those carrots to grow unless they’s the stubby
kind . .
They come to the watering system where there are hoses with holes
running down the length of the soil troughs, in the center of each
trough. There is a water tank on the roof which had been used by the
factory, raised above the roof so there is water pressure.
This here’s how we water. Wears me out hauling
the rainwater up there every time, though.
Collects in the drains over there, which’n we
blocked.
The rooftop door opens again and the gardeners’s wife and 10 year old
daughter emerge. The wife has more meat on her bones than her husband,
though it is clear she has lost most of her fat in recent months. Her
long skirt is held up by cloth strips up over her shoulders like
suspenders, sewn onto the waist front and back. The daughter is scrawny
and wears a combination of her parent’s clothing, one of her father’s
shirts and a pair of her mother’s pantaloons, also held up by
suspenders. Her pantaloons are tied at the ankle, they are so
voluminous. They have dressed for company, and have brushed their hair
for the occasion too. The gardener turns toward them and to introduce
them to Finegan.
My wife and darlin daughter.
Finegan has been looking around, appraising the setup.
We might ought fix a pumping system to lift
that rainwater. Can you give me a tour to look
for parts?
109
The gardener says,
They took ‘bout everything. Common.
______________________________
The gardener is walking Finegan through their living quarters on the
floor below the gardens. He is walking just ahead of Finegan, gesturing
to the right and left, turning to walk backwards at times, pointing at
this and that.
We brung just the personals. Dragged a couple
mattress. Plain livin but we’re making do.
They return to the stairwell, as the gardener wants to show Finegan
that the lower floors are inaccessible. Finegan follows the gardener
down to the next landing where the water level is visible.
. . risen to this level, and lately slowed . .
Finegan points to the rust just under the water level.
Salt water . . salt water is corrosive. This
plant was never built for salt water. . .
Finegan turns to face the gardener. He barely gets his words out before
the building starts to collapse.
You had any settling problems?
There is a sound of metal screeching onmetal. The stairwell shutters
and both men lose their footing.
______________________________
A frantic scene ensues, as the gardener and his family are evacuating.
The wife and daughter are tossing bundles of personal items out the
window of their living quarters down to Joey, who is on the roof of the
houseboat. Finegan is on the roof of the factory with the gardener,
trying to harvest his crop. Finegan drops a rope with hook down to
Joey.
Snag me that bundle of plastic bags . . thanks.
The gardener is harvesting potatoes, shaking the soil off when he
wrenches a plant up out of the trough, and plucking potatoes off the
roots. He tosses the filled plastic bag onto a pile to be lowered to
Joey. Finegan is doing the same to carrots, starting to tear the greens
off them. The gardener cries out,
No, no, leave some! I’ll replant ‘em for the
seed. . . Gotta have the seed.
Finegan is hooking potatoe bags on the hook used to lower produce from
the rooftop to Joey. He swings the bag of potatoes out over the
110
houseboat rooftop and holds the rope while Joey catches the swinging
mess. Joey says,
Got it.
The wife and daughter are now climbing out the window of their living
quarters below the factory roof, the daughter dropping down and then
reaching up to help her more portly mother, standing beneath her to
soften her fall. Her mother says,
Child! Out’en the way! I’ll squash you flat.
The wife falls on her butt, but rolls to stand up and brush herself
off.
Finegan and the gardener are now harvesting green cabbage, cutting this
off at the root and discarding the brown and tattered outer leaves. The
gardener cries out again,
Leave that’en. I’ll replant for seed. . . Just
those half dozen will do.
They have a pile of bagged vegetables at the side of the factory roof,
ready to be lowered down. Just then the sound of metal screeching again
cuts through the air, as the factory visibly shutters and lowers again
by a few feet. Only inches remain until the flood waters will pour over
the rooftop guard walls.
Finegan rushes over to the pile of plastic bags packed and tied and
ready to be lowered. He hooks and swings this to Joey as though they
only have seconds to spare. Joey signals Finegan as soon as the hook is
clear.
Got it.
The daughter is now helping Joey, moving the bags to the edge of the
roof and out of his way, and lowering the bags into her mother’s eager
hands during the off moments.
The water starts lapping over one edge of the rooftop guard. The
gardener rushes over to the far side of the factory rooftop, tearing
off his shift. He picks seed shoots from carrot and cabbage plants
being used to grow seed and ties them into his shift, tying the sleeves
together so it is a bundle. He staggers and sloshes back to the
houseboat side through the rising water and tosses this into his
daughter’s hands.
Finegan is hooking the harvested and bagged tomatoes, lowering them
carefully rather than swinging them out.
These’ll smash. Tomatoes.
The wife comes over to the side of the houseboat deck to catch them.
Finegan turns to the gardener.
111
That it?
Just then, the factory settles yet again, accompanied by the sound of
screeching metal and splashing water, putting both Finegan and the
gardener in the water. Finegan and the gardener climb onto the
houseboat and stand, dripping web, looking over the flooded roof.
Along the sides of the factory roof the vines holding summer squash can
be seen bobbing up. The squash on the surface is bloated and yellow,
oversized and almost rotting in appearance. The gardener cries out,
The squash!
He dives into the water and swims along the bobbing vines, plucking the
overripe summer squash and tossing them to Finegan. Several of them
shatter when caught.