1<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Drummond was hoping like hell he wouldn\u2019t have to run the Dennison kid down. Sore as his gout was. He kept checking the picture window that looked out on Harvesting Street, half-wishing he wouldn\u2019t even see the kid appear. He and Lindy were bellied up to the bar nursing their snifters of whiskey. Had been there an hour or more watching and waiting\u2026 and drinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour dogs barking?\u201d Lindy asked him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow\u2019d you know?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour face is all balled up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond looked up at the mirrored bar back. Lindy was right. All balled up. \u201cNow Lindy,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cYou know a guy of your ilk ought not worry about too much beyond the reach of his own nose.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMy ilk?\u201d Lindy mused.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cDim-witted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI know you don\u2019t mean that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe hell I don\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYour dogs are barking,\u201d Lindy assured himself. \u201cIt\u2019s making you ornery. You don\u2019t really think I\u2019m dim-witted.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond snorted mid-sip. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. \u201cYou know, in a round about way, you just called me a liar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn a round about way you are lying but, I don\u2019t give it much credence\u2026 seeing how your dogs are barking.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNever met a guy didn\u2019t mind being lied to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDidn\u2019t say I didn\u2019t mind; I said I don\u2019t give it much credence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat the hell\u2019s the difference?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019d have to draw it out but, it\u2019s there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs that so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI guess it\u2019d ring bothersome,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cIf it was anybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell I reckon I ought to feel privileged then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou ought to feel silly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn account of what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn account of me knowing you so well,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cYou ought to know lying to me is futile.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond grinned taken aback. \u201cMighty sharp word there, Lindy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy rooted around on his stool; a mischievous smile brimmed his cheeks. \u201cFor a dimwit,\u201d he said. \u201cWasn\u2019t it though.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201c\u2018Twas,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnyhow,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cI can always tell the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBetwixt what?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTween when you\u2019re lying and when you\u2019re not.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs that so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou just go right ahead and try me you got doubts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond mulled it over. \u201cI just have the one testicle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s true but, hell, I already knew that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember telling you that old story.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI overheard you telling it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo who?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYellow headed whore in Bisbee. You told her you snagged your sack on a string of barbed wire when you was a boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you reckon she believed me?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCourse.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell she ought not\u2019ve.\u201d Drummond feigned a robust laugh. \u201cYou simple son-of-a-bitch.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy took his hat off and flapped it on the bar. \u201cYou weren\u2019t fibbing to that poor floozy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCourse I was.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure I could set here all day and not come up with the reason.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAww,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cShe was worried about me knocking her up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd you put her mind at ease, I reckon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTold her a story\u2019s all\u2026 I ain\u2019t proud of it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMight be there\u2019s a little Drummond,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cRunning round raising cane over in Bisbee then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWondering who is paw is, huh?\u201d Drummond said. \u201cGod help us.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLooky here,\u201d Lindy perked up. He pointed out the Dennison kid in the bar back mirror turning the corner across Harvesting. He had a melodious stroll about him, in his spats and powder blue suit. He stopped in the shade of the colonnade to fix his derby and pose in the mercantile window. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDevil may care,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLook at that get up,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSporty, ain\u2019t he,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe looks a lot younger,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cThan what I had figured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid went on out of eyeshot. They downed their dregs in a rush and hopped off of their stools. Drummond whimpered when his heels hit. He hobbled clamped-legged across the bar floor, cursing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry, Drummy,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cI\u2019ll run that young buck down if need be.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t get ahead of yourself now,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cHe\u2019s slick as owl shit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They tarried just outside in the alcove. Lindy latched himself against the clapboard wall, peering one-eyed around the corner. \u201cHe\u2019s prancing around down there trying not to get them shoes dirty.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPlum gall of this kid,\u201d Drummond said. He bent over and pushed his hands down in his boots and kneaded at his bloated ankles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s got a set on him that\u2019s for damn sure,\u201d Lindy knitted his brow at Drummond. \u201cYou gonna be able to keep up?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cKeep your eye on that slippery son-of-a-bitch,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cDon\u2019t pay me no mind.\u201d They planted their hats low and slipped out of the alcove and stalked after the kid like veiled specters clear to the end of Harvesting where sat the Metarene\u2019s Butcher Shop. The kid turned and scuttled up the porch steps and went in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHot damn,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cHe\u2019s boxed in now.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou go piddle on the porch,\u201d Drummond said and the two angled off in different directions. Drummond went and shouldered the side wall in the rutted alleyway up next to the porch where the kid wouldn\u2019t see him at the outset. They languished there for a long spell in the heat and gangrenous stench wafting up from the slaughterhouse outback. Gnats needled at his eyes and ears. His boots were dens of perpetual misgivings and choked his swollen feet. His poor jaundiced feet, itchy and feverish and given to waves of unshirted agony. He trembled and gnashed his teeth and prayed for a miraculous healing. \u201cOh, father god, way up there in heaven,\u201d he blubbered, trying to recall the Lord\u2019s Prayer. He backed up to the wall and took his hat off and fanned at the sweat legging down his face. The porch door finally cawed against the muted clack of a cowbell and so he inched up abreast of the corner and spied the kid coming out with something wrapped in butcher paper under his arm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy clopped over and intercepted the kid at the top of the porch steps. \u201cMy goodness,\u201d he said. \u201cYou are duded up, son.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid ambled back splay-legged, guffawing. \u201cMuch obliged, mister,\u201d he said, blushing as he flitted his lapels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYes, sir.\u201d Lindy squatted down with his elbows on his knees, admiring the kid\u2019s shoes. \u201cI believe I can see my ugly mug in them things. What is it you do for a living, son? I just gotta know.\u201d He stood back up, pressing in nearer the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell,\u201d the kid said. \u201cA handful of things, prospecting mainly.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAin\u2019t much panning done in these parts is it?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNaw, I\u2019m just passing through, see.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy reached out and mashed at the butcher paper under the kid\u2019s arm. \u201cParcel\u2019s dripping.\u201d Pink droplets cascaded from its folds and peppered the kid\u2019s pant leg. \u201cDamn shame too,\u201d Lindy said, pointing out an unsightly blot leaching on one of the kid\u2019s spats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTar-nation, mister.\u201d The kid shook his foot out to one side, glowering at Lindy with an accusatory mien.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re still dripping,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOh-Blast it all to hell,\u201d the kid brushed at the stains scattered on his upper thigh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHand that thing here,\u201d Lindy said. He snatched the parcel from under the kid\u2019s arm and wrung it out over the hand rail. \u201cYou get that on you it\u2019ll rank for days.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSon-of-a-bitch in there give me a watered down piece,\u201d said the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou reckon?\u201d Lindy cradled the package and shirked around the kid toward the Metarene\u2019s door, saying, \u201cLet\u2019s go back in there and get it straightened out by god.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNaw,\u201d the kid said, his eyes following the parcel like a hare through bramble. \u201cOld man Metarene ain\u2019t the type.\u201d He reached out open handed to take the parcel back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy offered it over and then drew it back. \u201cThought you was just passing through?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow is it you come to have such a trusting opinion of old man Metarene right off?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood judge of character, I reckon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot hardly. By my surmising he\u2019s at least three quarter bastard. Just the kind to do what you said he done.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t said he done that, mister. Not him knowing he done it anyhow.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy offered it up and drew it back again. \u201cAre you sure cause I\u2019ll march right in there with you and straighten that old codger out.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNaw, it\u2019s just the heat making it run so, hand it here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He offered it up again and then drew it back again, saying, \u201cAre you double dog sure?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sure,\u201d the kid said, perturbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy proceeded to offer it up and draw it back a half a dozen more times, assuring the kid he\u2019d go in and straighten old man Metarene out if need be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid, flabbergasted, said, finally, \u201cHand me that meat you old coot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell don\u2019t put it back under your arm,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cLike you done before, do it like this right here.\u201d He held the parcel out at arms length away from the kid and pranced up and down the porch, saying, \u201cLike this; see me, son, see me, like this right here… Cause that\u2019s one hell of a blemish on that coverlet. I doubt if that thing\u2019ll ever scrub clean, hope your mammy\u2019s got some elbows on her.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond was hugged up to the corner watching grievously, inclined to bum rush the kid but, alas his feet were too engorged beneath him now, flat enflamed. .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAm I gonna have to pop you one,\u201d the kid said to Lindy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy froze, a grave look on his face. \u201cPop me one?\u201d he said. \u201cBy pop me one do you mean?\u201d He held his fist up. \u201cOr do you mean?\u201d He flapped his coat out flashing a bone handle Colt holstered against his ribs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhich ever suits you,\u201d the kid said, a little halted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want no trouble, son.\u201d Lindy slouched beseechingly with the parcel outstretched and then quick-lobbed it at the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid bobbled it in his hands and it fell over end to the slatted wood between them. He bent over to pick it up, saying, \u201cNow will you kindly get the hell out of my way, mister. I got somewhere-<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy had run his Colt out from under his coat and stuck it against the kid\u2019s forehead. \u201cDon\u2019t you move a goddamn muscle, Jimmy Dennison,\u201d he said. \u201cOr I\u2019ll flap the back of your head out like a set of French doors.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know my name,\u201d the kid said, wide eyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI do, indeed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell heaven and hell, mister.\u201d He dropped the parcel and held his hands up, straight-armed, high above his head. \u201cDon\u2019t kill me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s a might too high,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo what?\u201d The kid stuttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPut your hands a little lower; you trying to draw a crowd?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid lowered his hands and looked back over his shoulders at the desolate street. \u201cAin\u2019t nobody seen me,\u201d he assured Lindy. \u201cHell, ain\u2019t even nobody back there is it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSave for me,\u201d Drummond said. He reached for one of the spindles under the railing and grabbed it and leaned staggering up the side of the porch behind the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs that Bob Drummond I hear?\u201d the kid said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy grabbed the kid\u2019s arm and spun him around and rifled his coat and pant legs and found the kid was unarmed. \u201cYou sandbagging sumbitch,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFigured I\u2019d try bluffing you,\u201d the kid said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBoy, you\u2019d have to get up early in the morning to get the jump on the likes of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond turned the corner of the porch and looked up over the rail at the kid. The kid schlepped a tilted grin at him, red faced and sheepish, embarrassed. \u201cYou knowed it come to this,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cSooner or later I reckon. Don\u2019t look so peeked.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou\u2019re looking mighty pail and peeked yourself, Bob,\u201d said the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell I\u2019m getting old,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cNow set down.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid wheeled his head around looking the porch over. \u201cWhere abouts, Bob?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cRight flat down on your ass,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid toed the parcel to one side and shook his head. \u201cAnd here I am in these brand new britches, Bob,\u201d he snipped.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSon,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cI don\u2019t give a damn if \u2018n you\u2019re in the queen\u2019s new pantaloons.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy wielded the butt end of the Colt up and bopped the kid on the top of his head, saying, \u201cSet your ass down, boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGripes, mister, I\u2019m fixing to.\u201d The kid took his derby off and rubbed at his head vigorously, widening his stance to squat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot there,\u201d Drummond grunted. \u201cOver here in front of me.\u201d Drummond plopped down on the porch steps and stretched his boots out on the patted dirt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou heard him,\u201d Lindy said. He wagged the Colt, shewing the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid sauntered, hat in hand, down the little rise of steps. \u201cWhat\u2019s become of you, Bob?\u201d The kid smirked. \u201cYou are panting like a stuck pig.\u201d He hunkered down in a crouch at Drummond\u2019s feet and then eased back gingerly onto his rear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy kicked a plume of dust up on the kid. \u201cQuit studying that ugly ass suit, boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid calmly swished the dust from his sleeves and pant tails with the brim of his derby. He looked up at Lindy with his eyes in slits. \u201cFuck you,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou sassy little son-of-a-bitch.\u201d Lindy cocked his fist to give the kid another bop.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cLindy,\u201d Drummond snapped. \u201cWill you kindly quit that shit. So goddamn punchy all of a sudden.\u201d He shoved a boot out toward the kid. \u201cJimmy pull that boot off for me will you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSure thing, Bob.\u201d The kid popped his derby back on and took hold of Drummond\u2019s boot and wrenched at it. \u201cI know I got some glaring faults,\u201d he said. \u201cBut this old boy ain\u2019t never been above helping out his fellow man, specially one as humble and well meaning as yourself, Bob.\u201d Drummond whimpered and bleated and cursed through his teeth until the boot slid off.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGod almighty damn, Drummy,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cThat foot of yours looks like a whooped ass.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy\u2019s approximating tickled the kid. He took his derby off and hid his buck teeth with it while he laughed. \u201cA whooped ass,\u201d he hacked. \u201cThat\u2019s just what it looks like too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy pursed his lips like he was trying not to smile, and glared back up the street with a constipated look on his face. \u201cWhy hell, Lindy,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cYou\u2019re just a regular cut up ain\u2019t you\u2026 You chuckle headed sum-bitch\u2026 And you Dennison, you ain\u2019t got sense enough to know you\u2019re in your last days, son.\u201d He shoved his other boot out at the kid. \u201cNow, git this other one.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid looked up at Drummond, chagrined now, and took hold of the boot and wriggled it off. \u201cI know I got some glaring faults but not helping a man in need ain\u2019t one of them. Sure wish you\u2019d make it your business to remember that about me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond sighed. He stretched his feet out astride the kid and spread his toes and took in the cool dampness of the shaded dirt. He felt like a weakling, a husk of his natural self. He peered up Harvesting Street and grieved at the onerous distance betwixt where he sat and the stockyards. He looked up at Lindy. \u201cHand me that scribe,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s yourn,\u201d said Lindy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIn the tumbleweed,\u201d he said. \u201cWay down yonder.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, hell, go get it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cOn two whooped asses?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou mean to tell me you can\u2019t walk back after you done walked down here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m sore and enflamed twice what I was and getting worse by and by. I think it was that rot gut\u2019s what kicked it off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell I\u2019ll go get it for you then I reckon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, good,\u201d Drummond said sarcastically. \u201cAnd while you\u2019re at it won\u2019t you bring the jail and them two gaunt mules pulling it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood thinking,\u201d Lindy groused and scratched himself. \u201cBut that\u2019d leave you here with him and no pistol.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou don\u2019t say,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhy hell,\u201d the kid said. \u201cI\u2019ll just mosey along with him then.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou ain\u2019t going no place,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDamn conundrum,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cI\u2019ll just leave you with mine then I reckon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood thinking, Lindy.\u201d Drummond took the Colt and trained it on the kid. \u201cReal insightful of you,\u201d he said. The kid giggled and Lindy kicked dust up on him again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s real heroic, mister,\u201d the kid said. \u201cKicking dirt up on a man what can\u2019t defend hisself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAin\u2019t but two men here among us,\u201d Lindy muttered as he passed behind the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond watched the kid glaring at Lindy\u2019s backside traipsing away. \u201cYou gonna lock me in that tumbleweed ain\u2019t you,\u201d the kid said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHow much you pay for that get up, Jimmy,\u201d Drummond said, ignoring the kid\u2019s question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI smell rain,\u201d the kid said, ignoring Drummond\u2019s question. \u201cThis place\u2019ll be a treacherous bog before sundown.\u201d He knocked his feet against the bottom step between Drummond\u2019s legs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou ain\u2019t gotta worry about getting them shoes muddy, Jimmy. You\u2019ll be locked in that tumbleweed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGood. I thought for sure you\u2019d make me walk it back to Eustus,\u201d the kid said. He ticked his head to one side, quiet for a moment. \u201cTruth be told, Bob, I stole this get up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond shook his head, laughing. \u201cNow why in hell\u2019s half acre would you tell me that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI don\u2019t rightly know, Bob.\u201d The kid\u2019s eyes welled up. He slunk his face down at the hard panned dirt between his legs. \u201cIt was an old man,\u201d he said. \u201cOn his death bed not two miles from here. I slid through his window early this morning and took it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell ain\u2019t no need in crying about it now, son.\u201d The kid\u2019s shoulders began bouncing out pitiful sounding whimpers. \u201cAww, hell, now Jimmy, I hope you ain\u2019t trying to buy no sympathy off of me.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomething\u2019s got a hold of me, Bob.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou reckon?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSomething god awful and mischievous, Bob.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah, I believe you\u2019re right,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cA rash case of the sheer dumb-asses.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd I just can\u2019t get a handle on it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAnd here you are liable to hang for it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFor stealing,\u201d the kid said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat among a slew of transgressions, Jimmy,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid ran his sleeve over his eyes, sniffling. \u201cA pastime old as man hisself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI ain\u2019t matching wits with you, Jimmy\u2026 I got one objective here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo see me hang I reckon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNot hardly,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cTo lock your stupefying ass in that tumbleweed and then hunt me up a doctor to lance these god forsaken feet of mine, preferably one with dainty hands.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The butcher\u2019s door screeched open and a man in a bloody apron limped out on the porch. He had a black stogie rooted in one jaw. \u201cHowdy, Bob,\u201d the butcher said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMetarene,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The butcher frowned down at the parcel there on the slats and then at the kid. The kid glanced up furtively, ashamedly so. \u201cMr. Metarene,\u201d he said. \u201cIt appears I won\u2019t be returning to pay you for your kindness.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t fret, I didn\u2019t expect you back.\u201d The butcher mocked the kid, sipping at his cigar daintily with his pinkie raised. \u201cHighfalutin, my ass.\u201d He reared a leg and kicked the parcel down the steps. \u201cAin\u2019t nothing but hocks and gristle in there anyhow,\u201d said the butcher. \u201cI ain\u2019t your mark, boy.\u201d He hocked a gob of amber spit out over the rail and turned and went back in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid ruminated silently over the parcel sitting there in the dirt beside him. \u201cI\u2019m so goddamn foolish,\u201d he said. He buried his face in the cup of his derby and sobbed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond pitied the kid somewhat; feral, lonesome, and maladjusted as he was. \u201cHell, I ought to be the one crying, Jimmy,\u201d He said. \u201cBad as these nubbins hurt.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid blabbed something indiscernible into the breach of his hat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou know,\u201d Drummond said, reaching to razz the kid\u2019s knee. \u201cLindy was right that Metarene really is a near perfect specimen of undiluted cocksucker ain\u2019t he\u2026 and smells worst than a shit house rag.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Muffled hacks of laughter cut through the kid\u2019s wailing. He put his derby back on and raked his weepy eyes and cheeks with his sleeve again. Sulking and laughing by turns. \u201cTell me, Bob, how much they got on my head.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust enough,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cYou know, Jimmy, shooting Hanover\u2019s horse was your misstep. Scaring the bejesus out of them nuns not withstanding. The stealing was the least of it truth be told.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGiving the sisters what for give me angst, honest it did. The whole thing got whipped up quicker than what I had figured.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey forgive you I\u2019m sure, them being bound to such notions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBut, the sheriff\u2019s ninny,\u201d the kid said, nodding his head resolutely. \u201cI don\u2019t give a damn for, him trying to run me over like he done. It was either that or get trampled underfoot. What would you\u2019d done, Bob?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond leaned back and put his elbows on the steps. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t have run into a passenger car full on nuns and hard legs whilst it was moored at the depot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt was a pickle,\u201d the kid said. He took his hat off and drummed it on his knee. \u201cGot out of it though didn\u2019t I.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat you did. It was a feat to behold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWas he sore about it,\u201d the kid asked, starry-eyed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWho, Hanover?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cSore ain\u2019t the word,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cHe was plum devastated.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbout that ninny,\u201d said the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAbout that ninny,\u201d said Drummond. \u201cYou woulda thought you\u2019d shot one of his kids.\u201d The two snickered at one another like school boys.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTell me, Bob,\u201d the kid said. \u201cHow much was that poor ninny worth to him? How much he put on this old boy\u2019s head?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond looked the kid over, pitying every inch of his skinny misguided soul. \u201cFive hundred,\u201d he muttered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cFive hundred,\u201d the kid scoffed. \u201cIs that all? Hell I got four times that stowed away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs that so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is,\u201d the kid said. \u201cAnd wouldn\u2019t bat an eye at giving you ever last dollar.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIs that so?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cEver jot and tittle, yes sir. Wouldn\u2019t mind it one bit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy was sitting high up on the buckboard seat mewing at the mules as they wagged and pulled the wagon back up the street. He jeered them into the alleyway next to the Metarene and stopped so that the jail was jutted out a little ways from the porch. He got down off the wagon and came up along the eve of the porch with his thumbs hung in his waistline. \u201cWormy gris and Bahia grass,\u201d he said and flung one of the thumbs back at the mules. \u201cThat\u2019s all them poor sumbitches have had.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey get watered,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYeah I reckon.\u201d Lindy fished a key from his coat pocket and jiggered it in the jail door. \u201cAnd them in a stall no wider than that.\u201d He turned around with his hands outstretched, the jail door yawning behind him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond did not reply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cJust thought you\u2019d want to know how we got bent over on that deal is all,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAlright Jimmy,\u201d Drummond tilted his head toward the wagon. \u201cLoad up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou gonna talk to him about it ain\u2019t you, Bob?\u201d The kid stood up, brushing the dust from his backside. Drummond held the pistol on him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTalk to who about what,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll have us a talking,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cOnce you\u2019re in that tumbleweed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTalk to who about what,\u201d Lindy said again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMe and Bob been chewing the fat a bit,\u201d the kid said as he moped over to the rear of the wagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy was standing there with his arm propped up on the canted jail door, eyeing the kid closely. \u201cIs that a fact,\u201d He said. \u201cWell chew on this, get your ass in that jail, boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid took hold of the sidebar and planted one foot askance on the door jam and pulled up awkwardly. He strained and tussled, bending this way and that, trying to avoid grinding his slacks against the soiled floorboards. \u201cI\u2019ll be a sumbitch,\u201d Lindy huffed. He hooked one of the kid\u2019s belt loops with his forefinger and jerked him up over the floorboards and then pushed him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGripes,\u201d the kid said, flailing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy clanged the jail door to behind the kid, saying, \u201cBe here all goddamn day waiting on you, boy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t lock it,\u201d Drummond said. He got up with a moan that whiffed from his chest like mashed bellows. \u201cI\u2019m fixing to lay down back there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDo what,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou heard me,\u201d Drummond said. He shuffled pensively on his bare feet across the front of the porch, using the spindles to steady himself again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI reckon you two did get chummy didn\u2019t you,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cYou forgetting your boots.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTo hell with them,\u201d Drummond said. He handed Lindy his Colt back and then bent over with his belly against the floorboards and wallowed on his elbows into the jail. He rolled over onto his back and lay there panting and sweating.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid squatted down beside him, looking him over. \u201cYou let me know if there\u2019s anything I can do \u2026 anything at all.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe don\u2019t need no help from you, Jimmy,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMuch obliged, Jimmy,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy closed and locked the jail door. Whipping his head and arms around angrily. He went and gathered Drummond\u2019s boots up and toted them back to the wagon and fed them one after the other through the bars in the jail door. \u201cNow tell me about this fat y\u2019all been chewing,\u201d he said. He came up the side of the wagon and grabbed onto the bars next to Drummond\u2019s head, waiting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell,\u201d Drummond said, winging his arms up to nest his head in a sling of braided fingers. \u201cJimmy here was figuring on bribing us off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNaturally,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, now wait a minute, Bob,\u201d the kid said. \u201cYou ain\u2019t gotta drag it out in such an unfavorable light.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAin\u2019t no way to dress up bribery, Jimmy,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cNot that it makes one necessarily apposed to it either.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy turned and put his shoulder against the bars, peering up the alleyway like he was mulling things over. \u201cIf you mean to ask me to weigh in on the matter, Drummy, I say shit naw\u2026 no,\u201d he said. He pushed off of the bars and walked up toward the front of the wagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t you want to know how much he\u2019s offering,\u201d Drummond called out. He rolled over on his elbow and looked back through the bars at Lindy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy stood still with one foot already up on the step side for a long contemplative moment and then put his foot back down on the ground, saying, \u201cI reckon it\u2019s a bundle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTwenty-five hundred,\u201d the kid said, craning his head around to see Lindy. \u201cGiver take a dollar or two. Stowed away with your name written all over it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy sidled back up to the bars. \u201cStowed away,\u201d he said. \u201cWhere abouts?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBuried off the roadside not two miles from here,\u201d the kid said. \u201cAs the crow flies.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs the crow flies,\u201d Lindy said, looking down at Drummond. \u201cI believe he\u2019s plumb full of shit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cYou heard Hanover yourself,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cKid cleared nearly three times that in that Eustus deal.\u201d He and Lindy glared at one another knowingly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell, hell, Jimmy,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cBy all means, holler out the way.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid led them to the outskirts of town where two trails converged, one was the way to Eustus and the other was an overgrown tunnel of privet scarcely wide enough for the mules to pass through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d the kid said. \u201cIt opens up back in here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWell just so you know, Jimmy,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cYou get us hung up out here I\u2019m gonna whoop you nine different ways and string you up myself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThis trail loops right back to town don\u2019t worry it opens up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond lay there watching the branches of privet tinking along the jail bars and by and by the road did open up and tended back toward the direction of town just as the kid said it would. They passed a smokehouse and a dilapidated shack where two kids were chasing each other in and out of the tree line at the edge of their little yard. Drummond smiled and watched them as long as his supine position on the wagon floor would allow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThere\u2019s another house,\u201d the kid said. \u201cJust up here, folks boil cain mash down for saccharine, you know. Loot ain\u2019t a hundred paces down from them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There was an elderly couple sitting on crate barrels in the yard shelling peas and a younger man in rags, sooted head to toe, stoking a fire on which was roosted a large iron cauldron. As they crossed the corner of the yard the old man began grinning fiendishly. He slapped his knee and yipped through the breach of his cupped hands at the younger man and then pointed out their passing wagon. The younger man stood up straight and stone-still, staring like a spooked animal. He waved and yelled out, \u201cHo now law man, ho.\u201d And so Lindy jerked back on the reins and they stopped there at the edge of the yard. The man ran over and picked up a slat bucket next the house and then went and scooped it down in the cauldron and brought it up brimming with the scalding molasses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s he wanting,\u201d Drummond hollered up at Lindy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTrying to sell some of that molasses I reckon,\u201d Lindy said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cTell him we ain\u2019t interested,\u201d Drummond said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cHe\u2019s done here now,\u201d Lindy said. \u201cYou tell him.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The man came up to the edge of the yard in a rush with the bucket cocked in his hands. Drummond rolled up on his elbow and shewed at the man through the bars, saying, \u201cWe ain\u2019t interested.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The young man\u2019s lips wavered up atop a set of jagged purpled teeth. He stepped up to within spitting distance of the jail and swung the bucket back. \u201cGo to hell and burn you liver gutted criminals!\u201d he said. He brought the bucket forth in one whipped motion, launching its contents in through the bars at Drummond and the kid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBob!\u201d the kid yelped. He dove head long toward the tail end of the jail.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond reared up and then back but was unable, in that instant, to maneuver himself out of harm\u2019s way. He watched helplessly as the molten sludge split through the bars and lashed down on his neck and chest and arms. Tongues of untempered hellfire. He sat up with a start wailing and yipping and moaning and praying and cursing. \u201cMy god Jesus oh my god\u2026\u201d He grabbed his shirt front and ripped it lengthwise along his torso, exposing scarlet skin that had already begun to bubble with blisters and boils. The young man with the bucket was standing at the bars watching Drummond\u2019s plight jubilantly, hawing out peels of craggy laughter twice as grating as the bays of a donkey, as was the old man in the yard. The old woman had come up to the edge of the road with her palms turned up toward the sky, singing some derelict and lisp ridden hymn. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy jumped down off of the buckboards and rushed up the side of the wagon and walloped the man on the side of his head and the man collapsed there on the road, snoring. \u201cWhat have you done you ignorant sons-a-bitches\u201d he hollered back across the yard at the old man. He turned and pushed the old woman and she fell over laughing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Drummond was wreathed in an ungodly pain that would not subside. He wallowed and seized. \u201cLindy,\u201d he called out. \u201cGet me out of here, get some water. Do something goddamnit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid was balled up in the corner, tucked in clear of Drummond\u2019s flailing legs. \u201cJimmy,\u201d Drummond said. \u201cHelp me out of this coat, Help me up\u2026 oh goddamn it, lord in heaven what the fuck has just happened.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The kid crawled around behind Drummond and grabbed the nape of his coat and shirt and peeled them down to the crooks of his elbows. Drummond could feel pockets of blistered flesh distending and rubbing underneath his chin. He trembled violently and wavered into a spell of blurred revelry and when he came to Lindy was there at the mouth of the jail pulling him forward by the hems of his trousers. The kid was hunched behind him pushing on his back. When they had gotten him to the edge of the floorboards Drummond hollered out, \u201cWater! Lindy! Get me water! Goddamnit!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy left Drummond\u2019s legs there dangling off the side of the wagon and went and grabbed the slat-bucket and took off in a dead run toward the elderly man in the yard. \u201cWon\u2019t you just lay back,\u201d the kid said softly at Drummond\u2019s ear. He eased Drummond onto his back. \u201cYou just take it easy now,\u201d the kid whispered. \u201cNice and easy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And Drummond put his head back and lay there racked in pain, looking up at the blanched firmament through the rusted tines above him. He could hear the kid rustling about around him, mumbling something sultry and smooth. The sky was a tepid blue leaching down through the overcasts. A powder blue that brought to mind the kid\u2019s stolen suit. \u201cThank you, Jimmy,\u201d Drummond muttered. \u201cFor helping me. I won\u2019t soon forget it\u2026 You hear me Jimmy?\u2026 Jimmy?\u201d He could hear Lindy bellowing and cursing at the kid and the sound of his boot heels padding out across the soapstone yard. Drummond pushed up on his elbows and saw that the kid was already a mere bead of powder-blue elbows and coat tails skittering away and away and away, free as the unfettered wind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Lindy ran out behind the wagon and leveled his Colt back up the road and was just before firing when Drummond remembered the kids who\u2019d been chasing one another in and out of the tree line in the little shack yard with the smokehouse. \u201cDon\u2019t, Lindy,\u201d he hollered. \u201cThem kids up there playing.\u201d Drummond pulled up and collapsed against the barred door frame and watched helplessly as the kid became a sliver against the bend in the road and then disappear.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Drummond was hoping like hell he wouldn\u2019t have to run the Dennison kid down. Sore as his gout was. He kept checking the picture window that looked out on Harvesting Street, half-wishing he wouldn\u2019t even see the kid appear. He and Lindy were bellied up to the bar nursing their snifters of whiskey. … Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1202,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"nfd_image_url":"","nfd_onboarding_generated":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1163","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/albert-stoynov-det6EotskAI-unsplash.jpg?fit=1920%2C1371&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1163"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1164,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1163\/revisions\/1164"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1163"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1163"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/underwoodpress.com\/truechili\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1163"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Philip Graves is a father of three from Columbia, MS. He owns and operates a secondhand\/flea market called The Cornerstore.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"