The bubbly blonde girl began to lengthen and grow into an attractive young woman as puberty approached. Rufus noticed this with some trepidation, for he knew she'd draw all sorts of men like moths to a flame. He wondered how many asskickings he'd half to administer before she got grown..
"Aw, Vera-Ellen, sweetie, you gonna haveta watch that temper o' yours," Eve admonished the girl gently. She'd gotten into trouble once again at school and been sent home.
"I know. I'm sorry, Mama," she said, contrite for the moment.
"C'mon Stinkpot," said RJ heading outside. "You can help me pick some strawberries for Ma. Maybe get on her good side," he chuckled.
"Aw, Vera-Ellen, sweetie, you gonna haveta watch that temper o' yours," Eve admonished the girl gently. She'd gotten into trouble once again at school and been sent home.
"I know. I'm sorry, Mama," she said, contrite for the moment.
"C'mon Stinkpot," said RJ heading outside. "You can help me pick some strawberries for Ma. Maybe get on her good side," he chuckled.
Charlie escaped by hobbling out to the Hoochmobile and God only knows how he drove the car to safety but by cracky he did. Johnny had been focused on his shivering daughter with her eyes glazed over, traumatized by Charlie leering at her, her father's outburst and the tussle. Her mother was currently away visiting one of her fellow prostitutes she used to 'work' with and hadn't returned home yet. One of the younger whores helped Vera-Ellen dress and she slowly began to come back to herself.
It seems Charlie thought it would be fun to take pictures of the barely pubescent girl for his own use and to sell to certain sickos he knew of. Eve was livid when she got back and had to be restrained; she was ready to jump in the truck and hunt down the man right then but Cutter had cooled down somewhat and it seemed their daughter would be all right.
Indeed, in spite of all the clan grew and prospered, Vera-Ellen made it through childhood without too much mayhem and destruction, and Rufus started his tow truck business. It was a long time before Johnny could trust anyone else again.
Cutter had taken to long trips to secure victims, cars to steal and sell, or petty thievery, which started to stretch to longer and longer times away. Eve amused herself with this farmer or that mechanic, but her arms (and legs) were always open when he returned, and he was usually all-too-eager for his beautiful whore when he returned. RJ missed the big blustery clown when he was away; often good conversation and advice was hidden in his obscene, cantankerous mouthings.
Then one day, when Vera-Ellen was about 16 or so, Johnny appeared on the doorstep after a particularly long absence with a guest in tow. RJ was outside working on a customer's car when he saw the pair exit the stolen automobile and walk to the front porch. Wiping sweat and grease from his hands and forehead he moves toward them, curious and watchful. He'd finally reached his full height and filled out with adulthood, a massive muscled wrestler of a man, and he knew how to throw his weight around.
"Well, look, there's RJ," exclaimed Cutter, directing the other man's attention to the approaching behemoth. He came to stand a foot or two away, looking down at the stranger who appraised him fearlessly.
This guy was cocky, to be sure. RJ sniffed.
He was long and lean with piercing blue eyes and short pale hair, well-defined cheekbones and jawline contrasted with sensuous lips that stretched to form a toothy grin. "This here is Otis, RJ," explained Johnny, smiling and relaxed. "This is my stepson Rufus Jr."
"Boy, you must grow em big around here," guffawed the strange-looking creature.
"Wait'll ye see Tiny, the otherun," responded the clown, opening the door. RJ was right on their heels, ready for trouble. He didn't like the look of this pale, washed-out smartassy guy. Nossir.
"Johnny, that you," came a purring singsong. The overblown owner of the voice strutted into view, a somewhat older prostitute in feathers and lace. The stranger smiled at her. "Well who's this?"
"...An' this is my lil angel, Vera-Ellen," finished Eve proudly with her arm around the tall, slender teenager. "My baby."
Otis gazed at her a moment and Johnny narrowed his eyes. He'd hate to go through another mess over his pretty girlchild, but instead of lust there was a connection in their glances, an understanding. "Hello Angel Baby," he said in his gravelly voice. She smiled back at him.
"Otis will be staying with us seein as he has no family of his own," Cutter announced at supper, RJ almost choking in mid-bite. "You can have one o' the rooms upstairs," he told him. How could he have grown so close to such a strange one, RJ thought. He was wound tight and his intensity was overwhelming, yet Johnny was a match for him in charisma. The two had actually hit it off right from the start, and now Otis B. Driftwood had got himself a family at last.
Things definately livened up around the homestead with the new addition, and the newly named Angel Baby had a new older brother she bonded with. RJ and Otis after a shaky start became friends, each one the opposite of the other.
Otis named everyone, his fertile brain coming up with all sorts of schemes and vileness to get up to. Rufus began to admire the wraith after a drunken fracas they both engaged in...Otis nearly got his arm broke but never gave up. He did funny stuff, at least funny to Rufus. All the writing, photography, sculpting.
"Yer doin what," wondered Otis in his high-toned voice. "Why don'tya just join the circus? Hmm, that might not be such a bad idea..." he trailed off, actually considering it.
Rufus thought it was a fun idea, joining a wrestling outfit. He's plenty large and strong enough, and it would be good money as well.
Several weeks training later, the Deadwood Brawler made his debut at a high school gymnasium, his blue and white mask hiding his craggy face. He lost the match of course, but things wouldn't always be like that, of course. As he got more popular he'd win matches and more money. The whole idea of the masked wrestler intrigued him and throwing guys around the ring was a shitload of fun. Otis showed up to a couple of matches and had a better time than he was willing to admit. The Leader of the Revolution shouldn't be at a small time wrestling match, but curiosity killed the cat, after all.
Hugo, Otis and Angel Baby travelled to Arkansas to see RJ wrestle in a somewhat large stadium and it was big event for all of them. Grampa specifically wanted to see midget wrestlers and was finally satisfied when there was at last a midget tag-team match. One of the wrestlers apparently took an interest in RJ's beautiful teenage sister, and it happened to be one asshole known in the grappling world as the Mangler. Before it was time for their exhibit he walked up to Rufus conversing with Vera-Ellen. "Hey man, can I fuck your sister," he said only half-jokingly, sizing her up like a piece of juicy steak.
Rufus slitted his mysterious dark eyes at the big blond oaf and said, surprisingly enough. "Sure. You can fuck my sister," he chipped the words as if out of stone.
"Yeah, he wishes," Baby snorts, dismissing the idiot wrestler.
Now was his chance to cut loose, Rufus thought as he approached the ring, one the wrestlers had helped set up themselves. Otis and Angel were whooping and hollering for him in their seats, and Grampa Hugo lobbed a box of popcorn in his foe's direction. He was as cantankerous and wild-eyed as always but was growing frail and stooped as he aged. It sobered RJ.
The Deadwood Brawler vs. the Mangler.
After some initial feints and tentative holds they began grappling in earnest. This time however Rufus had no intention of following the training, he was gonna 'shoot' as they call it--really fight the asshole. After a minute or two the Mangler realized this, but instead of calling quit or alerting anyone he decided he could take the darkhaired behemoth. Rufus (and Otis too, for that matter) had been letting their hair grow out and his opponent tried grabbing for some of it that wasn't hidden under the mask. He caught a fist to the cheekbone for his troubles. Rufus then recieved a hard blow to the stomach followed by a leg sweep that deposited him butt-first on the mat.
After a few minutes of this even Otis as unfamiliar as he was with the sport knew something was wrong. Baby caught his worried frown as they observed the match. Was her brother in trouble?
The blond man was now behind Rufus, having gotten him in an arm-hold and pushing him down to one knee. He leaned and hissed in RJ's ear, "After I'm done with you, jobber, I'mma have my way with that simple, giggly sister o' yours."
Instead of trying to twist away which was what the Mangler expected Rufus launched himself backwards, sending them both bouncing off the mat. He quickly recovered, getting to his feet and kicking the fucker in the side, then rolling him over on his belly. Stepping over his prostrate form facing his feet RJ stooped and grabbed his ankles, pulling them toward him, which put pressure on the lower back and hips--it was called the Boston Crab. It also effectively keeps the victim from getting away or doing anything to their opponent.
"Oh..yeah...," grunted RJ, grinning evilly. He put a foot on the man's lower back, continuing to pull on his legs. "You can fuck my sister..." He stepped onto the man's spine and jerked with all his might. Sickening cracks resounded as the mans hip was dislocated and lower vertebrae cracked. "...If anything below yer waist works after this." He dropped the man's now-useless legs and sauntered out of the ring, the referee after a moment's shock shouting for an ambulance and the audience too stunned to react.
"Whooo bloodlettin'," bellowed Hugo, who got poked in the side by Otis who didn't want any moret attention drawn to them. "Feed 'im to the lions!"
Otis and Angel Baby glanced at one another and decided it was time to go. They slipped around back where the dressing rooms (such as they was) were located and found RJ, smug expression on his chiseled face, was putting on regular clothes. "Good," Baby said when they entered the room. "We better get the hell outta here."
"So much for professional wrestling," Rufus wryly said.
"Hey I want one o' those midgets! He could fetch me mah beer n' cereal," protested Hugo as he was herded toward the exit.