Dried blood rested in his cuticles,it could look like anything,
in the fire it looked black, but Ben knew it was Blood.Ben saw
it before the sun set,before it turned black.
The week had started off with a day like any week, moday, and
it was atleast a cool one hundred degrees by 10 O'Clock. As was
the fashion for a man of his stature, Benjerman Hattock III
tipped a glass to the rising sun as he packed up his tent,
glancing up frequently to look at the town bellow. He didnt
need a pocket watch to tell it was time to go on down.
Benjerman Hatock III,Now I want to know where thu tails are.
Ben was straight faced and his bristle-bramble sonofabitch
thorn stalk mustache didnt flinch a godamn hair.
Down the road, right at the Shoe and Hat, youll see it, couple
fellows out front, one with a rifle, one with a handfull of
forms,wearin a hat.
Spoken as the Shopkeeps throat shook in fear.
it was a three minuete walk to the steps of the whore house.
And there they were.
The man with the rifle had bright blue eyes and his orange
beard was almost white,his hair was full of dust and would have
hung low if it wasnt pushed, or shoved back.He wore old Union
slacks and shoes that had also seen a war, shoes that had
stepped on loved ones, kicked brothers, and trudged through
discarded limbs in search of a better place, only to find
himself old and on the steps of awhore house, only to find the
dreams he once had of family, and of when he would smile, and
not only when matters were perverse.Shoes that walked proudly
for a nation, and were now stained with whiskey-vomit.His
parents were dead and they never knew he lasted the war.
The fellow with the hat was younger, and had a smart look to
him, his grin was crooked and he had a quill and desk,right on
the porch, which surley proved to Ben, this man is a crook.
Gotta have yer name Brother if your gonna be Kissin my Sisters
yehearme?
and he laughs.
Ben let loose the three letters he really knew B-H-III and
droped the quill.
Play nice and dont fall too hard , they aint in it for yer
heart!
and he laughs.
The front room even stank of nudity and sweat.
Ben wanted nothing more than to find his girl and get into the
room.
There were people around him.
A very thin man with sweaty trousers and an undershirt sat
touching the knee of some quiet nervous but accomedating young
mexican girl with a white womans dress on her shoulders.
A few men sat together at a table near the right wall passing a
bottlearound and speaking loudly, all things began to spin
andeveryonesvoices
beacmeblured,BencouldnolongerdiscernallthesoundsGLASSESandDEEPB
ROWNWOODimages,utterconfusionSINGING--
as soon as every spinning sound was quiet, they were back, but
in order, and Ben sat opposite a miniature girl, with features
like that splashing milk, the curls and bends of its shape when
it flies outward, when a drop hits the floor, those soft round
edges, all of them,borne in this young woman, no, this girl.If
a throat could speak liquid hers would speak this white white
milk, so quiet.
its very nice to meet you...
her eyes widen.
Ben-n
He says with his lips but not his voice, the air sent from his
lungs to propell the name forth left his being but the sound,
the melody of his speach, never escaped.
Ben,my brother's dogs named Ben..
she laughs.
Ben looks at the floor, his face would never say what he was
thinking ,so fast and deeply,he wanted nothing more than to
talk to this girl, to say all the things he thinks in his days,
in his days on the plains, in his days stealling cattle, more
so in his days relaxing drunkly in the tall grass breathing
warm air and looking at the still illuminated but sunless
sky.In his days when smilling tears threatend to roll down his
face but are dammed by the tightness of his jaw, and his teeth.
Thinking of finding a soft girl to treat well and learning what
it feels like to love someone, but here in this room, that
resembled a shack amongst a stack of shacks,a chicken coop for
fucking, in the desert, all that would leave his throat was
air, and his nerves released how they always did, he pushed his
teeth together so hard his gums bled.
he took the love from her, all of it, he didnt remove his
boots, he quickly left,he quickly droped his bills on the
floor, and he slowly shut the door behind himself as not to
disturb the crying girl.He was never afraid of blood before.
Tonight ill set my tent up, tomarrow ill try to make some
money,I hope it isnt hot tomarrow, I hope im not cold all day.
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