Chapter 6 "Brotherly Love"
Adam woke several hours later to a dark and empty room. Unsure of where he was, he sat up, rubbed
sticky eyes and tried to collect his thoughts.
He hauled himself up groggily and fumbled his way to the lamp on the
dresser. He lit it carefully and let
its flame brighten the room.
He scratched his head, where could his brothers be? He poured some water in to
the basin and splashed his face in the hopes that it would take some of the
grime off. He examined his face in the
mirror as he dried his face off. Boy
Adam, he thought, you like hell. His
face was still filthy from the dirt that that had managed to embed itself
deeply into the crevices of his face. Several days worth of facial hair growth
added to his unkempt appearance. His
hair was disheveled from the combined effects of wearing his hat, sleeping and
lack of grooming. And he felt like hell too; his body ached from the cold he
had contracted, and his nose was so clogged up he couldn't breath.
He sighed dejectedly; he hated being sick, and he hated looking like this. It
was not often that he let himself go, but the last few days had been very
trying. He would rather go on a six week cattle drive then to ever have to experience
this type of debacle again. He took his hat from its resting place on the
bedpost and decided it was time to take a nice hot bath to wash the away the
days on the trail. After that he would be off to find his brothers and a hot
meal.
When he reached the hotel lobby, he headed for the reception desk. The clerk
saw him immediately and noticeably cringed at the sight of the filthy patron.
It was not good for business to let such men of poor breeding into the hotel,
even if they could pay.
Adam approached the desk, "Can you tell me where the bath house is?"
The clerk shook his head in disappointment. "Yes, I can, sir, but I'm
afraid it's closed for the night."
Adam raised his eyebrows in surprise, "It's closed? Why?"
"Well, sir, most customers don't get baths this late in
the evening. If you had been down here an hour earlier, we could have
accommodated you, but seeing as it's such a late hour, I am afraid we
can't."
Adam sighed.
Reluctantly giving up on the idea of being clean for the night, he left
the hotel and headed for the saloon where he knew his brothers would be.
He pushed the swinging doors open to reveal a bustling saloon, filled with drunken men as they spent the money they had earned during the week. Adam was aware of an uncomfortable scrutiny from many of the customers, it made him feel like an unwashed Injun at a society ball. He spotted his two brothers at the bar and made his way through the throngs of people.
He clamped a hand on each brothers' shoulder. "Well, if it isn't my two
brothers..." he said with a smile.
Joe and Hoss turned to him taken by surprise. "Uh, hi,
Adam..." Hoss said nervously. He appraised
his brother's condition and came to a quick conclusion—he looked awful. Adam was as dirty as he had ever seen him;
his eyes were blood-shot, most likely from the cold that had been plaguing him
of late.
Joe smiled slapped Adam on the back. He was in particularly high spirits at the
moment, "Hey, Adam, join us for a beer.
You look like you could use it!"
Adam nodded, but before he could answer, he was racked by
another sneezing fit. Once over, he shook his head and attempted to regain his
composure. "Yeah, I think I could definitely use one..."
"Hey, now that's the spirit!" Joe grinned as he gave Adam another pat on the back, "Comin'
right up brother!" He turned to the bar
and waved at the man behind bar-top, "Hey bartender! Another beer for my
brother here!"
The bartender, complied, giving the two clean-shaven men a
skeptical look as he served the grubby cowboy. He held his hand out and waited
to be paid for the beer. Joe reached
into his pocket and flipped him a coin.
Adam took a long sip of the beer, relishing the taste of the
cool liquid as it raced smoothly down his throat and coated his stomach with
its bubbling foam. After taking the drink, Adam remembered his second objective
of the evening—food. He hadn't had a
thing to eat except a meager portion of beef jerky earlier that morning. He
took another long sip before he stuck out his hand and addressed his brothers. "How about some money so I can get some
food, huh?"
"Don't look at me!" He pointed to his left, "Joe's got
the money, Adam."
Adam turned to Joe and waited impatiently while he began to search
his pockets. Not finding what he wanted
in his pants pockets he felt the pockets of his shirt. He started to look alarmed as he completed
each probe and came up empty handed each time.
Adam's eyes narrowed, "What's the matter, Joe? Don't
tell me you can't find it. I'm not in the mood for a joke right now..."
"Umm, Hoss, didn't I give you the money?" He asked
hopefully.
Hoss shook his head, a scowl on his face, "No, you never gave me no money. You've been paying for everything, 'member?"
Joe swallowed nervously and gave his brother a sheepish
look. "I...I can't find the money, Adam..."
Adam's eyes became dark with fury. His voice was quiet and
cold as he spoke, "What, do you mean when you say you can't find
the money?"
Joe shrugged and throwing caution to the wind he stood up
straight and faced his brother. "I mean I can't find it. I had some and
now it's gone."
Adam took in a deep breath and tried to calm the anger
that began to build within, but the effort was a failure. With one quick move Adam closed his fists
around Joe's shirt collars and lifted until his brother's toes barely touched the floor. "You," he said in a low and deadly
tone; "of all the irresponsible, foolish, selfish things you
have done...this tops them all! Do you realize that was the last of our
money? Do you realize we now have no way to get word to Pa that we need help?"
Joe began to worry as the seriousness of the situation began
to sink in. "Well...I...I'm sorry, Adam, I didn't think..."
Adam's face had changed from its normal healthy tone to a
deep red. He had had enough! For two weeks he had been arguing with his
brother, keeping his temper under control—except for one small incident… He had
just spent the most miserable week in recent memory in the rain, cold,
and on the slowest, most worthless animals he had ever set eyes on. He didn't
feel good, he didn't look good, and he was tired, in short, he was thoroughly
unhappy.
Joe had briefly contemplated an attempt to calm his brother
but with one look at his face he realized it was pointless, Adam was beyond
being calmed. Suddenly Adam loosened his grip on Joe's shirt, and let his arm's
fall to the side. Joe felt safe for a moment; maybe Adam had calmed down and
could see it was not all his fault.
Adam rolled his head back, closed his eyes in frustration,
and took a deep breath. Joe began to relax; it looked like his brother was
going to get his temper under control. Joe turned around to take another drink;
after that little fiasco he needed it. Just as the mug reached his lips, he was
suddenly jerked away from the bar by a strong hand gripping his shoulder.
Before he had time to react, he saw a fist head straight for his face. It connected with intensity and made him see stars as he fell back against the bar. Stunned for a moment, he shook his head in the hopes that he might be able to see straight. When his vision cleared he saw Adam start to walk away, obviously pleased with himself. Joe was furious; he pushed himself away from the bar and launched himself at Adam's retreating form.
Taken by surprise, Adam was driven forward and sprawled
across a table with Joe's weight on his back.
The saloon patrons sprang up and pushed back forming a circle around the
brawl. Adam rolled up and spun
around. His upper lip curled in a snarl
of rage. He easily side-stepped Joe's
renewed charge and drove his fist into his brother's belly as he ran by. Hoss slammed a massive fist down on the bar. He figured Joe had it coming when Adam hit
him. And Joe was entitled to get his
own back, but this fight was getting out of hand. He'd had enough of his two siblings' squabbles. It had to stop now! He stormed toward his brothers.
Anger had driven out all sense. Adam and Joe were trading savage punches with equal
intensity. Joe's inebriation and a
longer reach gave Adam an advantage.
Hoss stepped between them. He
pushed strongly against both heaving chests, and his brothers reeled back.
"All right! That's enough you two!" he said
forcefully.
Joe and Adam caught their breaths. Joe swiped some blood
seeping from the corner of his. This
fight was not finished, he thought angrily.
"Stay out of this, Hoss! This is between me and
Adam!"
Adam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, Hoss, for once little
brother is right; this is between me and him! So stay out of it!"
At the mention of "little brother" Joe once again
saw red. He charged Adam, slamming him into the bar. The wind knocked the air
out of Adam as he connected with the bar's wooden surface and almost lost his
ability to remain upright.
Hoss grabbed Joe by the back of his shirt, "Come on,
Joe, that's enough!"
Joe would have none of it.
He maneuvered his way out of Hoss's grip. "I said stay out of it,
HOSS!" Swinging wildly he struck Hoss in the chin, making him lose his
temper. Adam, by now had regained his breath and was ready to continue the
fight. In an instant, he was close enough to Joe to get a punch in. Joe,
however, saw it coming and ducked. Adam's fist collided solidly with Hoss's
face.
Hoss lost his delicate hold on his own temper. "ALL RIGHT! You two want to fight, then
we're going to fight."
Adam was the first to receive Hoss's powerful
right-cross. It sent him sprawling on
the saloon floor. Joe took the initiative and struck Hoss first. With as much force as he could muster he
slammed his fist into Hoss's face. Hoss
returned the punch and sent Joe over the only standing table in the saloon.
The fighting had quickly escalated as the three brothers
fought each other viciously. Some fifteen minutes later, when they had almost
beat each other to exhaustion; they were stopped by the sound of a gunshot.
Standing in the saloon doorway, was the town's sheriff. The look on the Sheriff's face was one of
disbelief. Never before had he seen a
saloon so ravaged by three men. He shook his head as he entered the saloon and
hauled one of the brawlers to his feet. "All right. Fights over. You three are
coming with me."
Adam shook his arm out of the Sheriff's hand. He was
completely exhausted; he couldn't remember the last time he had been involved
in such an intense fight. Slowly and painfully Joe, Hoss, and Adam followed the
Sheriff to the town's jail.