Born With a Rusty Spoon: Episode 61
..."Bee, I just killed a bastard for beating my sister." He took a deep breath and continued in the same mirthless tone. "I told him over and over not to hurt her anymore and he just wouldn't listen..,
Artist Bertie Stroup Marah continues her astonishing autobiography.
Mama dealt with awful situations fearlessly. When she was tending bar at the D-Bar-J, one of the regular customers, a young man named Tom Brooks, emotionless and automated-like, walked in with blood on his hands and clothes.
"Hello, Bee," he said in a flat voice. "Gimme a double shot of the usual."
Mama poured a double shot of Jack Daniels and placed it in front of him. She sensed the worst.
"How ya doin' today, Tom?" she asked casually as she wiped the bar with a cloth.
Tom threw back his head and downed the drink in one swallow and motioned for another. "Bee, I just killed a bastard for beating my sister." He took a deep breath and continued in the same mirthless tone. "I told him over and over not to hurt her anymore and he just wouldn't listen. You know, she wasn't even married to him, she just let him live there." He shook his head from side to side. "I don't know why she put up with him for so long except she was just scared."
His elbows rested on the bar as he laced his fingers together. "Well," he lifted one eyebrow, "she won't have to be scared anymore." He swirled the amber liquid in his glass. "He was still beatin' her when I walked in. So I just killed him." He looked directly at Mama with dull blue eyes. "Do you think I did the right thing?"
"I don't know, Tom." Mama sighed. "We do what we have to do sometimes." She picked up his glass. "Why don't you go back there and wash that blood off and I'll pour you another drink."
He nodded agreement, turned, and walked to the men's room. While he was gone Mama called Burt Chase, the City Marshall. "If you're lookin' for Tom Brooks, he's here at the bar. I don't think he's armed."
When I asked her later how she could stay so calm, she shrugged and said, "I didn't beat his sister, he had no bone to pick with me."
**
To buy a copy of Bertie's wonderful book please visit
http://www.amazon.com/Born-Rusty-Spoon-Artists-Memoir/dp/1935514660/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1282226141&sr=1-1-fkmr0
To see some of her pictures click on
http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=en&q=bertie+stroup+marah+pictures&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=5vpkTNykBtKR4gbsgJmWCg&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQsAQwAA
