“WELL, DAMN, BEN! I could have used some warning, you know? I got about the biggest family and the littlest house in the whole town, and you want to move in here? Damn it all to hell, Ben!”
That was the warm greeting I got from Jacob Gill, my oldest friend in the world, my hope for a roof over my head that night.
“Sorry, Jacob,” I said, “but I didn’t know anywhere else to go.”
He looked me over. I looked right back at him. Finally he crossed some line in his mind. He sighed, picked up one of my valises, carried it through the tiny parlor and into the tiny dining room.
“I reckon this is the guest room now,” he said, and finally offered up a half smile. “I’ll get some blankets; we can make a pallet on the floor—unless you want to sleep out in the smokehouse. Got nothing hanging in there, it might be more private for you.”
“This will be fine,” I said.
Jacob’s house was a sad sight on the inside. The few pieces of furniture were battered old castoffs held together with baling wire and odd ends of rope. The cotton batting was coming out of the cushions on the settee. In the kitchen, a baby’s cradle gave off an unpleasant aroma. A skinny cat nosed around the pantry, no doubt hoping to meet a mouse for lunch. Jacob said, “You want a drink?”
“Just some water would be good for me.”
“The pump’s on the back porch,” he said. “I need me a finger or two myself.”
He didn’t bother to pour the whiskey into a glass. He pulled the cork and took a big slug right out of the bottle.
“Well, that’s just fine, ain’t it? Drinking straight from the bottle, and it ain’t even lunchtime yet.”
This observation belonged to Charlotte, Jacob’s wife, who came in from the back porch with an infant in one arm and a pile of laundry in the other.
“Hello, Charlotte. Ben Corbett.”
“Yeah, I know who you are.” Her voice was cool. “I heard you were back in town.”
“Ben’s gonna be staying with us for a few days,” said Jacob. “I told him he could sleep in the dining room.”
“That’s grand,” Charlotte said. “That’s just wonderful. That oughta make us the most popular family in Eudora.”