Bring em Down Part 4 by Susie
I Missed You
Ennis continued along the dirt road through Sage, rehearsing his lines over and over again. The man could barely string two words together, and here he was, about to have the longest, hardest conversation of his young life. On his arrival at Lightening Flat almost a month ago, Ma Twist had immediately welcomed him into the fold, treating him like a second son, fussing over him and feeding him up to the point that the buttons were about to pop right off his shirt.
Old Man Twist, on the other hand, never once made eye contact or uttered a word directly to him, speaking only through Jack and referring to him as “That fella”. Twist was grateful for the extra pair of hands on the ranch, finally getting the fences mended and a fresh coat of paint on the rotting window frames, but he was never gonna give Jack or that fella the satisfaction of knowing it.
A pretty young woman with mousy hair and a sweet face was sat up on the porch, humming to herself and sewing a piece of white lace. As she spotted the truck pulling up, a smile spread across her face, lighting up her eyes, “Honey!” she called, quickly hiding the material behind a cushion, bounding down the porch steps and throwing herself into Ennis’s arms. “I missed you so much” she whispered into his neck, blushing, caressing his cheek and kissing him softly on the lips.
Bring em Down Part 5 by Susie
The Truth
“Alma, let’s take a walk, I need to talk to you.” Ennis attempted a weak smile, holding Alma’s hand and leading her away from the house. She chattered on happily about various aspects of the wedding plans; the church, the flowers, the reception and such.
“Alma, listen”, Ennis took a deep breath and launched into his well rehearsed speech, “You’re my sweetheart …. hell you’re the first gal I ever kissed ….” , her face flushed red, “But I cain’t marry you …. I sure am fond of you, but …. well, I love someone else …. I’m real sorry if I’ve hurt you, …. but it wouldn’t be fair on you if I stayed.’
There, he’d said it! Now he had to stand by and watch the sparkle fade from Alma’s eyes, her innocent smile dissolve, leaving a look of confusion and utter despair.
“I don’t understand, you fallen in love with another woman from down there in Signal?”
“No little darlin’ ….”, he mustered up all his courage, “…. another man”.
Alma’s jaw dropped, her mind spinning out of control, she swung her arm round and hit him hard on the face, bloodying his nose. He wiped the blood on his sleeve, suppressing the strong urge to grab her wrist, knowing that he’d probably just torn her whole life apart.
“You tellin’ me some nasty cowboy turned you queer?” she cried, wiping away her tears, anger bubbling up inside.
“Alma, nobody’s turned me into nothin’ I wasn’t already”, his stomach was churning, he never wanted to hurt anyone, least of all this sweet little gal in front of him.
“So tell me the truth, Ennis Del Mar, you queer or not?” her tears were flowing freely once again.
“Yes Alma. If bein’ queer means lovin’ another man then ….”, finally admitting it to
Alma looked towards the porch, her half sewn wedding dress safely hidden behind the cushion. She was from sturdy stock, expected to roll with the punches, but this had just knocked the wind clean out of her; she was numb and had no idea what to do next. She marched on back to the house.
“Here, let me get you one of daddy’s clean shirts”, her voice was calm, belying her inner turmoil. Ennis followed her silently into the house, stripping off his shirt and putting on the fresh one.
“I’m real sorry Alma” and without looking back, he headed towards to the truck, climbed in and took off for Lightening Flat.
Alma watched, helplessly, from her bedroom window, as everything she held dear to her drove off down that dirt track. She picked up the bloodied shirt, the only part of him left behind, placed it on a hanger and hid it at the back of her closet.
Bring em Down Part 6 by Susie
Coming Home
Jack had been stomping round all day like a bear with a sore head, hollering at his momma, picking fights with his daddy, before finally taking refuge in the barn. He knew Ennis had to clear things up with Alma, but what if he took one look at his sweetheart and changed his mind ’bout everything? He lay on his back in the far corner of the barn and fell into a disturbed sleep; Ennis in the arms of a woman, kissing her, touching her, fondling her breasts, all the while laughing at him.
A soft brush against his cheek brought him back round. He opened his eyes to be greeted by Ennis’s loving smile, a rare and beautiful sight. “So when d’ya wanna start on that cabin then bud?” Jack, heart soaring, leapt up, shoving Ennis roughly against the wall, kissing him hard, tearing at his jeans, and falling to his knees.
The barn door swung open suddenly and a voice echoed around them, “Supper’ll be on the table in five minutes boys! Hurry along and warsh up, I got a nice piece a juicy meat specially for you!” and hearing the stifled giggles from the far corner of the barn, Ma Twist smiled and went back to her cooking. Ennis looked down at Jack and ran his fingers softly through his hair. Falling back against the wall and closing his eyes, he groaned, “Took the words right out of my mouth!”