in his head there was somethin between Mr. Burris and me, and I knew I should refuse Mr. Burris’s offer to stay, but I had the kids to think about. It was clear that Mr. Burris, who barely knew me, cared more about us than my husband did. Raymond left the next mornin, vowin to send for us as soon as he found work. Swore he wasn’t goin to leave us with a “blasphemer” any longer’n he had to.
October 30, 1941 (Thurs.) [Max 60°, Min 38°.] Mostly clear all this a.m. following the coolest morning we have had this fall, becoming hazy and cloudy this p.m. but remaining quite cool until late. I left the Burris place this a.m. and I have found a job picking up potatoes. I will be getting 40 cents an hour instead of the 30 cents I was getting from Mr. Burris. I expect to start tomorrow.
Landin a job that paid better was sort of like thumbin his nose at Mr. Burris, but I wasn’t dumb enough to think the ten-cent difference made up for losin the house. Then after crowin about the better wages, Raymond wrote to tell me the weather was bad and he wasn’t gittin much work after all.
The dollars dribbled in from Raymond a few at a time, always with a letter sayin he was barely makin enough to keep himself fed and he couldn’t see his way clear to find us a place to live. I knew how lucky I was we had a roof over our heads, but I needed money to buy groceries. I decided to ask Dorothy Burris if she had some work I could do.
When I seen the little
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