Honkytonk Man Page #6

I'd be much obliged to you, Red,

if I could have some of the money back...

seeing that we've come only

about halfway.

Look here, boy.

I don't see any sense in me

hanging around this town for two days.

I could get on that bus,

and I could head right on to Memphis.

I'd leave you money, of course,

so when this car is fixed...

you could meet me there.

How's that sound to you?

- I guess...

- I thought you'd be a sport about it.

But where'll I stay?

Is there a hotel in this town?

Hotel burned down four or five years ago.

You got a room for my nephew here?

Might be.

- Well, where?

- Right here.

One room upstairs.

Old woman will put some sheets

on the bed, if you want it.

$1 a day.

You see, boy? You're all set up.

What's the time that bus leaves?

Two a day. 6:
00 p. m., 8:00 a. m.

More than two hours in this town.

Any place a man can get a drink

around here?

Roadhouse back up the road,

about half a mile.

What do you say, Mr. Wagoner?

Maybe you and I hike up

to that roadhouse and get a drink?

I can give you that money I owe you.

Don't care if I do.

Stretch my legs a little.

What do you want me to do with her?

I don't give a damn.

Just don't have her with you

when you get to Memphis.

I'll give you plenty of money

so you can get her a ticket back to Tulsa.

- Where's Uncle Red?

- He met a waitress.

Said he'd be back here in time

to catch the bus.

He'd better hurry if he is.

Well, Whit...

you be a good boy now, you hear?

And you come see me in Cainsville.

Ask anybody about the Wagoner place.

I will, Grandpa. I'll come and see you.

Goodbye, my dear.

And, Whit...

stay with him.

Take care of him...

as best you can.

Let's go!

Bye, Grandpa.

See you in Tennessee!

Hold that bus!

Sh*t fire and save the matches.

Stuck in Noxpater, Arkansas.

When's the next bus out of here?

8:
00 a. m. Tomorrow. Sharp.

Is that yahoo up there?

That bus leaves in five minutes.

Okay, I'll tell him.

Uncle Red, wake up.

Uncle Red, you're gonna

miss the bus. Wake up.

I have conceived.

What's that?

I have conceived.

What're you talking about?

I am in the family way.

Guess what, Red?

Now I know how our destinies

were meant to be intertwined.

It's this.

I'm gonna bear your child.

I have conceived. I know I have, I

can tell. Isn't it wonderful, Red?

You're gonna be a father.

Hold that bus!

But, Red...

you're not going now, are you?

After what you said last night?

What'd I say? No, forget about it.

Hoss, go down there and hold that bus.

Red, ain't you heard anything I said?

I've heard enough.

You're crazy, you know that?

You are really crazy.

Here's enough money to get the car fixed

and get you on to Memphis.

I'll be at a place called the Top Hat Club

off Beale Street. You can find it.

But what about her?

- Her? I don't care.

- We're leaving.

All right, just a second.

Here's some money. Get her a bus ticket,

anyplace, anywhere.

Just don't have her with you

when you get to Memphis, you hear?

Did you hear anything last night?

I mean, did she and I do anything?

Okay, I'll see you in Memphis, Hoss.

Alone, you hear?

What's a white kid like you

doing way down here on Beale Street?

That's my Uncle Red.

It is? I'll tell you what.

Grab a chair right over here.

That way, in case the police come...

you can say you're our delivery boy.

Damn, Red Stovall,

when're you gonna get out in the sun...

and get some color in your face?

Well, I could rub shoe polish on me

like I did down in Baton Rouge.

Hell, honey, no Klan gonna be bothering

you down here on Beale Street.

You can just forget about

the shoe polish act this time.

I'll just rub up against you and

some of yours will rub off on me.

Honey, I'll rub it up against you,

but it sure won't rub off!

Now who in the world does

this little peckerwood belong to?

This is my nephew, Whit.

This is Flossie King,

the one I was telling you about.

I love you.

Red, who's been giving this boy dope?

- Here.

- Poor baby.

You just sit there

'cause I've got another act to do.

Ain't she great?

Best damn blues singer around.

Speaking of songbirds,

what'd you do with our singer?

I left her at the bus

station, like you said.

Where was she heading?

She mentioned something

about Nashville.

If she tries to make trouble for me, Hoss,

you'll have to be my witness.

Trouble? How could

she make trouble for you?

You heard all that talk

about being in the family way.

She setting me up for a paternity suit.

You think she'd do something like that?

Don't you think you have a problem

with your drinking?

Only when I can't get it.

I mean, don't you think you might need

some help with your drinking?

No, I do quite well all by myself.

- Aren't there doctors...

- Look, Hoss...

if you wanna be my sidekick

and chauffeur, that's fine.

But if I want a nursemaid

and a wife to b*tch at me...

I'll go out and get myself one. Understand?

Was there ever anyone

that you wanted to marry?

Marry?

Yeah, I guess there was, a few years back.

Who was she?

A girl I knew out in California.

Mary Simms was her name.

Why didn't you? Marry her, I mean.

She was married already.

A farmer married her

when she was 14 years old.

She had two kids.

Wasn't much to look at, really.

Just a raw-boned Okie girl.

But she was a fine, decent,

and faithful woman.

At least until I met her.

What happened?

She ran off with me.

I told her I loved her just to get to her.

I knew it was a lie.

I thought she figured it was a lie, too.

But she took me serious.

She told me she loved me, too.

And she meant it.

We bummed around the country...

broke most of the time.

We even worked

the fruit harvest for awhile.

Lived in some...

flophouses and migrant labor shacks.

It was all right.

It was more than all right.

I was happier than I think I've ever been

before in my life.

Before or since.

What happened?

I got tired of it, I guess.

I started wondering what I was doing

with this raw-boned Okie girl...

thinking about all the women

that were hanging around the bars...

that I worked in.

I told her I felt we'd made a mistake.

I told her to get her own place.

I gave her all my money...

so she could get one.

She threw the money in my face.

She said that she didn't want

any part of me or my money.

She took off

and went back to her husband.

And you? What'd you do?

I got drunk and started

feeling sorry for myself as usual.

I got to thinking

what a no-good bastard I was...

and what a decent girl Mary was.

I got to thinking

maybe I loved her all along.

Maybe I loved her all this time

and just never realized it until...

I'd lost her.

You didn't try to find her?

I heard she was pregnant

before she left me.

I went on down to Brawley

where she was from and tried to see her.

But before I could see her,

I ran into her husband and his brother.

They beat me up pretty bad

in the parking lot.

Her husband said

Mary didn't want to see me no more.

If I ever tried to see her again...

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