Paul looked at the family seated against the tree. They were pale and poor. Paul wished he’d never met this family, for there was nothing half as burdensome as women and children. They made everything complicated. Children needed too much money; women needed too much attention. They weighed a man down, stole his food, and crippled him. These were tough times. No man could afford women and children.

Paul sighed. He crushed his cigarette and walked toward the family. He squatted on his heels and said, “I can’t take you with us, Pete. Now you can cry about it all you want, and you can hate me for it, but you’re just gonna have to face the hard truth. Life ain’t fair.”

Eulah looked at Paul with sad eyes. “Mister, you don’t owe us no explanation.”

Pete dropped his head.

“I been trying to explain it to Pete,” Eulah went on. “We’ll be okay, we’ll figure something out. Y’all done enough to help us already, and we’re grateful. Ain’t we, Pete?”

Pete glared at Paul.

“Pete,” she said. “Did you hear what I said, boy?”

“Thank you,” said Pete, even though his eyes said something else.

“You can cuss me, call me names,” Paul said. “And you have every right to do that, because you’re right. I’m a low-down, no-good man for turning his back on a good woman and her young’uns.” Pete wiped his face with his forearm.

“Son, we’re barely making it. We got a baby we don’t need, who we ain’t even named yet. We don’t need no fussy children clinging to us.”

His carefully chosen words hung in the air and did no good. The boy still wore a grave face.

“But,” Paul added. “Now you listen to me carefully, Miss Eulah. Just ’cause I’m turning you away, and that’s exactly what I’m doing, it don’t mean that you and your family can’t follow us. It’s a free country, you know.”

The boy’s face broke, like sunlight poking through clouds.

“If you was to travel behind us,” said Paul, “seeing as how there ain’t no law against it, I couldn’t do nothing to stop you.”

Pete threw his arms around Paul and squeezed hard enough to cut off his wind. Paul could smell the boy’s musty clothes and body odor.

“I’m a good worker,” said Pete. “You won’t regret this, sir.”

Eulah covered her mouth and bowed her head.

Paul looked back at Vern, who wore a faint smile. Vern reached into his chest pocket and pulled out yet another candy bar.

“You’re a glutton, you know that?” said Paul.

“No,” said Vern with a mouthful of chocolate. “I’m Baptist.” He wandered over to them, removed two more candy bars from his chest pocket, and gave them to the kids.