Jack+and+Me

September 17, 1933 (Alex Thornton) Dear Journal,

It has been exactly five months today since I left home. I left Bismarck, and goin’ has been tough. My folks been strugglin’ with this economic hardship, but heck, who ain’t? They kicked me out of my home, so I’ve just been ridin’ them rails since. At first, I was really heated and sad. I cried the first week. Food wasn’t easy. Still ain’t now. Every day I had to ignore the pain in my stomach. I have to ignore the cold. It’s get cold here in the fall, and I’m worried for what the future will bring. First night on the trains was terrifyin’. I’d never even ridden a horse, so ridin’ a train was not something I been ready to do. Tryin’ to find my “train legs” took me a few nights to get. I was holdin’ on for dear life! Cause of this depression, trains aint been getting much maintenance. They were wigglin and jumpin as if they were and angry bull. Didn’t get a wink of sleep that night, or for the next few nights, for that matter. I met this guy a month later. Met him in Colorado -name’s Jack. He’s real quiet. You wouldn’t think he would be able to live out here on his own, but it was somethin’ he was born to do. I asked him why he did this, and he told me, “You can’t be sittin’ in boxes all day, goin from home to school, they don’t go anywhere, they don’t move, but most importantly, they don’t get you anywhere in life. You just end up old and dumb. But you sure should be sittin on them boxes! Then you go somewhere with your life. I went away from my folks, and it’s the best darn decision I’ve made!” I think he’s a darn good kid, but he’s too green. One day he’s goin’ to realize what a mistake he’s made, but by then, he’ll be far far away from his folks. But he sure helps me. One time I twisted my ankle, and it hurt real bad to walk on. We were tryin’ to jump a train that wasn’t comin’ for another week. We got to the station just in time. The train was gonna leave soon. Usually I could get on alright, but my darn ankle hurt too much. I was limpin’ like a dog by the train as I saw Jack egg me on from the ladder between the boxes. He leaned off the train and reached out as far as he could, and pulled me on. He pulled up my dead weight with all of his might, I aint have to try or nothin’. He’s a brave kid. That’s when I knew I should stick with this kid. We rode to a jungle that I found with Jack. I got to shave a bit, get my rags cleaned up, but it was just as bad there as being on the rails. Even worse, I’d say. I was tormented with the smell of food. Couldn’t have a bite until I stole some bread from the market. Me and Jack were the youngest, too. All the others were eighteen or nineteen, but we were sixteen. We had to do the dirty work, and we were bein’ kicked around like we were pieces of meat. We aint ever get any slack, since we the youngest. One day I woke up and one of the big guys was standin’ over me with a knife! Guess I slept in late. Me and Jack decided to get the heck out of there, head off to California. Hopefully I can get out of this freezin’ weather there. We’ve been hearin’ ‘bout these CCC camps, where young men like us can find work. Suppoused to be a lot of new ones down there, so me and Jack are gonna take a look and hope for the best. I do miss my family. Been a constant struggle. First my parent’s kick me out to the rails, then the bulls try to kick me and other kids off the rails. It seems like nobody wants me, but Jack is keeping my spirits up.