Story 2: A Little Misunderstanding

Summary: A problem when checking in to their hotel leads to a frank discussion between Brisco and Bowler, with both learning more about the other's perspective.

Philosophy/humor.

This story was written for Black History Month, 2019.

"Room 207, Mr. Merriweather. Top of the stairs, fourth room on the right."

Brisco County, Jr., using his Roscoe Merriweather alias, replied, "Thank you. What about Ernie?"

The desk clerk frowned at Lord Bowler and said, "Mr. Palts can stay in the servants' quarters, out back."

"What?" exclaimed Bowler, as if about to reach across the desk.

Brisco stepped forward, between Bowler and the man on the other side of the counter. "I have this, Ernie." Looking at the clerk, Brisco continued, 'I'm sorry but what was your name?"

The man looked frightened as he practically withered under Bowler's angry glare. "Uh, Paul."

"Well, Uh-Paul, it seems there's a little misunderstanding that needs to be corrected. See, my friend Ernie—Mr. Palts, to you—isn't a servant, but he has servants—or at least an English butler and a gardener who comes in and works a couple of days a week. Mr. Palts, does that qualify the gardener as a servant or would you classify him as an independent contractor? Well, whatever. Anyway, 'being' versus 'having,' mixing them together with all that confusing verb conjugation back in school—you did go to school, right, Uh-Paul?"

The frightened and confused clerk drew his eyes away from Bowler's and looked at Brisco. "Ye-ah."

Brisco smiled. "Well that explains it then! I can sort of see how you might have gotten confused and made that error, but you know what they say about mistakes: don't compound them and make them worse. Just make an apology for your mistake and then be a good fellow and reach right up there get one of those keys to a room next to or right across from 207. That will be a great way of starting to make things right."

"But we don't allow—"

"Yourself to stick your foot any farther down your throat than it already is, right? Very smart, Uh-Paul! Now, that key, please."

The desk clerk reached up and slowly pulled the key to room 209 from its hook. "Ah, sorry, Mr. Palts. Right next to Mr. Merriweather's."

~ABCJ~

Minutes later at the diner after stowing their gear in their rooms, Bowler's scowl finally faded to a grin. "You had him so confused, Brisco, I think he'd have given ya' the crown jewels, if he'd had 'em. Hee hee. But you didn't have to do that. I had it and wouldn't have lost it on him. Not too bad, anyway. This bounty's too important for it."

"I know, Bowler, but it gets really tiresome seeing people like that look down on others just because of they're so tall."

"Tall? Whatcha' talkin' about, Brisco?" Bowler was scowling again. "It's 'cause I'm black."

Brisco nodded. "We both know that, but think about it. Would it make any more sense if people looked down on you because you're tall?"

"No, course not. That's pretty stupid."

"Right, besides the fact that there aren't too many people who would be able to look down on you from that height—"

Bowler cracked a smile.

"—but does it make even a bit more sense for people to look down on black, red, yellow, or tan people, or people of any other color for that matter, just because they're different?"

Bowler was nodding as he laughed. "Hee hee hee. I see what you mean, Brisco. Tall! Hee hee hee."

"Sometimes we have to use a ludicrous example to show others how absurd their preconceived ideas and misconceptions are. If we can do that, then maybe we can help make things different in time."

"You think we'll ever see that time, Brisco?"

"I really don't know for sure, Bowler, but I think it's coming."

"Another one of your comin' things?"

"In a way," said Brisco as his face become serious, "but it's more difficult than something the professor or some other inventor has to sit down and think about and work on for a few hours or a few years. This affects lots of people and it's a big change for some of them. It may take years, decades, or maybe even generations, but we have to make people see it and understand so it keeps getting better with each one that passes. We have to stand up and show that we're all basically the same, that the color of our skin is just like wrapping paper that hides the good stuff inside us all. Over time, we'll all have opportunities to make things better for ourselves and our children. Just look at you; you've made it big."

"We've talked about that, Brisco."

"True, but you were successful before we started working together, too. Young people see that and they look up to you. Well, even if you're sitting down."

"But I'm a single person or part of a partnership if we look at the two of us. Havin' one person be successful doesn't mean everybody will be."

"That's true, too, Bowler, but if you can show the kids a bunch of examples of successful people to show they have a chance—"

Bowler frowned. "Brisco, there can only be so many successful manhunters before it starts bitin' into our profits."

"It's not just bounty hunting, it's in whatever field you can name. Look at Booker Washington. You've heard of him. He's in charge of a college for black people in Alabama, but I've read that he's working to help make black business people successful all across the country. It goes a long way beyond that, too. That college is going to help educate people and they'll take what they learn into their communities, into their families, and before long, there'll be more demand for more black colleges."

"A black college isn't goin' to be like a white college, Brisco."

"Oh, maybe not at first, Bowler, but were you the best bounty hunter you could be when you first started out? No? It takes time for you to learn and do better, and the new colleges will do that, too. But it's not just black colleges, either. Someday, I see colleges as not being black colleges or white colleges, but just, ahem, colleges, having black and white students working and studying together."

"Okay, Brisco, you're joshin' me now, right?"

"Nope, it's already started. I just recently read in the newspaper about a young black fellow at Iowa State University. Name of Carver, I think. He just finished his degree a few weeks ago—first black student to do that there—and it sounds like he's one of those guys that's going to make a difference. He's so good that his professors asked him to stay on and get another degree."

"Hmm. Maybe," agreed Bowler. "Still..."

"Okay, Bowler. You're originally from the Indian Territory. Have you ever heard of a guy by the name of Bass Reeves?"

"Name sounds familiar. Is there a wanted poster out on him?"

Brisco laughed. "Hardly. He's a deputy U.S. marshal out that way. My dad once said he was one of the best."

"So?" Seeing Brisco's look, Bowler added, "You're not going to tell me he's black?"

"You got it. He's the first black marshal in the west."

"Really? A black deputy U.S. marshal. Who'd have thought?"

"That's the key, Bowler. When people look up to them, it's one thing, but when things like Bass Reeves being a marshal or black and white students studying together become so commonplace that we don't question whether they could be real, we'll finally be making progress on people accepting each other without racism or racial prejudice. And that, my friend, will be a good day."

"Yep, a really good day," agreed Bowler as the waitress arrived with their plates.

They ate in silence, but when they were done, Brisco said, "You seemed to be concentrating on something."

"You talked about lookin' up to people who were good examples."

Brisco looked confused. "Yeah, young people do it all the time."

Bowler set his face as if making a decision. "Okay, we got any bounties out toward the Oklahoma and Indian Territories?"

"I don't know of any at the moment, Bowler. Why?"

Leaning back in his chair, Bowler hooked his thumbs in his lapels and said, "Brisco, I'm kinda' like these young kids we're talkin' about. I always looked up to my mama. She's a good woman, helped make me what I am today. She's back that way in the Territories and I haven't seen her in a good while. I'm gonna' stop in to see her sometime soon when we're out that way, and if we get a chance, I think I'd like to meet this Marshal Reeves guy, too."

The End

Author's Note:

Thanks for reading. Your feedback will be greatly appreciated, too.

Ernie Palts was another of Lord Bowler's aliases. His real name was James Lonefeather, but he never willingly went by that.

As noted above, this story was written for Black History Month. The three featured historical figures were chosen because they were known or becoming known around the time of this story both in and beyond the African American community.

Born into slavery, Booker T. Washington became President of Tuskegee Institute in 1881. He was one of the primary leaders of the African American community in the United States from shortly around that time until his death in 1915. He worked to build the black community's economic strength and pride by focusing on self-help through building black-owned businesses and increasing educational opportunities for African Americans. He also privately supported court challenges to segregation and restrictions on voter registration.

George Washington Carver finished his undergraduate thesis and graduated from Iowa State in 1894, but then, at the urging of some of the professors, stayed on for his Master of Science degree. Booker T. Washington invited Carver to head the Agriculture Department at Tuskegee in 1896, and Carver was to spend the rest of his life working at the university and helping improve the lives of African Americans and all people.

Deputy U.S. Marshal Bass Reeves was born into slavery in 1838. After being freed in 1865 with the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, he became the first African American deputy U.S. marshal west of the Mississippi in 1875, and was said to have been responsible for arresting about 3,000 wanted felons during his career. Being on the frontier and frequently being far from help, that was a remarkable record, but it was also a dangerous job. He killed fourteen outlaws defending himself in the line of duty. He retired from the Marshal Service in 1907 at the age of 68 when Oklahoma became a state, but then went to work as a policeman for the Muskogee, Oklahoma Police Department for the two years before having to retire due to illness. He died in 1910 at age 71. Some modern writers have hypothesized that he and his career may have served as the inspiration for the fictional Lone Ranger, but personally, I've long suspected that he may have been the inspiration for Lord Bowler. I later found that the late Julius Carry was knowledgable of Reeves, saying that "Reeves always got his man and would often pull off incredible tricks to bring people in."

On the show, Bowler was half black, half Cherokee, so it makes sense that he'd be from what is now the eastern part of Oklahoma. In the opening credits of the pilot, I believe Julius Carry's name was shown panning over the map in this part of the country, too.