A Respectable Man

After laying out every cent I had to buy that nude painting of Housty, I found out there were a dozen more. Sheesh! Course there were tears when I confronted her, yet somehow she laid the blame on me. We ain’t been together long but I’ve learned pretty fast that when Housty feels wronged, she gets mad and when she reaches for the frying pan, it’s time to apologize. Anyhow, it’s over and done now. She promised there’d be no more paintings.

When I ain’t getting lumped with a frying pan, it’s a wonderful thing to love and be loved, but it irks me some to feel I’m letting Housty down. She practically said so in her justification for those paintings. Well, since I don’t want her singing in saloons no more and I don’t want her getting naked for nobody but me, I went into town this morning. I figured it time I got respectable and found myself a job, and made Housty proud of me. Ain’t like I’ve never worked before, I’ve done plenty of things. Hell, some were even legal. 

Getting a job ain’t easy. The work’s there but the job ain’t, not for a man like me. Though I tried all over town and a little ways beyond, good manners got me nowhere. One man turned his back on me, another spat at my feet. As for the rest, it’s a tiresome thing to hear the excuses of men that can’t look you in the eye. I’d forgotten what a friendly face looked like till I ran into Cordelia on the main street.

‘Know what the problem is?’ she said, when I told her my tale of woe.

‘I ain’t asked the right man yet?’

‘No, you ain’t asked the right woman. If you can keep the drunks out and the hotheads in line, you can start at The Parlor anytime. Ten cents an hour is all it pays but you can work as many hours as you want.’

Having a job feels good. I ain’t told Housty where I’m working yet, but I will soon enough. I’ll just have to pick the right time.