Chapter 4 — FRIENDLY INTERVENTION
"Intervention only works when the people concerned seem to be keen for peace." (Nelson Mandela)
Earlier… Their offer of après-dinner cleanup assistance having been declined, Bill and Opie'd begun the somewhat lengthy process of re-layering themselves like onions. Andy'd started clearing the table when Jonesy'd stopped him.
"See to yer brother. Kim an' me can finish up."
"Sure you don't mind?"
"Some things're more important than dirty dishes."
With a lantern to light the way, Andy and the two elderly cowboys departed.
Jonesy'd fixed plates for the two missing combatants, covering them with pie tins so they wouldn't dry out in the warming oven. While restoring clean dishes to the breakfront cupboard and putting leftovers in the icebox, Kim'd observed the old man trembling with fatigue.
"Go on to bed. I'll wait up and keep the coffee hot for Slim."
"Promised the boy I'd talk to Jess," Jonesy'd grumbled, his voice quavery.
"You're too tired. It'll keep 'til morning."
"I b'lieve you're right. Can't hardly keep my eyes open. It's a bitch gettin' old, son."
"Beats the alternative," Kim'd countered.
Jonesy'd shuffled off to the front bedroom he shared with Andy and closed the door.
Padding back to the stove, Kim poured coffee into two enameled mugs raided the pie safe for a plateful of oatmeal raisin cookies Jonesy'd baked earlier in the day. Arranging a tray, he carried it across the parlor to Jess' lair, not bothering to knock before kneeing open the door. With the door left slightly ajar, enough light spilled into the dark room to guide Kim around to the nightstand separating the twin beds, where he set down the tray and lit a candle.
Why am I doing this? What do I expect to accomplish?
Kim wasn't much in a mood for deep and meaningful exchanges with anyone on this cold night or any other night, and would have preferred to remain entirely uninvolved with this unconventional family's maelstrom of personalities. He suspected that, prior to his arrival, coexistence in this household wasn't any more peaceable when all the family members were hale and hearty. As long as two alpha males shared a roof there would always be conflict of one sort or another.
Life-altering actions taken in the red mist of rage rarely result in a positive outcome. Owning a considerably less explosive personality than either Slim or Jess, Kim seldom allowed anger to override reason. The last time it happened—back home—the result was disastrous... which was what had landed him in this foreign and unforgiving place.
Kim was grateful to Slim for having saved his life, taken him in and provided safe haven. Though perhaps overly rigid in his conformity to the rules of society, Slim was in every respect the sort of steadfast character you'd want to have in your corner when you found yourself in a bind. But proximity to him came with a price: just as any other over-pressurized steam boiler with a faulty safety valve, he occasionally exploded with little or no warning.
Strangely enough, Kim felt a closer affinity to Jess, who'd voiced the most objections to his being brought into the fold and had actually managed to shoot him—not a life-threatening wound by any means, but still... With Jess, what you saw was what you got—happy, sad, sanguine, angry, depressed, content. Unless he was playing poker, there was no second-guessing what kind of mood he might be in at any given moment... it was right there up front like a theatre marquee.
After five weeks of living among them, Kim was somewhat closer to understanding the dynamics of what held these four people together... but not entirely. Harper was the wild card here. Were these battles between him and Sherman an ongoing feature or something more recent... an indication that Jess's status wasn't quite as solid as it seemed? What Kim had read into Jess' parting words was an intent to permanently sever his relationship. The man was free, white and over twenty-one... certainly entitled to make that decision, but at what cost? Kim liked these folks. If there were some small chance that he could help keep this odd little family together through a rough patch, wasn't it worth the effort?
Might as well try to open up a dialogue. What the hell, it can't hurt. What's the worst Jess can do? Shoot me? Again...
"I know you're not asleep."
"Whaddya want?"
"Nothing. Just thought you might like some company."
"Well, I don't. Go away. Leave me alone."
Although Jess had got pretty good at heaving himself out of the chair onto the bed without help, he still had trouble lifting the heavy cast into a comfortable sleeping position. At present he was slumped sideways facing the back of the room, fully dressed, with the casted leg still on the floor.
"Looks like you could use some help," Kim observed.
"I said, beat it."
"Sure is cold in here..."
"Don't need you to nursemaid me."
"I brought coffee... and cookies..."
"Who says I want any?"
Ignoring the petulance, Kim squatted in front of the small potbellied stove in the corner, plugging in a few sticks of kindling and wadded up balls of newspaper. Sensing that mute patience was the better option than rebuttal, he took his time about it. In minutes welcome heat began radiating into the room.
"Coffee...?" That one word conveyed a note of interest.
Scraping and rustling sounds behind Kim's back—Jess skinning down to his longjohns—indicated that his resolve was weakening. Without asking, Kim stood up and came around to help Jess get situated into an upright position with his back pillowed against the headboard. Sitting down on the opposite bed, Kim handed over a mug.
"Thanks," Jess finally forced out.
"You're welcome," Kim said. "Here, have a cookie."
"Quiet out there," Jess noted, making short work of the offering and holding out his hand for another one.
"Jonesy's gone to bed. The old guys went to their wagon. Andy's in the barn, trying to reason with Slim."
"Ain't no reasonin' with ole Hardrock when he gets a burr under his saddleblanket."
"He seems to have a lot on his mind right now."
"Life ain't no bowl a cherries for me, either—in case you ain't noticed."
"I get that you're bored and uncomfortable, but pretty soon you'll have your independence back..."
"You come in here to lecture me?"
Kim shrugged. "No. I thought we might talk, Jess. One friend to another."
"So talk."
"You know, a man with as many frustrations as Slim is prone to flying off the handle every now and then. Maybe you shouldn't take it so personally."
"Feels real personal to me. Whose side you on, anyway?"
"I wasn't aware there was one."
"You seen how he's been lately—gettin' on my back... yellin' 'bout everything. I can't do nothin' right."
"He has been a bit peremptory..."
"If you mean cranky, then just say so, how 'bout it?"
"Cranky, then," Kim amended. "Grouchy. Grumpy."
"You got a explanation for that, college boy?" Jess sneered. "You an' your fancy schoolin'... seems like you know everything else."
He's just baiting you. Let it slide.
"You're mistaking education for knowledge," Kim replied quietly. "Education doesn't make me a smarter or better man than you. And it's no substitution for common sense. If it were I wouldn't be in the fix I'm in now."
"So you can't explain what he's so dadgum mad about?"
"No. I can't. If I knew, I'd tell you. I'm not a mindreader."
"Then why're you buttin' in?"
"Are you really planning to leave?"
"What if I am? That's my business, not yours."
"Sometimes it helps to examine a problem from an outsider's point of view..."
"Whether I wanna hear it or not, huh?"
"No. Not if you don't want to." Kim stood up. "But it might be helpful to assess the problem and find a way to resolve it. I'll leave you to work it out for yourself, then..."
"No... wait... sit." Jess swiped a hand across his jaw. "I guess I need any advice I can get before we end up killin' each other."
Kim sat back down. "Look... I don't presume to know either of you well enough to advise on your personal relationship. What I can share are my observations. I can see Slim's feeling overwhelmed..."
Jess cut in. "Well, he don't need to be takin' it out on me... or Andy or Jonesy."
"No... but it's an unfortunate trait of the human condition that we always hurt the ones closest to us... and are hurt the worst by them as well. A design flaw in the overall scheme of homo sapiens, I'd say."
"Homo what?"
"Mankind. Didn't you regret it the last couple of times you left?"
"How'd you know about that?"
"Jonesy mentioned it. How it affected Andy."
"Had good reasons for leavin' before!"
"Better reasons than being pissed off at your partner?"
"It's more than that. An' I ain't his 'partner'... just the hired help. He can replace me anytime, easy enough."
"I doubt that he wants to..."
"How can you know that?"
"Slim's never going to make a rancher of Andy. He knows it and the boy knows it, too. But he's got the ambition to build a legacy for the next generation..."
"Slim don't have no kids..." Jess interjected.
"Not yet... but some day. Andy, too."
"What's that got to do with me?"
"You're missing the point. A successful ranch depends on sound management, just like any other business. But an owner can't always be around—that's why he needs a reliable foreman he can trust implicitly. Someone who's informed and competent."
Jess snorted. "This spread ain't big enough to need a foreman..."
"But it will be some day," Kim insisted. "Railroad expansion is going to force stagecoach lines out of business eventually. Slim knows it and wants this ranch to be a going concern by then. Can't you see why he's been working so hard to wrap you up in responsibilities? If he didn't feel you were worth it he damned sure wouldn't be entrusting you with the financial aspects. That man's got plans for you."
"Slim tell you that?"
"Didn't have to. I can see it in the way he interacts with you, what he's trying to teach you."
"That include bein' yelled at?"
"No... there's something else going on there," Kim admitted, "I just don't know what it is yet."
"Me, neither."
Further conversation was curtailed by the swoosh of the outside door being opened and the clumping of boots being removed. Kim stood up and stretched before reaching for the tray with the now empty mugs and plate.
"I'll go on, then. It'll all be better in the morning."
Jess watched him go, with all these new considerations tumbling around inside his head. I know I tend to be kinda prickly... it just ain't in my nature to back down. When you back down, you get hurt. An' Lord knows I'm mortal tired a gettin' hurt.
