Well, pardon me for not doing a jig. Much as I love my only living kin, getting stuck with her beyond a couple of days and having to live up to her expectations is my idea of purgatory. Hell, I’d get morose just thinking about it, if I wasn’t so smart. Since she ain’t getting any younger and there’s a hard day’s ride between us, I figured I’d better take a trip over the mountains.
‘Levitt! Oh, what a lovely surprise. Oh, am I glad to see you!’ said Aunt Mabel, twixt a whole lot of hugging and fussing.
‘Didn’t think I’d let you trail over the mountains at your age, did you?’
‘Oh Levitt, it’s just like you to be thoughtful. Let me look at you.’
I guess you can’t blame an aunt for wanting to step back and admire her handsome nephew. So I thought, till she squinted up her eyes and asked where my badge was.
‘I was gonna write to you about that,’ I said.
Aunt Mabel didn’t ask too many questions when I explained how I came to be an ex-deputy. She just swallowed her disappointment and smiled, and when I gave her a present of whiskey and tobacco, the hugging started all over again. Hell, she must be the only person in that world that thinks the sun shines out of me.
Between whiskey and cigarettes, Aunt Mabel told me she was making a will. Course I told her she was too young for that kind of talk but she hushed me down. ‘Just being practical,’ she said. ‘I’m eighty four years old and I don’t want anyone quarreling when I’m gone. Remember Tobe and Crusty, who helped out at your trial? They’ve been real good to me these past few years so I’m gonna leave the house, land and livestock to them.’
‘Okay’
‘You’re not upset?’
‘Nope, should I be?’
‘Good, then that’s settled. The money in the bank is yours. Ain’t a lot but I’m sure you can put it to good use.’
After a supper I thanked Aunt Mabel and said I had to be on my way. That sorrowed her some, but she understood when I told her I had to get back to Housty.
‘Whatever calls you boy; it’s time you settled down with a good woman. Maybe you’ll bring her to see me, sometime? Here, you might as well take this,’ she said, as she handed me an old family photograph. ‘Won’t mean anything to anyone when I’m gone, ‘cept you.’
So I gave her a hug and I said goodbye. Then I rode on to Carasco, where the pleasures of a different town were waiting. Had a good time too. Nothing special, just a drink, a fight, and a whore for the night, but a good time all the same.
Oh yeah… the photograph. It’s right here…
That’s me with my Ma and Pa, and Aunt Mabel with her hand on my shoulder. Fine looking bunch, ain’t we?’
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