The Brothers Too
Chapter 6
Terry stood at the bar talking to Robbie while he poured a pitcher from the tap. There was a group of four obnoxious American Army soldiers at a nearby table. They were loud and making rude remarks to the barmaid. The local regulars were eying them with disgust.
"Who are they?" Terry asked. "They're giving us Yanks a bad name. My four can do that without their help."
"Your four aren't that bloody obnoxious," said Robbie in disgust. "Must be on leave from somewhere. Don't know why they 'ad to pick this place to light."
"You know there's going to be a fight," warned Terry.
"Yeah, I know," said Robbie wearily. He got a devilish grin. "I 'ope your blokes clean 'em up."
Terry went back to the table her group was seated at. The cons were disgustingly polite and well mannered compared to that other bunch. She set the pitcher in the middle of the table. Actor started pouring for all of them. Terry took her seat between the Italian and her brother.
With an initial wrinkle of her nose at the first sip, she took a swallow of the warm ale. Monty turned to give her a quizzical look.
"I can't believe you're drinking that stuff," said Terry's middle brother. "You don't even drink that much."
"After the first couple swallows it grows on you," said Terry. "You can bet when I get back to the States I'm going to find me a nice icy cold Bud."
Monty got a mischievous grin on his face before turning to the others at the table. "You guys do know not to feed her champagne?"
Terry choked, "Monty! Shut up!"
Actor caught the young man's eye and they exchanged a conspiratorial look. "Yes. I have been suitably advised by the Lieutenant of the consequences."
Terry's head shot around and she stared wide-eyed at the con man. "He didn't."
Actor smiled and nodded. "Oh, yes, he did . . . in great detail." The Italian was enjoying the distress on the young woman's face. If she was going to keep teasing him, she was going to get it back.
"So what are the – uh- consequences?" asked Casino.
"I am told she becomes very . . . Ouch!" Actor bent sideways and grabbed his shin where Teresa had kicked it with her booted heel. "Cara! Behave! I need to walk on that leg."
"You're lucky that's all I could reach," she hissed at him.
This brought loud laughter from the others. Terry looked around, trying to find some way to change the subject. The dart board was empty. "Come on, Chiefy. I'm going to beat you at darts."
"You're going to try," the younger man said smugly.
Terry got up and walked to the dart board, studiously ignoring the rest of the guys who were still laughing at her. Chief grinned and shook his head, getting up to follow her.
"I think she's gonna beat 'im this time," said Goniff, pulling a ten pound note from his pocket and pushing it toward Actor.
"Naw," denied Casino. "She ain't good enough yet." He pulled his own ten pound note out and pushed it to the con man.
Monty watched this interaction with interest. He pulled money from his pocket and handed it to the Italian. "My money's on Chief. Terry doesn't know how to play darts."
Actor added his share to the pile. "I am betting on Teresa. She has been practicing and she and Chief are pretty evenly matched now."
The four men sat back to watch the game. Each round was close with either Chief winning or Terry winning.
In the middle of the game, Monty leaned over toward Actor. The con man bent closer to hear what the young man had to say.
"Did Craig really tell you about Terry and . . ."
"Oh, yes," assured Actor with a crooked grin. "I will buy her wine and ale, but not champagne."
Monty shook his head, "She can't handle the light stuff too well, but don't ever get in a pissing contest with her and a bottle of Jack Daniels. Guaranteed she will drink you under the table."
"I doubt that," replied the Italian smugly, "but it might be interesting."
They both chuckled. Monty was beginning to like the Italian con man. Maybe he could see his sister liking the guy. He doubted Terry could walk all over the man, even if she did try. That in itself would intrigue the girl.
The dart game ended with Chief winning on the last throw. He and Terry returned to the table. The bet money had been distributed by the time they were seated.
Terry turned to her brother. "Sorry I lost you some money, Brother."
"You didn't," replied Monty.
Terry looked at him sharply. "You bet on Chief?" At his nod, she said indignantly, "Well, that's loyalty for you."
"Loyalty ain't got nothing to do with it," said Monty, pocketing his winnings. "It's strictly business."
The ale was being imbibed freely by most of the occupants at the table. Actor was always careful with his drinking and Terry was nursing her second glass of ale. Monty got up and went to the bar, returning with the third pitcher. This one emptied rapidly also. Monty was getting looser, Goniff was happily in his cups, and Casino, while less belligerent than usual was on his way to feeling no pain.
As they all sat back to enjoy their ale, the atmosphere in the bar became strained. The noisy group of Army soldiers was harassing the barmaid. One of them grabbed her and tried to feel her up. Terry was in direct view of it.
"Hey, Betty, we need you over here," yelled Terry.
"Aw, shut your pie hole, Bitch," yelled one of the men back at her.
"Only a select few people can call me that," muttered Terry.
Monty and the other men started to get up.
"No!" ordered Terry. "We will not start this."
Reluctantly the men sat back down.
"Aw, too chicken to defend the slut?" yelled another of the soldiers.
Terry's mouth pinched together. Her hand shot out across the table, palm up in front of her brother. Monty slapped his hat in her hand and rose from the table. Goniff, Chief and Casino rose with him.
"That's my sister you called a slut," said Monty slow and low.
The other soldiers looked at him. "Figures. A damn Indian. She must be a squaw."
Chief got in there beside Monty, both pummeling the loudmouth and the one next to him. Casino and Goniff were on their heels. Actor rose sedately from his seat, picked up his pipe, and took Terry by the elbow, leading her away from the melee. They stood against the wall watching the fight turn into another free-for-all, with the locals getting involved. Some of the regulars were having a go at the Army soldiers, but as what usually happened, they soon started fight with each other. Tables overturned and chairs broke. Actor leaned back against the wall, legs crossed, an arm around Terry's shoulders, smoking his pipe.
"Staying out of this one?" asked Terry with amusement.
"They do not require my assistance this time," replied the con man casually.
As the fight continued, Monty was edged over close to them. The man he was hitting went to the floor. Monty walked up and looked at Terry with his hands on his hips. "What are you doing over here?"
Actor quickly removed his arm from around Teresa. He raised his eyebrows and cocked his head to the side. Monty got the message and lunged to his left as Actor's arm swung forward and his fist connected with the chin of a man who was about to brain the Indian with an ale bottle. The man went down like a load of bricks. Monty looked down at the man and up at the Italian who was placing his arm back around Terry.
"Thanks," said Monty with a nod of approval.
"My pleasure," replied Actor. "You were saying?"
"How come you're over here?" Monty asked his sister again.
"He's keeping me safely out of harm's way," replied Terry. "It's part of that sophisticated and worldly thing I told you about. Besides, he's a gentleman."
"Doesn't know you very well does he?" grinned Monty.
Terry felt Actor stiffen. "Mon, you better get back in there before Actor pops you one."
Monty started backing up. He grinned at the tall Italian. "Just so you know, she's taken Craig down a couple of times."
"Mon-ty," said Terry warningly.
He turned and jumped back into the fight, pulling a man off of Casino. Terry leaned her head back against Actor's arm and looked up at him.
"You don't have to be so quick to take offense at Monty," she said. "This is the way we are at home. Cinder, Craig, Mon and I were constantly throwing zingers at each other. It's all in good fun."
Actor frowned, "It is not very respectful to you."
"No, but we're family and we all love each other," explained Terry. She reached around and patted the con man on the chest. "And I thank you for wanting to defend my honor. I appreciate that," she said sincerely.
Actor shook his head. He did not understand how family could treat each other this way and like it. But then, he had not had family of his own for a long time. The Garrisons appeared to be a free and easy group. Maybe he had missed out on something somewhere along the line.
They went back to watching the fight. Robbie seemed to be in no hurry to call the constabulary. The bartender was sitting on the bar watching in enjoyment. Terry kept an eye on Monty. The young man grabbed another man by the hair with the intent of picking his head up for a hit. The man's toupee came off in Monty's hand. He let out a war whoop and held the false scalp high in the air, eliciting a big grin from Chief, who was fighting a few feet away from him.
"Damn! I didn't know I could count coup in England!" He tossed it to Terry. "Here Sis, hold on to it for me!"
Terry caught it one handed and burst into laughter. She hadn't had this much fun at a fight since the last barn dance they had all attended in Springfield. Tears were coming to her eyes. She turned her forehead into Actor's chest and shook with laughter.
The Italian did not understand what was going on or what was so funny about a toupee. He said as much.
Terry looked up at him with affection, "No, Caro, I don't imagine you do. We'll have to explain it to you later."
They watched for a few more minutes. An older couple entered the bar and paused at the top of the stairs. They took one look and hurried back outside. Robbie was looking up at the landing in front of the door with an unhappy expression. He ducked as a bottle flew past his head. Terry bent an arm back and tapped Actor with the backs of two knuckles. "You might want to start pulling our guys out of there," she suggested. "Robbie's not going to wait much longer to call the constabulary. I'll get the car."
"That would be wise," agreed Actor.
Terry went to the bar and dropped off the toupee. The bar tender agreed to let her get her 'blokes' out of there before notifying the authorities. She thanked him, settled their tab and went out into the cold night air. She placed Monty's cap on her head at a jaunty angle and ran to the car. She had the Packard at the door, warming up, when Monty and Chief came out. Monty got in the front and Chief in the back. Actor finally herded Casino and Goniff out. The two miscreants climbed in the back with Chief while Actor got in front beside Monty. Terry pulled out as the fight spilled into the parking lot.
"Hey," said Monty. "I ought to come here on leave more often. That was fun."
Terry chortled, slapping his cap back on his head, almost covering his eyes. "I wouldn't be telling Craig that if I were you."
"No," agreed her brother. Monty tipped his head back to see out from under the cap and turned to his sister. "He is getting kind of stuffy, isn't he?"
The corner of Actor's mouth quirked up into a grin. He turned his head to look out the side window and listened to the response.
"Let's just say," said Terry carefully, "as long as this war is looking to last, we're going to have a hard time beating the military out of that boy when this is over, if he doesn't stay in for life."
Casino, more than a little on the intoxicated side, reached across the back of the seat and poked Monty in the shoulder. "Hey, Indian, you're all right, for a Garrison."
"Thanks," answered Monty, himself a little full of liquor. "You ain't so bad yourself, for a Wop." His head shot around quickly to toward the man beside him.
Actor held a hand up and resignedly said, "No offense taken."
Terry swallowed back a laugh, but could not get the grin off her face. Returning to the Mansion, she parked the car and allowed the rowdy group to go ahead of her and Actor. The con man escorted her to the door where she observed Craig's displeased face. The four who had been fighting were standing there, looking unrepentant at the Lieutenant.
"Hey, Craig," said Terry trying to ward off his wrath. "Nobody's in jail. And nobody got hurt . . . uh, too much."
Casino was sporting a swollen lip and Goniff had a bruise blossoming on his left cheekbone. Monty's hair was messed up, which only made him look more like the brother Terry and Craig both knew. Chief had come out with bruised knuckles only.
"Just couldn't stay out of trouble, could you?" asked Craig, trying to maintain a stern countenance.
"Now Lieutenant," said Actor in a soothing voice. "They were just defending your sister's honor."
"What did you do?" Craig pointedly asked his sister.
"I didn't do anything," objected Terry. "I was just trying to get a bunch of jerks to quit giving Betty a hard time."
Craig looked around at the group. Actor was looking virtuous, Chief was his usual stoic self, Mutt and Jeff were drunk as skunks and leaning on each other with stupid grins, and Monty was drunk and grinning back at him. Terry was just grinning period. Garrison shook his head.
"Go sleep it off," he ordered with a hint of humor. They were still like a bunch of overgrown kids.
The next morning, Actor and Chief were both up earlier than the others. Chief had just come back in from a run and Terry was in the kitchen making the first pot of coffee for the day. Actor took his usual seat and watched Chief perch on his window ledge.
"May I ask you something?" asked Actor quietly, starting to pack his briar with tobacco.
Chief turned to look at the older man. "Sure."
I wonder if you might explain 'counting coup' to me?" the con man asked. He went on to explain the incident the previous night with Monty and the toupee.
Chief gave one of his rare wide grins. "You familiar with American history?"
"A bit," replied the con man, taking a couple puffs to get the pipe started. "Enough to get my citizenship."
Chief watched him. "You want the long version or the short one that explains Monty last night?"
Actor raised an eyebrow, "The short version, I believe, however, I may wish to reserve the complete lecture for another time."
Chief grinned, "Well, back in the 1800's the white man moved across the country takin' the land away from the Indians and killin' off all the buffalo we relied on for food and everything else. So there was war between the tribes and the White Eyes. When a warrior killed an enemy, he would cut off the scalp and make a notch on his coup stick. The more scalps and notches the more respect as a warrior."
"Ah," replied Actor in understanding. It seemed to him to be a rather barbaric, uncivilized practice. "So Monty getting the toupee counted as obtaining a scalp?"
"Yeah, somethin' like that." Chief kept a straight face. "It's getting harder and harder to get away with counting coup nowadays."
Actor looked at him for a second, puzzled and trying to decide if the young Indian was really serious. Chief's mouth turned up into a satisfied grin. It wasn't often somebody got one over on the Italian. Actor, realizing the other man was teasing, grinned back.
Terry came out with two steaming cups of coffee. She noted the grins on both men. "You two look like you're up to no good," she remarked.
Actor accepted a cup of the hot liquid from her. "Chief was just giving me a lesson in American history."
Terry looked back and forth between the two, handing the other cup to the Indian. Chief was teaching history to Actor, the walking encyclopedia? Right. She shook her head and started back to the kitchen to begin breakfast.
"Hey," called out Chief. "You still owe me five bucks."
Terry stopped and turned, favoring him with one raised eyebrow. "Get it out of my purse. One of these days I am going to beat you at darts, Little Brother."
"Not in this lifetime, Little Sister," he replied smugly.
"Oh ye of little faith," she smarted back at him. "Okay, how do you want your eggs this morning?"