My aunt Maudie went up to Elgin to get on as a nurses aid. Not much work in southern Illinois so once in awhile, she’d head north. She met a guy up there and within 2 weeks got married. She brought him down home to meet gramma and grampa. He was a rough lookin’ red faced guy. Reminded me alot of those men that would come through town workin’ the rides down at the reunion grounds. Gramma and grampa liked him . . . at first. He talked about what a good fine cook gramma was and what a good fine gardner grampa was. He even took to callin’ them “mom” and “dad.” Him and Maudie took over the front bedroom and settled in. One day he had a coughin’ fit . . . spit up blood. Gramma was so worried about him . . . gave him croup tablets and prayed he didn’t have him a cancer. After that he started drinkin’ alot and took to yellin’ at Maudie right in front of us. And once at the dinner table he just pushed his plate back and said right to gramma’s face “I aint eatin’ this damn baloney and beans.” He got up and walked out. After a month he started askin’ gramma for money. The first time, she gave him a 10 dollar bill. The second time, she refused him and mumbled some stuff about her “fixed income” and the taxes on this place. He went out that night with Maudie . . . they got in real late . . . real drunk. He was talkin’ loud and knockin’ Maudie around. Gramma got outta bed and reached for her .38. (She always slept with it under her pillow.) She went in there and stood outside their door. She could hear him hittin’ on Maudie and that made her mad. Gramma banged on the door and yelled, “Let her alone or I’ll cut you in two.” Then she fired a shot into the floorboards. Things quieted down and gramma went back to bed. Early the next morning, she told him he’d wore out his welcome. “Don’t go,” I whispered to Maudie. But she left with him. She came back in a week though with her false teeth in her purse. That no good bum had hit her so hard, he knocked em outta her mouth. They flew across the room, hit the wall and broke in half. “How’re you gonna eat?” I asked her. “Oh . . . I’ll jist get these welded,” she said and she set the busted pieces on the table.