A New Beginning Pt. 05

We dressed and she kissed me again. I smacked her lovingly on the ass,

"Let's go, woman. I'm getting hungry."

The sun was laying low over the trees. The smoke from the fires down at the camp wafting through the branches. A big ol' bull frog went to croaking.

There was a car I didn't recognize sitting there. When me and mama got out, a man dressed in a suit got out and headed toward me. Mama just glanced and walked off toward the house. The kids came running around the corner of the house and ran up to mama. They headed into the house, pups in tow. The gyp saw the stranger. She let out a long, deep bawl and headed toward him.Teeth bared. I hollered at her and she came to me. Sitting between me and him, growling deep down in her chest.

He held his hand out as he approached me. She stood up. The hair on her back sticking up, snarling a warning.

"Mr Flannery, I'm Derron Fowler."

He pulled up short, staring at her.

"Something I can help you with, mister?"

"Uh, yes, if you're Jacob Flannery, I have business to discuss. Are you Mr Flannery?"

I nodded, "Yep."

"Is there some place we can talk?"

"Seems you're doing a bang job right where were at. So, state your business."

"Well, Mr Flannery, I'm here to make a proposal. The company I represent is prepared to make a fair and, might I say, very lucrative, offer on your mineral right holdings."

I just looked at him, saying nothing.

"Well, yes, here, I have some papers for you to look at."

He reached into his leather satchel and pulled out a sheath of papers. He reached out to hand them to me. Earning another warning snarl from my dog.

I just kept staring at him. Ignoring the papers.

"If you'll look these over, I'm sure you'll find they outline a proposal that's more than satisfactory."

" Look, Mr Fowler, I need you to pay close attention now. I'm only saying this once. Yesterday, that bunch that sent you out here, wouldn't even of let me in their office yesterday if I'd of tried to meet with them. I don't do business with hired hands. If they were interested in doing business with me, they'd be here instead of you and them papers. I figure them papers probably look all fancy at first glance. But, I reckon they're fire papers."

"Fire papers? What do you mean?"

"I mean they look all warm and cozy, until you get too close. Then you get burned. It's always the same with men like you. You write up all this fancy, pretty sounding bullshit in big, bold writing. The catch that fucks you is in the small words. Y'all never make a proposal, as you call it, unless you stand to have it all in the end for pennies on the dollar, with us poor folks even footing the bill for it. Leaving us high and dry in the end holding the bag with nothing to show for it. All legal and everything. So, when I find out I'm getting the shaft up the ass, all the sudden, your tune changes. That's when you go to pointing out this or that clause or whatever."

"So, no, Mr Fowler, you take your little papers back to where ever you got them from, and tell whoever gave them to you to shove them up their ass. Don't come back here again."

"My employers are not prone to taking no for an answer, Mr Flannery. I assure you, they can make life very hard for you. Quite difficult, indeed."

"Is that a fact, Mr Fowler? I need you to look around you. Does this look like Dallas to you? Or even Houston or Chicago? No, Mr Fowler. This is East Texas. A world apart from all that fancy shit y'all got there. There, you got civilized law. Police and judges in them courts to protect you. Out here, you're just another link in the food chain. We don't have but half a dozen deputies and no way to call them if we run up on hard times. Hell, they have the same problems we do. Around these parts, we simply handle our own affairs, and if some uppity son of a bitch comes around causing problems? Well, we have our own ideas about how to handle that."

I pointed around.

"These woods hold the unmarked graves of many who came around, strutting it up, like they could bluff their way around. I'll tell you something, Fowler, there's plenty of men around here that fought in the war. They've been through it. Killing one more sorry cocksucker ain't gonna make no never mind to them. They'll bury your ass and go home to supper and sit out on the porch, watching the sun go down. So, y'all come on down and go to hunting trouble. I god damned guarantee you, you will find a belly full of it. You will find the kind of trouble that will make Lucifer himself fall to his kneds and seek salvation. Now git."

The gyp stood up and started growling again. He took off. He made it most of the way back to his car before he turned and looked back. i could see he was priming up to say something.

I told the gyp, "Sic him, girl!"

She took out after him. He fumbled around and made in in his car just shy of her sinking her teeth in him. Starting up, he lit out like the devil himself was after him. She chased the car for a short distance, then came trotting back to me. We went on to the house. I heard Charlie chuckling.

I went in, mama and Elsie were at the table, the kids came running in to hug me.

"What did he want?" Elsie asked

"Nothing he could afford. Where's Maggie and Callie?"

"At the house. Theu're opening for business tomorrow morning. They said they'd be here for the BBQ."

Elsie got my plate from the warming box on the stove. Red beans and rice with cornbread. I slathered my cornbread with butter and dug in.

When I finished, I leaned back, thinking. Something told me I wasn't done with Fowler and that bunch. Some people just don't know how to listen. It never was in me to involve myself where I wasn't wanted. I made my money honest. How I went about may not set well with some folks ideas, but I don't go around forcing it on them.We all provide a service of value to another. I always consider the other side in my figures. Then I split the difference and offer my deal.

Like those prostitutes out there. The deal I offered them was better than any they've ever had, and nobody else would be inclined to offer it. In the end, they'll make money, because I eliminated their expenses. I'll provide for them. All they have to do is their job. Anytime they're not happy with the arrangement, nobody is forcing them to stay. There's a bus stop over at the feed store. The bus stops by a few times a week. They haul parcels, and occasionally somebody rides off on one.

I'd buy any of those women a bus ticket to somewhere, and give them twenty dollars to eat on. So, it's not like I'm mistreating them. Which reminds me. Gotta have a talk with those hands. I won't tolerate any abuse of those women. If you hurt one, I'm giving the Scruggins brothers orders to haul your ass off from there in a wide variety of disrepair. Not only are you getting a biblical level ass whipping, but you're out of a job, to boot. Those women will be treated with respect.

There was a knock at the front door. The gyp went to bawling at it, the puppies giving it hell right beside her.

I felt a sense of dread flood over me. So far, nothing good has come of a knock on that particular door.

Elsie took off to answer it. When she returned, there he was, my papa.

He stepped in, holding his hand out. I just looked at it. Then ignored it.

"Now is that any way to treat your ol' pa?"

" I reckon my pa run off and left mama and me to make out. Now, what are you wanting?"

"Can I sit down?"

I nodded at a chair. He plopped down in it.

"Where's your mama at?"

"In there somewhere."

He looked at Elsie.

"Who are you?"

"I'm his wife."

"Ya don't say. Well, how about you fix me a bait of grub, then go fetch Harriet and bring her in here to me."

I held up a hand.

"Baby, you come sit down."

I looked at him. My eyes cold.

"You don't give orders in this house. I do. Do you hear me? You open your yap at my wife like that again and I'll give what I should have gave you some time ago. Now, you want food, it's on the stove. You can help yourself. In as much as my mama is concerned, you have no business with her."

"She's still my wife, by god!"

"No, in fact, one of the very last things you said to me was you were tired of supporting her. She was only good for cooking and fucking, and I could have her. So, you gave her up. She's my woman now."

"Your woman? What the hell you mean, your woman?"

Mama walked in and stood there staring at him.

He stood up and stepped toward her. She stepped away from him.

"Hey, it's me. Ain't you happy to see me?"

"You run off and left me. Why did you come back? Why are you here?"

"I come back to get you. I went out to the place and some men are working over there, doing something or other. I wanted to know what the hell they was doing to my house, and I..."

Mama cut him off, "Your house? That's not yours. It was given to me by my daddy."

"That don't make no never mind. What's this about you being his woman now?"

"Yes, I am."

"But, your his ma, how can you be his woman? Are you fuckin' him?"

"When you run off in the night, he took care of me. He was doing the job my husband was supposed to do. So, I gave myself to him to use as his wife. yes, he's been fucking me."

"Well, I'm back now. We can make up and start over. So, go get your things and we'll get on back out to the house. We gotta run that riff-raff off."

"Go with you?

"Why sure. Go get your belongin's."

"I'm not going anywhere with you. Not now or ever. You need to go. And I don't want you out there at the other place, either. He's got plans for that."

"I don't got anywhere else to go."

I spoke up, "Go down to the camp yonder. Tell them I'm giving you a job. They'll issue you a bed and feed you. Now, go on while the offer stands good."

He wanted to say something, but I think he knew whatever he once had was now gone. So, he skulked and headed out.

It was the last time we ever saw him.

The sun rose slowly over the trees as I sat on the porch, contemplating the day ahead. I was thinking about who might take me up on my offer to buy, or lease, their place. I figured out of the 25 to 30 I can actually expect to sjow up, only two or three at the most would go along.

I saw Charlie down there directing the unloading and placement of the picnic tables. I thought about his mama. What had she done after catching him fucking his granny. I thought about my own granny, my mama's mama. She had been about 14 when mama was born. So, she's 72 now. I know mama gets letters from her once in a while. She lives down outside Lufkin. I'm not sure what she does now, but mama's daddy died four, maybe five years ago now. I wonder how she'd be for a roll in the hay. If mama took after her, then she'd be something to contend with. I think me and mama need to drive down. Hell, ain't but thirty, forty miles.

I went down to the camp and asked about papa. Nobody had seen him. He hadn't checked in. He was just gone. I just couldn't bring myself to feel sorry for him. He'd beaten whatever I had in the way of sympathy out of me.

I went to the mess tent. They were boning out a new batch of hogs. I ordered a breakfast and sat down.

JT came in talking to one of his crew bosses. Spotting me, he waved, then finished his business and came over and sat down.

"Well, my young friend. We're rigged up and making hole again."

He waved at a cook who brought over a cup of coffee.

"Damn, I miss iced tea."

"What?"

"Iced tea."

I nodded. Not having a clue what the fuck he was talking about.

The cook brought out my breakfast. I dug in, talking between bites.

"Charlie told me you really gave that character a scare yesterday evening." He said, chuckling.

"Yeah, I reckon. I'm just sick and tired of people treating me like I'm some idiot. My pa came back last night. Right out of the blue.Tried to act like nothing ever happened and he could just pop back in. Anyway, where we at?"

"Got six more wells coming in. The workover crew is working can to can't getting the six we got on line. I'd like to be shipping crude within the month."

"How we doing for cash. So far, we're sitting pretty. With you coming in as a partner, I was able to use my capital on operations instead of tying it up with lease costs. I figure we have more than enough to see us through. I talked to the bank before taking your five and maggies ten. But they wanted a big chunk of the percentage of the top. I turned it down. Anyhow, I'm looking at three more rigs that are for sale. They need work, but the price is right."

"Can we afford them?"

"Sure, I've just got all my supervisors tied up and i need somebody to manage a crew repairing them."

"Go ahead and buy them and bring them over here. I'll make sure they get done. Just get me who I need."

"You've never worked on rigs before."

"No, but how hard can it be? I've rebuilt steam powered saw mill equipment. That looks more complicated than this stuff. What iI can't figure out, I'll ask you or Joe about the best way to go. I wonder if Charlie knows anything about rigs. He seems to know his way around things."

"Well, he's worked for me about twenty years, I guess. He's a good hand. Just doesn't care anything about being a supervisor."

"Ok. If he's been around this equipment that long, then he knows how it works. It's not much past that to knowing how to fix it."

"You, know, for such a young man, you sure have a pretty good grasp on things. Ok, I'll have them bring them on down. Should be here before dark tomorrow."

"Well, I gotta get ready for the BBQ. I got us another 240 acres yesterday."

"Jake, at this rate, we'll be millionaires by end of summer. Oh yeah, the cooks have the beans and potato salad ready. Have them carry it up when you're ready."

I got up and went back to the house. A thought occured to me. I turned around.

"JT, I need to borrow dishes to serve on. Between 20 and 40 I'm guessing."

"How about I send them up there to serve for you. You need to be free to discuss business anyway."

"Now, that will surely make things easier."

When I got back to the house, the women were at the table. I got a cup of coffee and sat down.

Sophia got up in my lap, and the dog curled up by my chair.

I looked at mama and Elsie.

"Ok, out with it."

Mama spoke, "I was just thinking about your papa. We don't need him causing any trouble."

"Mama, he's gone. He never even went to camp last night and the Scruggins brothers won't let him too troublesome out there."

"But it just don't make sense. He just shows up out of nowhere, only stays a few minutes, then just leaves like that."

"I'm guessing he just expected a different reaction out of you. When he didn't get it, then found out what we were doing, it just got to be more than he could handle."

"Well, I guess you're probably right."

"You guess I'm probably right? You have a different idea?"

"No, I just think that. Oh, hell I don't know."

"When did anything he do make any sense? That man had no vision. No ambition beyond what anybody could do for him. He was lazy and mean. I've accomplished more since he ran off than he accomplished in his entire life. I figure he knew if he stayed, he'd be living in my shadow, under my rules, and he just couldn't accept that. I'd go as far as to say he figured I had left you, too. Leaving you alone and desperate and he'd just come back and you'd welcome him with open arms. I mean, look at Jerry. How he acted when he cropped back up. He expected a totally different reaction than what he got. He expected Elsie to be a desperate woman. Not one settled in and cared for. He hunted around and heard you were up here. So, he takes a job he knows nothing about thinking she'd jump at the chance to run back to him."

Mama nodded at that.

"Yeah, you're right."

"Anyway, lets get ready for the BBQ party. Go clean up, dress up, whatever. I've got business to tend to."

Tommy came up to me then.

"Sir, can I have my job back? I'll try hard not to let you down again."

"What do you mean, let me down?"

"I didn't wake up on time for work and you went without me. I figured I was fired."

"Oh, I see. Well, no. I needed you here to care for your sister and these pups. That's a big responsibility, you see? In fact, you've done such a good job, I figure you're in store for a pay raise."

The smile on a childs face can sometimes just make all the wrongs life throws at you just seem awful small in comparison...