“Thanks, Mary Lee. This is so new and bright, I’ll wear it on Sunday.” He folded the cloth and tied it around his neck.
“I told her you’d give the hair ribbon back,” Eli said.
“I don’t know if I’ll part with it.” Jake grinned at Mary Lee’s red face. “I just might want to wear it around my neck too.”
“Give him your present, Eli,” Mary Lee said. Then to Jake, “He wouldn’t tell me what it was.”
Eli produced a package wrapped in the colorful Sunday funny paper that had been left in one of the cabins and tied with twine.
“That’s a good idea, Eli,” Trudy said. “I’d never have thought to use the funny paper for wrapping.”
Pleased by the praise, Eli watched closely as Jake unwrapped the small copper box he had found on the trash pile behind the washhouse. After pounding out the dents and straightening the lid so that it would close, he had spent a couple of hours polishing it.
“It’s to put your razor in.”
“Or anything of value,” Jake said. “It’s so shiny I could almost use it for a mirror. Thanks, Eli. You put in a lot of work on this.”
“I polished it up with vinegar and soda. One of the few things I learned at the orphans’ home.”
Mary Lee said, “That’s a new one on me. I didn’t know vinegar and soda would shine copper.”
Eli basked in their admiration until Trudy produced the cake knife. “Now it’s time to cut the birthday cake.”
Chapter 11
“TAKE THIS LAST PIECE, JAKE.”
“I’ve had three pieces. Give it to Eli.” Jake sat cross-legged on the floor with his empty plate in his hand.
“How about it, Eli?”
“Well, sure, if nobody else wants it.”
“Just eat it off the plate.” Trudy handed him the cake plate. “I think he’s got hollow legs,” she said in an aside to Jake.
“I didn’t know cake could be so good. Pie is the usual dessert in diners.”
All this was almost more than Jake could take in at one time. He was still in a daze. He had been alone for so long, he hadn’t known another way of life. That Mary Lee had remembered today was his birthday and had gone to such lengths to make it special for him was little less than a miracle.
“It was just plain old everyday cake. I fancied it up with white mountain icing.” Mary Lee went to the door, looked out, and was relieved to see that the cabin Frank Pierce occupied was still dark.
“One thing is sure —I’ll never forget my twenty-sixth birthday.” Jake stood. Trudy took the plate from his hand.
“I hate to break up the party, but I’ve got to be gettin’ home.” Trudy put the plates back in the paper sack. “Jake, how about you and Mary Lee givin’ me a ride home? Mama don’t want me walkin’ by myself after dark.”
“I’ve got to get back to the house,” Mary Lee said quickly.
“How would it look if folks saw me out at night alone with Jake?” Trudy replied. “Tongues would start waggin’ about a romance brewin’.”
“What would be so bad about that?”
“Maybe I’ve got my eye on another fella,” Trudy retorted sassily. “Bein’ with Jake would blow my chances.”
“You never told me.”
“I’m keepin’ it a secret.” With her back to Mary Lee, she winked at Jake.
Trudy was sure that Jake had fallen for Mary Lee. Being careful not to let Trudy catch him, Jake’s eyes had followed her friend since the moment they stepped in the door. She hoped that Mary Lee could see the real Jake behind his jail-bird reputation.
Just before he went out the door, Eli picked up the sack with the soiled dishes and forks. “I’ll keep an eye on things until you get back.”
“Oh, but —”
“We won’t be gone fifteen minutes. Come on, half-pint,” Jake said to Trudy. “Mary Lee’ll be gettin’ antsy.”
“I’m washing the cake plate. It was sticky.” Trudy worked at the small sink, then wiped the plate on one of Jake’s towels. “You’ll have to scald this plate before you use it,” she said to Mary Lee. “Jake’s probably dried his feet on this towel.”
When the three of them got into the truck, Mary Lee was hugging the cake plate to her as if it were a shield. She moved over into the middle of the seat to make room for Trudy. Her arm and shoulder were behind Jake’s; his hip and thigh, warm and hard, against hers. When he reached to shift the gears, his fingers brushed her knees, and she felt the touch to the tips of her toes.
The ride to Trudy’s house was no longer than five minutes. Trudy chattered all the way, seeming to know that she was needed to fill the silence.
“I won’t be over tomorrow, Mary Lee, unless you need me. But I’ll be there the next morning. If I get there at five, it will be soon enough to get breakfast ready by six. Eli said you were going to put up the signs in the morning, Jake. So the price for lodging goes up tomorrow? Mary Lee, are you going to charge two dollars if they eat or not?” Without waiting for an answer, Trudy said, “I would. Don’t give them a choice. Mama says that folks will dilly around if they have to make a choice. She only has four things on the menu at the diner. She said that if she had something fancy like green bean casserole with mushroom topping, most folks would still order steak and potatoes. Maybe they would order the casserole at a place like Daytonas in Santa Fe, but not at Ruby’s Diner in Cross Roads. The only traveling men who come here stop at the motor court. Oh, maybe a few of them go into town to the hotel.” Trudy paused and took a breath, then said, “I’m about to run out of anything to say.”
Both Mary Lee and Jake laughed. “I was wondering when you were going to run down,” Jake said.
“Well, you weren’t helping me none a-tall.”
“I couldn’t have gotten a word in edgeways.”
“I’ve stopped now. What did you want to say?”
“I wanted to say thank you for the party and ask you to tell your mother thanks for the present. I’ll cash in my ticket one night soon.”
“Are you finished at the bridge?” Mary Lee asked.
“I go back tomorrow to get my pay. After I put out your signs, I’ll go out to see Quitman and find out when he wants me to start out there.”
Jake stopped the truck in front of a small house with a long front porch. A dog came out and barked.
“Oh, be quiet, George,” Trudy scolded as she hopped out of the truck. “Thanks, Jake. See you day after tomorrow, Mary Lee.”
Jake waited until Trudy was inside the house before he moved the truck down the street. Still holding the cake plate clutched against her breast, Mary Lee moved over to the far side of the seat. He missed the warmth of her body against his. The smell of her was in his nostrils. He longed to reach out, put his arms around her and draw her back against him.
“Trudy is a chatterbox.” It was the first thing that came to Mary Lee’s mind to say. “Even when we were in school, she always had something to say.”
“And you were the shy one.”
“How did you know?”
“You’re shy sometimes now, and at other times … wow!” He looked at her and grinned.
“Like the night Frank Pierce had his radio on so loud? You should have heard me yelling at Ocie Clawson. I’m sure that Mr. Santez down at the filling station heard me.”
“Ocie Clawson? Was he here?” Jake asked sharply. “Yesterday.”
“Was he wanting you to get rid of me?”
“He mentioned it. Mostly he wanted to know if the baby was Bobby’s.”
“Why the … low-down, dirty polecat!”
“If it was, he wanted to have a hand in raising it.”
Jake was quiet for a minute, then asked, “Are you going to let him?”
Mary Lee’s brows drew together, and she looked at him as if he were crazy for even asking the question.
“I’ll hide away in one of the little mountain villages you told me about before I let him have a hand in raising my child.”
“In his de
fense, I’ll have to say that Ocie didn’t have much of a hand in raising Bobby. It was all his mother’s doing.”
“You said once that you went to school with Bobby.”
“My mother and I lived on the ranch. I rode fence when I wasn’t going to a one-room school. Even then, Mrs. Clawson thought Bobby knew more than the teacher.”
“How old were you then?”
“About Eli’s age, I guess. I was fifteen when my mother died. The only friend I’d had there had been Temple Clawson. He died a few months before my mother. There was nothing for me at the Circle C after that, so I took off.”
“That was ten years ago.”
“Thereabouts. I’ve learned a lot during those ten years.” Mary Lee wanted to keep him talking. “You liked the older Mr. Clawson?”
“Yeah. I did.”
“Bobby didn’t like him. Called him crude and ignorant.”
“Mrs. Clawson didn’t like him, and what Mrs. Clawson didn’t like, Bobby didn’t like.”
A light was on in number one cabin when they reached the motor court. Jake drove past it and parked the truck beside his cabin.
“I hope Frank hasn’t caused any trouble.”
“Things seem quiet. Sit with me a minute. Eli will know that we’re back, and will come for you if you’re needed.” He turned and rested his arm on the back of the seat.
“The people in number five have left already. They didn’t even bother to close the door.”
“They may be back.”
“I don’t think so.”
“One of those, huh?”
“I used to ask Daddy why people rented and didn’t stay the whole night. He never gave me a good answer. Now I know.” Mary Lee was so comfortable with him here in the darkness that she wasn’t the least embarrassed by the topic of their conversation.
There was a long silence while all sorts of wild thoughts floated through her mind. Bobby had been dead only a few months. How could she so completely forget a man she had lived with for more than a year? What was she doing, sitting in the dark with a man she had known only a few weeks, a man who had been in prison, a man who she had thought was a dangerous crook.
She turned her head and saw that he had leaned slightly toward her, his eyes warm on her face. Suddenly his hand was on her arm, moving down to clasp her hand. He lifted it, held the back of it to his mouth and kissed it. The warmth of his mouth caused a lovely feeling to unfold in her midsection. It was strange to her. She tugged on her hand. He held it between both of his.
“Mary Lee …” His voice was a mere whisper. “Don’t be scared. I’m trying to tell you how much this evening has meant to me. I’ve had my first birthday cake, my first birthday present, and all because of you.”
“The … presents were not much.”
“To me they were very special. Do you really want the hair ribbon back?”
“Did you plan to wear it?” she asked, and couldn’t hold back the giggle that bubbled up.
“Now, wouldn’t I be a bird with that ribbon in my hair? I may wear it around my neck under the bandanna.”
Suddenly, and unexpectedly to both of them, the hand on the back of the seat slid down to cup Mary Lee’s nape and pushed lightly. He bent his head; his mouth found hers and moved softly, gently over it as if she were the most precious thing in the world. She was too shocked to move. His lips pressed upon hers again, kissing her tenderly. Her mouth trembled under his. He released the pressure slightly.
“Have I ruined things?” he breathed against her lips.
Mary Lee felt her insides warm with pleasure as she looked into his quiet face and green eyes now anxiously waiting for her answer.
“Isn’t that carrying gratitude a little too far?” she managed to say.
“Gratitude had nothing to do with it. I wanted to kiss you because you’re pretty and sweet and spunky. If another man ever takes advantage of you like I have just done, I’ll beat him to a pulp.”
“You don’t have to worry about that. Men aren’t exactly standing in line to kiss me.” She pulled away from him. “I must go.”
“Have I ruined things between us?”
“There’s nothing between us.”
“No, of course not. I understand.”
“No, you don’t. You think it’s because you’ve been to prison. That’s not it at all. I’ll be having a baby in a few months. No man in his right mind would see me as anything but a pregnant woman waddlin’ around —” Her eyes were bright, and her lips trembled when she spoke.
Jake’s fingers came up to cover her lips. “Then I don’t have my right mind. I see you as soft, pretty and sweet as a woman is meant to be.” His palm slid down to lie gently against the mound of her stomach. “This baby will be so lucky to have you for its mother.” He moved away from her quickly and opened the door. By the time he got around to the other side of the truck, she was out.
“You don’t have to walk with me —”
“I’m going to.” His hand cupped her elbow and pulled her close to his side. “You could stumble in the dark.”
They didn’t talk as they walked behind the cabins to the main house. Mary Lee’s mind was filled with what had happened in the truck and the joy she had felt when he placed his hand on her stomach. It was almost as if he wished that the baby growing inside were his.
She wasn’t aware that a man had come from between the first two cabins and stood waiting for them, until he spoke.
“Well, well, if it ain’t the jailbird and the bitch,” Frank Pierce said loudly.
Mary Lee felt Jake tense. “Don’t pay any attention,” she said quickly. “He’s goading you.”
“Got nothin’ to say, jailbird?”
“I’ll have plenty to say … when the time is right.”
“No guts, huh?”
Mary Lee kept a tight hold on Jake’s arm.
“You’ll find out when yours are strung between here and Sante Fe.”
“Once a jailbird, always a jailbird. It’s what ya’d expect from a breed … Indian or Mex.”
“You’re not half the man Jake is.” Mary Lee’s voice was rising with her temper.
To her astonishment, Frank unbuttoned his pants, pulled out his penis, and in the light from the window, began to urinate against the back of the cabin.
“You … crude son of a bitch!” Jake lunged. Mary Lee managed to get in front of him.
“Don’t, Jake! Please … please …” She put a hand on his chest to hold him. “Can’t you see it’s what he wants?”
As soon as she stopped his forward motion, Mary Lee spun around and, quick as a cat and with all her might, brought the edge of the cake plate down on the exposed part of Frank that was protruding from his britches.
He screamed and fell to his knees.
“You nasty old buzzard, I hope I broke it off!” she yelled.
“Oh, God! Oh, God!” Frank flopped over on the ground, clutching himself and yelling with pain.
“You’re trash! Plain trash. A hog’s got more manners than you’ve got. You thought to get Jake to fight you so you could call the sheriff. I’ll call him. I want him to see you, you slimy toad!”
“You fixed him. He’ll not be able to do anything for a while,” Jake said, a chuckle bubbling up out of his chest. “Serves him right.”
“He did it so you’d hit him.”
Frank lay moaning and crying. “Oh, Jesus —God in heaven — you bitch! You broke it.”
“Call her that again and I’ll stomp you where you lie,” Jake snarled. Then to Mary Lee, “He’s lucky it was you who hit him. I came within a whisker of it. I was mad enough to kill him.” Then with laughter in his voice, “Remind me not to make you mad at me.”
“To do that in front of us was so … nasty!”
“Gosh, Mary Lee, you really whacked him. I was hopin’ I’d get in a lick or two.” Eli moved out of the darkness with a big stick in his hand.
“Too late, Eli,” Jake said. “Unless you want to hit him while he
’s down.”
“I’d rather he was on his feet.”
“What’s the matter with Frank?” Dolly came from the cabin followed by a man in bib overalls. Her voice was slurred, and she reeked of cheap whiskey. She squatted down beside Frank, then looked up at Jake and demanded, “What did ya do to him?”
“He didn’t do anything, Mama. I hit him with this plate. Eli, I think Mr. Santez’s station is still open. Will you go call the sheriff?”
“Ain’t you that jailbird?” the man said to Jake as soon as Eli took off on the run.
“You know who he is,” Mary Lee answered. “You and this no-good, trashy polecat were waiting for him.”
“Ya lettin’ a split-tail do yore talkin’?” the man asked Jake with a sneer.
“The lady is doing a pretty good job of it, and watch your mouth.”
“Or what?”
“Or sometime when you least expect it, you’ll find yourself with a couple broken legs and a mouth without teeth.”
“Help me,” Dolly said to the man with her. “We’ve got to get Frank to a doctor.”
“Leave him right where he is until the sheriff gets here,” Jake said with authority.
Dolly turned on him. “You ain’t tellin’ us what to do. You ain’t nothin’ but a jailbird.”
“He’s more of a something than that trash there on the ground,” Mary Lee said in a brittle tone. “Leave that skunk right where he is.”
“You takin’ up with this jailbird?”
“When did you ever care who I took up with?”
“Sh … it. First you take in that shitty kid, then this cattle thief. I want him arrested.”
“We’ll let the sheriff decide who should be arrested.” “Oh, God. She ruint … me—” Cradling his privates in his bloody hands, Frank curled up in a ball.
Lights from an automobile lit up the area.
“If that’s the sheriff, he was close.”
A car door slammed; then Eli and Sheriff Pleggenkuhle approached the group at the back of the cabin.
“What’s going on here?” The sheriff was a big man with a big voice.
“He was at the station,” Eli said in an aside to Mary Lee.
“They jumped him,” said Dolly.
Song of the Road Page 12
