the fight (standard:drama, 3118 words)
Author: stanley mcqueen kentucky backwoods writer	Added: May 24 2009	Views/Reads: 3134/2041	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
wife beater learn lession

The Fight 

Muddy Fork township is mostly a wide place in the road, not many come
here less they need some seeds or a few supplies , The little backwood 
town has six building all together , a small jail , a boarding house, a 
saloon, some men come here after a days work and drink whiskey and some 
get drunk and have to be put in that little hog pen jail that is the 
last building on the road that leads threw Muddy Fork, 

last Friday night one of my friends rode our mules into town for a few
drinks at the saloon. And that was our first mistake, it just so 
happens that Walker my friend has been seeing another man wife and I 
never knew that , he is my age barely twenty five and not married to 
anyone and him and I had that both in common, 

we had drunk our first cold beer and was fixing to order another when
the biggest man I ever seen around here in town or this saloon stepped 
into the drinking parlor, and the big man has fire in his eyes, 
something about the way his face look got my attention, he carried in 
his right hand what looked to be and ax handle , his face was red and 
his had sort or set sideways on his large beastly looking head, he come 
to the table that Water and I was setting at with our beer, and he 
suddenly hit the table and both our drinks rolled off the table, I come 
to beat the tar out of one of you fellows that is setting at this table 
he roared!! I found out one of you boys has been slipping and seeing my 
wife while I am working at night in the deep mines. 

what are you talking about I said ‘ looking at him as he dangled that
bit hickory ax handle, he took the handle and pushed it against Walter 
nose smashing him nose flat like, Walter trembling and  swore to God 
and high heaven he was not seeing his wife , then the man said : take a 
look at this , and from his pocket he pulled out a Bar low knife that I 
recognized belonging  to Walter, it was sure the ”speckled handled 
knife that I had seen Walter with many a time as we often run together 
around these parts . I made my wife tell me who was the owner of this 
knife, with a little persuasion, she is now carrying a black eyes 
because I smacked it black “the big man snorted!” 

Now Walter is begging the man to put down the ax handle and he is
shaking like a dog pooping a peach seed, ‘ he was not a man that I ever 
seen fight he was just not the brawling kind, he done something that I 
would have never suspected , he hauled off and told the mad man that he 
had leant me the knife and that I was the one that was actually 
slipping around his shack while he work night at the underground coal 
mines works, him and I had been friends for a long time but that ended 
it right then and there , I stand up from the saloon table and made 
fists, and the big angry man said”so it was you that been seeing my 
wife'and it was you that borrowed this here fellows knife and lost it 
while you was seeing my wife, Mr I declare I have never been at you 
shack and this man here at this table is a liar, because he knows your 
going to whop him good and teach him to slip around and see his wife, 
the big angry man then said' there is but one way to settled this two 
sided story , I ,ll just beat the tar out of the both of you and that 
way I am sure to get the right man them' about the time the man said ‘ 
that old coward Walter got up and run like a turkey and escaped out of 
the saloon, and here I stand fixing to get the worse beating or maybe 
even killed because of my best friend telling a ball face lie on me and 
dragging me into such a mess, paw always said' that a good friend a 
real friend with always do the right thing between friendship 
relationships, but here walker show me his true colors and tell a lie 
on me and runs for his life, and to be real honest I cannot say ‘ I 
blame old walker on doing such a bad deed , because this big man look 
so scary and strong if I had been in Walker shoes and this was turn 
around I would probably done the same thing walker done run for my 
life. 

But I was not about to run with ever old drunk in here watching me and
if I did run these old sot drunk would spread it all over Muddy fork 
county I was a coward ,so here I stand ready to be beat to death, he 
comes at me swinging that ax and I got the end of it away from him and 
hit him over the head and knocked him slick out. The bar man told me I 
better run because when that ox gets up he will tear this saloon apart 
and used you for the rod,, and for once in my life I took his 
suggestion, and left the saloon, I jumped astraddle of my old mule , 
and headed for my backwood roosting place , I thought I would lay low 


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