75

…sex is something you can’t put back where you got it…

Monroe D. Underwood

Betsy came in shortly after four.

I felt her get into bed.

We didn’t touch each other.

After daylight I heard the phone ring a couple of times.

At ten o’clock Betsy shook me awake.

Very gently.

I said what’s up?

Betsy said Old Dad Underwood was tending bar at Wallace’s last night.

I said Betsy did you wake me up to tell me that?

Betsy said he was raped by Myrtle Culpepper.

She said Myrtle Culpepper left him five hundred dollars.

I said well what’s he bitching about?

I said he had a lot better night than I did.

I said is he all right?

Betsy said oh sure.

She said he has fallen head-over-heels in love with Myrtle Culpepper.

She said he is writing a song about her.

She said he says it will be better than “When the Golden Beer is Foaming in Wyoming.”

I said that’s great.

I said they were made for each other.

I went back to sleep.