Chapter 8: Face It As It Comes

Harley pulled up in front of the old shell of a house, stopped. He carried his purchases inside. A proud grin covered his face. Both of the Idas, mother and daughter, were ecstatic as they opened their bundles. Before they donned their new clothes, they had to hold them up and admire them. Ida Marie spun around so Harley could admire her from all sides. Laughter filled the house for the first time since they moved in.

Also. for the first time in three years, Harley let down his guard, relaxed and smiled a smile that began deep inside his heart. He slowly stood up from where he had been squatting on his heels by the door. He motioned to his wife and daughter and went outside. He pointed at their new car. They followed, all excited.

"Now I got that railroad bull all checked out of the' hotel and took over another room for us. But before we head in to town we need to go through that bull's stuff and keep what we can use and leave the rest behind for the next poor son of a bitch that stops by here."

They opened the suitcases and threw away the clothing that was unsuitable for whatever reason. The pink flowered shirt and the black frilly women's garters went. The cheap (and some perhaps not so cheap) gaudy women's jewelry was given to Ida Mae to play with. Ida Marie figured she could take in the waist on the black woolen pants.

Harley looked at the linen BVDs and shook his head, but kept them. He wasn't too certain he wanted to wear anything that was as "big city" as linen BVD underwear. He decided maybe later if times got too tough again.

On inspiration, Harley made a slit at a suspicious bulge under the lining in one suitcase. He found a bankbook with nearly five thousand dollars credited to the account. With regret, he threw it away. There were just too many things that could go wrong if he tried to empty that account. "Damn, but it sure tempts me," he muttered to himself.

Then Harley hit another bonanza. When he ripped the lining out of the bottom of the suitcase, he found hundred dollar bills had been slipped in between the lining and the outer shell.

Wide-eyed, Ida Marie watched the money seem to magically appear as Harley demolished the suitcases. All four of them were torn apart. They found that they had altogether accumulated almost three thousand dollars. "Where did all this money come from?" she asked. Ida Marie had never ever seen anywhere near that much money before.

"I dunno where he got it, but it is stole money, that's for sure." People just don't go hidin' this much money in suitcase linings unless it was ill got, that's also for damned sure."

He gestured toward all the clothes and the torn up suitcases. "Leave all that behind. Let's throw it inside th' house an' the next poor son of a bitch to come along might get some use out of it. We ain't comin' back here, never."

Then he told her, "Roll all of the cash money up in small rolls and stuff it in a couple of those men's' stockings and put it all in th' back of th' car, in th' rumble seat. Then you and little Ida get in th' car and we'll head on into town I want to be shed of this place forever." In a daze, Ida Marie hurried to do as he said. Ida Mae already had crawled up in the middle of the seat. Ida Marie followed her daughter.

"Now Hon, We gonna be stayin' in the hotel in town an it's got a bathroom and a bath tub in it and one of them new fancy shower things. We gonna sleep in a real good bed and little Ida will even have her own bed." He threw an arm around his wife's shoulders and said, "And we gonna eat out in a real café tonight and tomorrow."

"Harley, honey, we can't do that." Ida Marie began to worry about her husband's judgment. "When we run out of money, what will we do? This seems like a lot, but it ain't, not really."

"Well, darlin', times are getting much better for us. We been through times that would of downed a weaker woman than you, but you just stayed right there alongside me and never give up. Now hear me real good, we are never ever going back to all that hand to mouth desperate living we been doing. I promise you this by all I hold dear, which is you and our baby."

"I ain't no baby, Pa," Ida Mae protested. Her eyes were glued on the passing landscape at the same time her ears listened to every word her parents said. Her mother gave her a little squeeze. "Can we ride in this here car again tomorrow, Pa?"

"We sure can, Punkin," Harley promised his daughter with a laugh. "And the day after that too, if we want." She grinned and gave him a happy little nod he couldn't see.

They drove in silence until they came out onto the black top highway and then headed on in to town. He stopped in front of the hotel and they went in. The desk clerk met them as they came through the entrance. "I have to have your key back, since you won't be staying, folks." He looked worriedly at Harley.

"Who says we won't be stayin'?" he asked the clerk.

"I do," a voice said from behind them.

Harley turned and found he was facing the town marshal with his rifle pointed at Harley's middle. The hammer was pulled back, cocked for the first shot. Harley didn't argue as the marshal expected, Harley launched himself at the man and twisted the gun up and out of his grasp. The single shot fired went through the ceiling. One handed, Harley grabbed the lawman by the throat. He still used only one hand as he brought the dazed lawman up off the floor.

Harley shook him like a rag doll and threw him against the wall. Then he advanced for another attack on him. In desperation, the marshal grabbed for the holstered forty-four at his hip. He knew he was staring death in the face for the first time in his bullying life. Harley kicked the man in the face and took the revolver away from his nerveless fingers.

"Harley, that's enough. I don't want you to go and kill someone else. Now if you want me to sleep with you tonight, you will let that miserable whelp loose. I mean it Harley." Ida Marie's voice was shrill with fear. She knew about the railroad bull, had seen her husband put a desk through a wall and threaten to hurt people a couple of other times to defend his family.

Harley stopped his attack as if a switch had been thrown. "Get out," he told the downed man. "Get out of this hotel and out of this town. If I see you and my wife ain't there to protect you, I jus' might kill you, you miserable son of a bitch. Now git."

The marshal struggled to his feet and ran from the hotel in a panic stricken rout. "Oh God!" he wailed.

"Mamma, my Pa said a cuss word again." Ida Mae told her mother in childish self-righteous indignation. "Now you better tell Pa not to say that no more."

The switch had been thrown again and the enraged bull of a man became the gentle loving father. "I'm sorry, little angel o' mine. Your Pa shouldn't talk like that around his baby sweetheart." He hugged her close while Ida Marie shook her head in wonder at this man of hers.

The desk clerk had trouble, as he tried to keep up with the changes in this man who was a raging bull one moment and a gentle soul the next. "Mister, you ever read the story about Ferd'nan The Bull to your little'un?

"Hell, I never heard of no bull name Ferdynan, why?" He thought a minute and added, "That don't sound like no real he-bull's proper name. Why?" he asked again

"Oh, I jus' wondered," the desk clerk answered. "You jus' go on back an' have a good night's rest."

"What was all that about some bull?" he asked his wife as they went on back to the room they had. "Was he sayin' I'm bull headed or somethin' like that?"

"I don' know, Hon. Maybe I kin ask someone an' find out. It doesn't really matter." She was thankful another disaster had been averted, if just barely. After they entered the room, she told him, "Harley, baby, you got to curb that temper of yourn. You just can't just go around killin' people, even if they do deserve it. I love you dearly and I don't want to lose you. It is very hard to find the best man in the world and marry him." She grinned at him, he smiled at her and she shrieked, "Oh Lord."

Harley crouched into a defensive stance and looked around. "Oh honey, this is so nice. And it's clean." Little Ida marched over to the child's cot set in the corner. She sat on the edge and gripped the frame with both hands and smiled at her bed.

With a sigh of relief that her scream had not been one of alarm, he said, "Well, let's go eat." Reluctantly Ida followed her husband, glancing back at the nice, and clean room "with real covers on it."

They walked over to the Bid A Wee café across the street and entered. After Harley seated them at a table, Ida Marie stared around them. Wide eyed, mother and daughter looked around. Ida Marie whispered, "Harley, what do we do? I only et in one of these places once before, I don't want to do nothin wrong. This one is so nice. What do I do?"

"Hi, folks, y'all know what you want, or y'all want a menu?" the waitress approached them with a welcoming smile on her face.