the fight (standard:drama, 3118 words)
Author: stanley mcqueen kentucky backwoods writer	Added: May 24 2009	Views/Reads: 2943/1894	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
wife beater learn lession

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till this all blew over , but that was not going to happen, at about 
three in the evening I has laid down in under the shade tree in paw and 
mammy yard , and mammy wakes me up and tells me that they is a woman at 
the gate of our shack that wants to speak to me about something, mammy 
said “ she would not tell me what is was she wanted of you, 

I walk out and see a young looking woman, standing from without our
gate, I greeted her with and howdy and she spoke back to me, Mr are you 
the one that got in a fight with my husband earlier today? Yes I am but 
I never want to have to strike him, it was all you and Walker fault not 
any of my doings and Walker told him it was me that was seeing you 
while he was at his work, what I want to say to you might make you 
understand that I never wanted to marry the man that I am married to it 
was Mammy and pappy who forced me into marrying him' he is a mean and 
brute he beats me and want hardly let me out of his site he is so 
suspicious , and I meet your friend Walker and we loved each other and 
I aim to run off with walker soon and shed myself of this man, well I 
don't feel sorry for you and all but I expect your man to kill walker 
if he can find him, he would have killed me if I had not got the drop 
on him and hit him in the noggin knocking him out cold, he is the 
biggest man I ever laid my eyes on and I dare say there is a man in 
Muddy Fork county that could whip him, I added!! 

Why I come here for is to ask you to tell Walker when you see him again
that I am ready to leave these parts with him so we can have a life 
together I made up my mind that if I stay with him he is eventually 
going to kill me , and I know he is capable of doing it with one lick, 
he don't know his own strength and he is dangerous man, she explained” 
I will do you a favor I will tell Walker when I see him again” he left 
the saloon running for his life and I figured he is hiding out 
somewhere in the country, I slipped over here Walter told me where you 
lived some time ago and I know you both are good friends for a long 
time, 

the young woman looked scared and I cannot say I would blame her for
leaving such a man, her maw and paw had no business in having her marry 
such a man as this, I tried to explain to her that Walker was too much 
of a home body to leave these part where he has lived all his life , 
leaving his paw and maw and he has one younger sister also told her, 
well” he said” he was taking me away from my misery and I am scared of 
my husband and I haven't got any kind of life here she declared” 

well I don't want in the middle of all this I tell her , and it seems I
already probably got your husband looking for me to kill me because 
took his ax handle and warped him over head and knocked him out I 
explained” I know that I am fixing to ask you a special favor , she 
said' I need to hide out some where and I was wondering if you would 
mind if I stayed in your paw barn , at least till walker comes, back 
from where ever he is hiding out, she asked ? 

I have to check with paw on that I will explain the situation with him
and I expect he will allow you to stay due to this mess with your 
husband, he a honest caring person , my paw and maw both are, she 
walked up to the front door with me and I called for paw to come to the 
doorway, paw come and I told him the story and what had happen with 
walker and her husband being a abuser of her and all and paw told her 
it would be ok , but reminded me that he never wanted to bring any 
trouble on his place, because he is a peaceful soul, 

she seemed glad and Maw offered her some food because he told me that
she has not eat in quiet a while , she eat and set in the shack with 
Maw while me and paw fixed her a place to hide in the barn, maw give 
her some old quilts to take and some water to drink if she got thirsty, 
my friend Walker had sure got me into a fix, now here I am hiding out 
the mans” wife that I hit over the head with and ax handle, 

it was about dark and Walker showed up and he was tired and hungry the
young woman was sure glad to see him , and the first question he asked 
? Was do you think Hank will show up here still looking for me and you 
and do as he promised to do was to whip the tar out of the man that is 
slipping and seeing his wife, he asked? 

Well if he does I am not running ng to face this man like a man , I
never slipped out with running and Mr you have got me in over my head 
in your trouble not mind I bluntly told him' well I want say I want run 
another time he said ‘ right in front of the young woman, 

your nothing but a coward I tell him , and after all these years I have
learned what kind of friend I have, when the chips are down you run off 
I spurted” and I am not going to say I am you friend now after I have 
seen your colors, so you take that woman and head get her out of here 
before her husband come and find the two of you here and start trouble 
before paw and mammy, I don't what them to be bothered with a big fight 
right here in front of our shack , I told him bluntly' 

I promise we will lite out of here early in the morning at first light ,
we both are going to Virginia any where so we can be together Walker 
said, we don't have nothing but the clothes on our back , but someway 
we will make it to Virginia walker says' 

Well I hope she can live a good life with you and I guess living with a
liar and a coward is better that a brutish man like she says' her 
husband is, about the time I got that said “ we see a horse coming at 
distance coming down the wagon road that leads to our shack and it 
looked to be her husband big hank was his called name, better hide I 
tell walker and the woman, it him and looks like I am going to be the 
one that faces him and settled this once and for all. They both hurry 
to the barn and got out of site before he got close enough to see them 
and me, and when he see me at a short distance now he kicked him horse 
so make it trot faster , he was mad looking and red faced from the heat 
of the day or anger, he rides up close and hopped swiftly off the big 
horse and starts to come at me violently and I say stop right now don't 
take another step and let me explain that I am not the man that has 
been seeing your wife , it my use to be friend that lied to you , he is 
the man that your looking for not me,...I tell him , well one of you is 
a lair and how am I suppose to know the one that is telling the truth , 
so I am going to whip the both of you and that way I will get the right 
man, I knew that this big brute would kill me with his bare hands, and 
I was dreading to tangle with him, he bigger and much older than me, 
and my chances of winning the fight was zero, and about the time he was 
advancing to hit me , I heard the click of my paws rifle as he injected 
a shell with the leaver of the rifle, you stick my son and you fall 
where you stand paw said' my son told you the truth and I be dogged if 
you going to beat him on my land or anywhere else in the county, and Mr 
you have beat that young woman for you last time paw blurted. she was 
forced into marrying the likes of you by her paw and mammy, and today 
is the first time I ever laid eyes on the woman, but what you need to 
do is get back on that horse and ride out of here, and before you go I 
need to promised you this , if you lay a hand on the young woman or my 
son or walker I will hunt you down to the ends of the earth and put a 
bullet right between those blue eyes of yours, and rid this county of a 
woman beater, we don't cotton to wife beaters here in these part and 
after its known to the neighbor men here they will all back me up to 
stop you and run you out of the county or bury you one,,, 

the big man wilted at paw words and looking down the barrel of a large
rifle and it pointed right at his big wide ugly face,. The big man 
somehow new pappy was a man of his word, you could tell he took in all 
paw said to him , I will ride out of here sir he said to paw, and I 
want bother neither one of them no more , and to think about it I have 
been mean all my life and my paw I watched beat my mother , and I guess 
I though by him doing that , that I suppose to do the same, and if my 
wife is here listing to me and would want to start out all afresh I 
would be willing to change and be gentle to her and that is a promised 
he said “that is if she is listening from somewhere here, suddenly out 
come the young woman and Walker cowardly following like a scared rabbit 
, she come close to where her husband was standing and said do you 
really mean it what you just said' she asked? Ever word I said I meant, 
he answered quickly, and I am sorry for being a foolish man , you are a 
good woman and there is quiet of difference in our age but I swear I 
will be a different man, from here on out, she looked at walker and 
walker look deeply at her, do you love me walker she asked?do you 
really love me or not... I told walker it was time to be a man and tell 
the woman one way or the other , he looked down at the ground and 
paused a moment and look up and said ‘ no I don't really love you, I 
just felt sorry for you and thought it was love , I am being honest , 
so if you like go with him, she told her, the big man reached out his 
big hand for her and she went to him and grabbed his big hand and he 
helped her on his horse , and the big man looked at my paw who now has 
lowered the rifle. Mr he said thanks for helping me see what kind of 
man that I was. And he reins his horse and rides away, 

walker looked at me and said could you ever forgive me for getting you
involved into my troubles, and lying and nearly getting you killed or 
beat nearly to death? Yes I expect I can Walter but if you ever do the 
likes of that again ‘ we will part friendship for ever , things turned 
out quiet well no blood was shed and walker and I remain friend and 
still fish together in the muddy Fork river, sometimes a man just has 
to let hard feeling go , guess that part of being a man, ...hope you 
enjoyed this yarn 


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