Everything suddenly became clearer. Why he’d hated his own father all those years. Why his mother and his father had never gotten along.
“And in the end, you killed her,” Wesley said, wishing he could get off his horse and show the man what he really thought of him. But the bull was making odd noises, showing his displeasure.
“She was cheating on me again,” he said. “I put an end to that and her.”
“And got away with murder. She was not cheating on you. We were all at home, we would have known. You just wanted to get rid of her. You had hated her for years.”
The man grinned an evil smile. “Now the ladies in the saloon take care of me. Now I get all the pussy I want and without the hassle of listening to a woman tell me how I’m not living my life correctly.”
Wesley had heard all he wanted to from the old man. Now he understood and wanted nothing more to do with this man he’d thought was his father.
“In fact, here comes the pussy parade right now,” he said, laughing. “I’m going to choose which one I want for tonight. Maybe you should decide which one you want as well.”
“Like hell,” he said. “I’m a happily married man.”
The man grinned at him. “Of course, you are. You’re going to be one of those men who does it all by the book. You were never one to take a chance, especially when it came to protecting your sister. I told her not to go in the saloon, but you went with her.”
“Beth earned money to help feed us, which was more than you did.”
He laughed. “Your mother harped and harped on me about making enough money to feed you little beggars. All of you grew up just fine without me helping you.”
How many times had Wesley gone to bed at night hungry? How many times had he worn clothes with holes in them? All while, this man stole money from the county.
“Here come the girls. Don’t you wish you had the balls to sleep with a whore, but then your pretty wife would not appreciate that.”
The bull started to paw at the ground and its head was lowered. Wesley knew he had to get it out of here or risk it getting loose and doing damage.
Just then, the whores began to parade down the street with a man playing guitar.
“There is Gladys Champe with her whores just arrived from Charleston, South Carolina. Every one of them a beauty,” he said as the women pranced down the street with umbrellas, their dresses clinging to their curves and their bosoms spilling over the top.
No, Wesley wasn’t interested in whores, he had a wife that he adored.
“Anthony, please let’s go,” he heard Pearl say. “I don’t want to see these women.”
Just then the guitar player strummed his instrument and the bull had enough. It yanked on the line, its bellow loud as it charged. The rope snapped and the women screamed.
His father’s eyes grew wide and dove out of the way of the bull just before he would have been gored.
Wesley grabbed his lariat and spurred his horse after the bull as it ran through the streets of Helena. People dashed into stores to escape the wild animal. Finally, he caught up with it and lassoed the creature. Instead of returning, he just led him out of town.
The animal seemed to realize he could not go anywhere else, so he snorted and then fell in line with Wesley’s horse.
It seemed like whenever he visited Helena, he always seemed to make a big exit. At least this time, he wasn’t leaving bruised and bloodied. Instead he was leaving with a new clarity. The man he hated, the man who had raised him, was not his father and he couldn’t be happier.
The old man could drink himself to death for all he cared. He was done with him. Yes, he wanted to stay in touch with his sister and even his brothers, but he cared nothing about seeing that tottering old fool again.
Soon he heard the wagon behind as they headed toward home.
CHAPTER15
It was late when they got home and they all crawled into bed and collapsed.
The next morning as Pearl was fixing breakfast, Anthony noticed she was not her normal chipper self.
“What’s bothering you?” he asked.
“Nothing, why?” she asked.