The inside of the saloon was dark, and Curtis had to blink his eyes several times before they adjusted. Once they did, he saw there were only a few patrons inside. The floors were dirty, and some of the tables had mugs on them that looked like they had been there all night.
The barman, who was wiping the counter with a filthy rag, looked up at Curtis under a pair of dark and bushy brows. He studied him for a few moments before going back to his work without a word.
Curtis scanned the room. Two men he didn’t recognize were sitting at a table by the window. To his right sat three men at a table dressed in sharp-looking suits and laughing uproariously.
One of the men tilted his head back for a drink. As he did so, he turned his head slightly and caught Curtis’s eye. He put down the drink, and a slow and wicked smile crept over his face.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Curtis Hart come to pay his brother’s debts.”
Curtis’s insides turned hot. How dare Jessie Lowry shout out his family business in such a public place. He clenched his fist inside his coat, then slowly released it. He had to remain calm.
Jessie stood up from the table, wiping his mouth with the back of his shirt. The boy never did have any manners, thought Curtis. He’d always disliked him in school. Even then he’d been sour and mean. He was always picking on smaller boys and making all the girls at school uncomfortable with crude comments.
Curtis stood and watched as Jessie strutted over to him until they were almost nose to nose.
“I didn’t expect Ralph Hart to let his little brother do his dirty work for him.”
Curtis could smell the alcohol on his breath.
“I’m here to clear his debt and be done with it, Mr. Lowry. I come from an honorable family, meaning we pay what is owed … no matter how nefarious the lending was.”
“Nefarious?” Jessie looked like he was going to spit on him. “My family and I run a legitimate business! I helped your brother when he was desperate! I gave him money to feed his children! And finally, after years of my generosity, I tell him enough is enough. I’m simply collecting what is mine.”
Curtis leveled his eyes on Jessie. “You take advantage of people, and you know it. You’re not helping anyone.”
Jessie’s mouth twisted up in a sickening smile. “No one else was helping him, though, were they? Where were you, Mr. Hart? Where were you when your brother was falling deeper and deeper into the hole? I honestly don’t recall ever seeing you around.”
Curtis’s eyes began to blur. He felt like he was about to pass out; he was so angry. His breath began to quicken, and he imagined what it would feel like to strike Jessie.
He blinked his eyes, and Jessie’s leering face appeared in front of him. Curtis thought about Melinda and Darla back home, excitedly preparing for Christmas. He thought of Jacob anxiously awaiting his return back at the mercantile.
He thought of Mr. Winter and the anxious animals in their barns. He thought of his brother, the reason he was here in the first place. He had to remain focused.
“I’ve come to pay what is owed, and then we need not have any further interaction. I have the money right here.” Curtis held up the leather bag. “Would you like to collect it out here, or is there somewhere more private you would like to go?”
Jessie looked at him and shook his head with a laugh that made Curtis’s blood boil.
“There’s a game room in the back.”
Curtis followed Jessie behind the bar and through another set of doors that led into a cramped room with no windows and peeling wallpaper with tobacco stains. Inside were just two small tables and a box of cards and chips. So, this was where the gambling happened.
Curtis placed the bag on one of the tables and looked around. He couldn’t imagine his brother here. Sitting in this tiny room for nights on end, hoping that tonight would be the night all his problems would disappear. Curtis had never been in a room that felt so hopeless.
“Here you are,” said Curtis, gesturing to the bag.
Jessie cleared his throat and tilted his head to one of the chairs at the other table, indicating that Curtis should sit down. “I’ll need to count it, of course.”
“Of course,” said Curtis, with a plastered-on smile. He sat down and assumed a stony expression.
Jessie counted at an agonizingly slow pace. He rubbed each bill between his fingers as though testing its authenticity, which Curtis found ridiculously insulting. Jessie would look at Curtis every now and then and flash him a smug smile. Curtis hated looking at him, but he forced himself to remain calm and neutral. He couldn’t afford to lose his temper again.
After what felt like an eternity, Jessie reached the last bill. He looked up at Curtis and gave a small smirk. Then, he quietly retied each stack of bills and laid them neatly side by side in the bag.
“Now you’ve seen for yourself it’s all there. Four thousand dollars. My brother’s debt is paid.” Curtis stood up. He was ready to leave and never come back.
Jessie held up his hand. The same sick smirk on his face.
“There is four thousand dollars here, yes.”
Curtis furrowed his brow. Why did he say that so strangely?
“You’ve counted it. We’re all settled here. Now you can leave my family alone. Ralph will never be coming here again.”
“Ah!” Jessie brought his hand to his chest, almost as though he felt bad about something. Curtis felt certain he had never felt bad about anything in his entire life. “But where’s the rest?”
Curtis felt his stomach tighten. “Where’s the rest of what?”
Jessie blinked his eyes innocently. “Where’s the rest of my money?”
There was a long pause. Curtis had heard the words come from Jessie’s mouth, but he was trying to figure out how he could possibly respond. He had brought the correct sum of money. He had just watched Jessie count it.
“All your money is there,” said Curtis finally. “All four thousand dollars. I just watched you count it. Remember? It just happened.”
Jessie laughed. “That’s a very funny jest, Mr. Hart. Of course, you’re correct; there are four thousand dollars here, as I’ve just confirmed. I’m talking about the interest I’m owed. Where is that?”
Curtis blinked. This couldn’t be happening.
“I’ve brought you everything you were owed. Interest included.”
Jessie shook his head. Curtis was convinced the smirk was permanently glued to Jessie’s face.
“I’m afraid you’re mistaken, Mr. Hart. You see, we charge interest on a scale. My family is very fair. We only want to help people. We are happy to offer small loans at little or no interest if they pay us back quickly enough. Most clients don’t seem to have a problem paying on time.”
Jessie moved closer to Curtis and stared down at him. His eyes looked bloodshot and almost yellow.
“Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case with your brother. He just could never seem to pay on time … so his interest kept on getting higher.”
Curtis clenched his jaw. He knew Jessie was baiting him, and he could not react.
“Of course, every now and then, he would make a payment, but it was never enough … before long, he’d always end up worse off than where he’d started.”
Jessie did a little twirl that ended with him sitting on the table across from Curtis. He assumed a sympathetic-looking expression.
“I felt bad for him; I really did. He had so many responsibilities to attend to. So many young children. And he was all alone. Why? Because you weren’t there, Curtis. And neither were your parents. They took off and abandoned you both after your sister died.”
Curtis slammed his hand down on the table. “That’s not true!”
Jessie put his hands up in defence. “I’m sorry! They didn’t abandon you. I guess your brother just … felt abandoned. At least that’s what he told me.”
“He didn’t.” Curtis spoke the words so low they were barely audible.
“He did. Of course, he was a few mugs deep by that point, but he told me he felt abandoned by you and your parents after your sister died. I felt so bad for the fellow I think I loaned him the largest sum of the lot that night.”
Curtis felt a familiar sting in his eyes and a burning in his cheeks. He wanted to run out of this room and never return, but he had to see this through.
“Enough. You can taunt me all you want, but I’m not going to fight you. I’m not going to give you the satisfaction. We’re done here.”
Curtis got up and strode over to the door.
As he was leaving, Jessie called out, “He owes eight hundred more in interest. The same deadline still applies.”
Curtis turned around his mouth agape. “Eight hundred? That’s absurd. You’ve got your money. Now don’t come near me or my family again.”
Curtis put his hand on the door.
“The same deadline applies, Mr. Hart.”
Curtis looked back. Jessie sat upon the table, the smug smirk still on his face. But this time, there was no hint of humor in his eyes. They looked cold and calculated. He had the look of a man with no conscience. A man who had something to prove.
Curtis studied Jessie’s face for a moment before he pushed his way out of the small, suffocating room. He shoved past the barman, who looked like he was still wiping the counter with the same dirty rag. He ignored the looks of the handful of customers and kept on walking until he had thrust himself through the front door and back out onto the street.
Outside, Curtis took a gulp of fresh air. The cold hurt his lungs, and he soon doubled over coughing. When he straightened, he saw Peppermint staring at him, his big brown eyes concerned.
He placed his hand on his nose and felt his heart rate slow when he made contact with the kind, gentle animal.
He leaned his head in until their foreheads were touching. They breathed together for a few minutes. Finally, Curtis untied the reins. He flipped them back over Peppermint’s head and hooked his foot onto one of the stirrups, which helped lift him back onto Peppermint’s back.
He stroked his mane and took a long hard look back at the saloon’s foggy window.
“Let’s go, boy,” he whispered and flicked the reins.