Something Pretty Chapter 5, a deadwood fanfic

ALMA

Hello fan fiction aficionados! We here in Deadwood would all like to thank you for continuing to read Something Pretty. Of course our temporary writer Miss Florence of Arabia is most grateful to you as well.

MERRICK

I still find that name odd

JACK

I believe it is a reference to a figure and a film that are both after our time

SETH

Just after the time of the show though, I know I'll live until the end of WWI and get to be friends with Teddy Roosevelt!

Someone ought to make a buddy movie about you two, you're fucking badass enough to warrant it.

SETH

Why thank you Al

Call it "The Roughriders", or "The President and the Randy Maniac Bishop"…

DAN

Hell I for one'd go see that

JOHNNY

And David Milch could write it!

Quick, lets get our people on the phone!

SOL

Seth should have been his V.P. would have been the most badass administration in the country's history

DAN

Fuck, why don't Al run for president? "Swearengen and Bullock…Tough on everything!"

MERRICK

I don't mean to dampen anyone's enthusiasm here…

Yes you do

MERRICK

But Al is English and Bullock is Canadian so they're not eligible to run

Who the fuck is then in 1876?

MERRICK

Well the Doc, Johnny, Dan, Farnum, Tolliver, myself…

Stop it you're fucking scaring us

ALMA

I had something else I wanted to say but it will just have to wait for next time since we got sidetracked

Hey you can't do that!

ALMA

Watch me. And now for Something Pretty Chapter 5, Free Gratis, we all hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 5

Free Gratis

Martha's expression was inscrutable as she politely thanked the Doctor for his services and poured the tea. Since she didn't seem inclined to talk more Cochran felt he should proceed. He knew he was out of his depth here but he wanted to know how she felt.

"You…you…um…you don't sound very happy Mrs. Bullock"

"On the contrary Doctor I am very pleased, I'm sure Mr. Bullock will be too." She didn't sound happy. He noticed that she said Mr. Bullock and not "my husband". He hadn't expected her to call him Seth, but what she had said suggested to him that she worried about her husband as a father and if he wanted to probe the surface of that one he'd have to ask about William. But asking about William was beginning to feel inevitable. That amiable, polite child's presence hung over the house on the best of days but now, in this room, one could practically feel it.

"Have you and Mr. Bullock talked much about having children?"

"No, this…this is rather unexpected" He tried with another relatively innocuous question

"Would you prefer a boy or a girl?"

"As long as it's healthy, I don't much care. But I wish to do my wifely duty and give Mr. Bullock a son." That didn't sound good. He decided to put his cards on the table and risk hurting her or at the very least provoking her anger.

"Mrs. Bullock, if you don't want this child…do not think I'd judge you for that sentiment…I could help you. If you don't feel you're ready…if its too soon, if you're having marital problems…my methods are not intrusive and they're tried and true"

As he suspected Martha Bullock drew herself up to her considerable height.

"Doctor, I sometimes feel that you have spent too much time among the poor girls who work at the saloons here. I am a married woman, why would I seek to" and here she shuddered "'get rid' of my unborn child? Or are you suggesting that what I carry now is not my husband's?"

Doc Cochran had a sudden uncontrollable urge to bang his dead on the table, or some nearby piece of wood. 'Nice work Cochran. You broke one very simple rule, never be the first to bring up abortion unless it is an absolute medical necessity.' She was right of course, about his working too much with prostitutes.

"Its not just whor…saloon girls who avail themselves of such services ma'am. I know respectable ladies…" then he realized who he was referring to and wanted to hit his head on the table again "No one who lives in this town of course…no sir…um women I knew before Deadwood…" He decided to stop digging himself deeper.

"Ma'am I'm sorry…I…I just want you to feel comfortable telling me anything."

"I understand Doctor Cochran. What do I owe you?"

"Nothing…this is free…gratis"

"Free gratis is a redundancy. Do you suspect me of infidelity?"

"No, of course not! Good day Mrs. Bullock" He tried to exit quickly but was held up by a fit of coughing.

"Are you alright Doctor? Can I get you something, do you need a handkerchief?"

"No, no, I'm fine!" He croaked and then hurried out as he'd intended.

Cy Tolliver walked up to Shaunessy's where he noticed the proprietor putting up another sign with a biblical quote that seemed vaguely to be about prostitution. Cy laughed at him as the hotel owner turned to greet him.

"As if anyone'd want to fuck a woman or run a brothel out of this dump" Shaunessy assumed the demeanor of a stuffed frog with his answer

"I resent you using the term dump, sir! These rooms are…"

"Where the fuck is Joanie Stubbs?" Cy asked

"Blonde woman? Statuesque? Wears a top hat…"

"The one you think about when you rub one out. Which room is she in?"

"Are you referring to self abuse sir?"

"What room you spineless cunt licker?"

This might have gone on for a while but Joanie herself appeared on the second floor in her dressing gown.

"I heard my name. What's going on? What happened to your face Cy?" Tolliver didn't have a chance to respond because Shaunessy cut in

"Why are you in a dressing gown at this time in the afternoon? I told you I'll have no imm…"

"I was takin' a fucking nap!" Joanie looked down at the hotel owner with his silly plaques and sillier mustache and for the first time she saw the profound unease there. He tried to pretend that the reason he was not at home in the world was because his righteous purity but that wasn't the cause, just his way of trying to compensate. Suddenly the power he had over her, to make her uncomfortable, to make her guilty, ceased. She even smiled at him kindly, because he was rather pathetic.

"Joanie, can I fucking talk to you?"

"Sure Cy, but it'll have to be outside my room, you can't come in ok."

"Like the fucking schoolhouse?" He growled "What am I that I can't be allowed in? Some kind of demon or evil fucking spirit?"

"Yes" Cy glared at her but she didn't flinch or look away

"What happened to your face?" Cy decided he'd better tell the truth since Seth might be right about everyone having seen.

"I was viciously attacked by the owner of this town's so called newspaper" Now Joanie looked concerned. For a moment he felt that he would get the sympathy he desired from her but her next words showed that the concern wasn't for him

"Cy what did you do to that poor sweet man to make him snap like this?"

"I didn't touch him! Why does everyone blame me? I'm the one with a busted nose and everyone's taking his side. Have you ever thought that his nice guy act might be a cover to disguise what a sick violent bastard he actually is?"

Joanie rolled her eyes

"Everyone blames you because we all know you. Granted I've only spoken to him a few times but I'm a pretty good judge of character, I can usually tell if people have something to hide. What did you do?"

"I entered into a dispute with that fucking Russian who runs the telegraph." The euphemism didn't Joanie throw Joanie off the sent

"And how badly is he hurt?"

"He…um… ok you've made your fucking point. So what about that pretty little speech you gave me earlier about not wishing me any ill and so fourth?"

Cy should be used to the idea by now, that Joanie didn't love him, that she didn't want him, that he couldn't have her. He should be and he should stop lying to himself, stop pretending that she could be replaced by Lila or Stupid or any of them. It made it worse having her in town, having her come to him when she was upset or when she was happy, trying to be kind to him. But he couldn't, he couldn't stay away from the one thing in his life that had made him happy, but he knew too that every time he got near her she lost more sympathy for him. He knew this but something in him still hoped that the next time, the next chance, she'd be just hurt enough, he'd be just hurt enough, he'd say the right thing, and she'd come back to him. Of course every time he tried this happened, he could tell that she was loosing patience with him.

"Cy, look, I meant everything I said. I want you to be happy. I want nothing more than for you to be happy. But what I want for both of us is to be friends. I want to come in and tell you about how good things are for me and I want you to congratulate me and if things are bad I want to be able to come to you and have you give me advice. I want you to come and tell me that you're doing well and you've found yourself another girl so than I can know you're happy and be glad for you."

'I won't find another girl, there is no other girl I want you!" Cy wanted to yell, but he couldn't so he let Joanie continue

"Then if things aren't to great you can come over and we can commiserate…"

"Isn't that what we're doing now?"

"There's a difference between talking about problems like friends and you running to me for sympathy."

"We ain't friends Joanie" Cy snarled "We're never going to be friends! Don't pretend we can be…"

"Well that's a shame Cy, because I would really like it if we could be friends."

"For God's sake woman, we were together for 18 fucking years. Don't that mean anything to you?"

"Of course it does, you know it does. You're an important part of my life…of me and I'll always think about you, but this needs to stop. I'm sorry that your noes is broken." Joanie turned to leave but Cy grabbed her and some combination of the laudanum and his desperation made him say something he'd never been able to say before

"You can't fucking turn your back on me like that, I love you!"

"I don't love you. I…I can't love you…I can't love any man Cy, my nature won't let me. I've tried believe me I've tried…" and she disengaged again only to have Cy pull her closer. What would have happened next neither of them knew because at that moment someone came up behind Cy and yanked him away from Joanie. Cy turned to face Charlie Udder. Cy threw a punch at him but Charlie grabbed his arm and hit him in the gut making him double over.

"This ain't your fucking day, is it Tolliver?" Demanded Charlie, but of course he already had the answer "First you kill that dope fiend then you try and kill that girl and beat that poor telegraph operator. You know what you are, you're pathetic. You always were but now you've outdone yourself. So fuck off before I mess that face of yours up even worse!"

Charlie tipped his hat to a concerned looking Joanie.

"Sorry about that, I hope he didn't bother you too much. I came to see how you and Jane were doing."

"We're…well…we're alright. Jane's asleep…otherwise I'd ask you to come in. I know, we should all have dinner together." Cy groaned here as loudly as he could hoping to distract Joanie. Charlie however immediately chimed in

"I'd love to. So I'll come back at six or seven say and meet you two?"

"Six it is then. I hope I'll be able to get Jane up." Cy groaned again but the only reaction he got was for Joanie to go back into her room and for Charlie to walk off.

Charlie had to admit that he resented Jane a little. He knew that Joanie was in love and he knew better than to try and change that. Charlie had little sympathy with the man he had just punched, for being in the same predicament but dealing with it like an adult. Unlike Tolliver he could tell that she was the way she was. But when his guard was down or he was away from camp, he would sometimes fantasize about what life could be like for them. He dreamed about getting her out of that hotel and into a lovely house that they would share, also Cy Tolliver would suddenly decide that what he really wanted to do with his life was become a cavalry officer so he'd leave Deadwood for good and hopefully be killed by a friendly tribe of Indians. He knew none of this would happen but he liked to think that there was some chance that she'd let him take care of her and he could make her happy. He'd definitely make a better partner than Jane, but then again he was glad that something like this had happened to her as well. Jane deserved a break.

Al and Merrick stood in Al's office both with the sense that there was more to say but not sure how to begin. Merrick was staring dolefully at the bloodstain on the floor.

'I shouldn't have brought him in here' thought Al 'I wish he didn't have to see things like this. I shouldn't have told him, or any of them really. Now they all feel complicit. But maybe I like that, maybe I want to feel that this was something we all did'

"Why Jen? Why not Trixie?" asked the newspaperman "Of course I'm not implying I'd prefer that but it does seem…more just."

"Here we are getting back to justice. I don't think there really is any justice. People get dealt a hand and then they have to play it. Until you're dead the world fucks you over unless you do it to others before someone does it to you…"

"Al in some ways you're right. It isn't fair that you had it so hard and people like me have gotten it so easy, and yes you are right; my rather sheltered upbringing has given me a certain way of looking at things. Though I'd like to make a note that though I myself have been lucky until recently I have witnessed a great deal of suffering in my time. But I would also postulate that what you have been through also endowed you with a certain mindset. It's all very subjective but I think for all your talk of justice's nonexistence I don't think you entirely believe it."

"Maybe you're right. But the point I was fucking leading up to if you would have let me finish, is that in this cruel indifferent shithole we call a world you can only do so fucking much. You got to take care of your own Merrick. You can't take care of everyone but you can take care of your own. If it means you have to let some people go to hell. But I think you kinda know this, even if you won't admit to it, hence your abandoning of your ethical principles in order to teach Tolliver not to fuck with your best friend." Merrick squirmed a little

"As you well know Al, my principles are easily abandoned."

"They conflict! Your principles are often at fucking odds with each other and one set has to win."

Merrick nodded "Thank you for that assessment, it's a kind way of looking at things. Anyway as to your generous offer I'll forgo the liquor" Al snorted "But I might…eh…look in on Dolly this evening…you know to…"

"Talk to her for an hour, you realize that in your own way you're a specialist?"

"Plenty of men do it!"

A silence descended between the two men and their eyes both drifted back to the bloodstain on the floor. It made Al kind of sad to see Merrick like this, he supposed it was the contrast between the boundlessly optimistic, confident, and innocent man and the despairing confusion that had begun to set in, the world weariness that he saw looking back at him. But wishing things were different did nothing and was painful to boot. Al knew from experience that he was in for a world of hurt whenever the phrase "I wish it didn't have to be like this" slunk into his mind. As a boy and later as an adolescent he had thought that almost daily but he'd eventually been able to counter it with "Tough luck Al, that's the way they are". He supposed part of the reason he felt the way he did about Merrick was that a part of him wished he could trade with the other man. To have a good education, a career which (at least claimed) to serve a higher purpose, time to read, and the ability to just say what was on his mind, the luxury of expressing weakness, and freedom from having to do the kinds of things that he had just done this morning.

Merrick turned to leave when Al called him back.

"So what had you moping around the saloon earlier?"

"Hearst will open up a new newspaper in town. I'm sorry I didn't let you know earlier but I figured it wasn't urgent. I suppose now…" The tenderness had just felt for his friend evaporated.

"Merrick if you start fuckin' feelin' sorry for yourself I'll throw this book at you again."

"All right, I'll see you later then."

"Pathetic"

"I didn't say anything!"

"I was talking about Hearst! His opening another newspaper."

"I know" said the newspaperman in an exceedingly gloomy tone "He can't just kill people and buy people and have people beaten up. He has to have a complete stranglehold on information as well. He'll be installing his own telegraph next."

"That's what you think he's doing?" Asked Al in a tone of mock surprise. "I was under the impression he was just doing it as a "Fuck You" to a certain newspaperman who wouldn't bend to his will."

"Really?" Al didn't completely believe this, he thought Merrick's explanation was probably more accurate but that wasn't the point

"Hearst wanted you to fucking bow down to him and do what he said. But you wouldn't in fact you went out of your way to go after him, publishing the letter and that article about the shooting. Also I bet he was sore that you didn't say anything about his getting shot, like he was nobody and that kind of thing happened everyday. He couldn't bribe you or bully you or break you. So what does he do? At considerable expense he gets someone to come and fight you. If you think about it it's an admission of defeat." The words had their desired effect and after a second Merrick returned Al's gaze with a look of jubilation.

"Thank you Al, yes that…that is the way to think about it. My, my I have a lot of work to do. Oh dear I rushed out earlier without…"

"I told you, drinks on the house"

"Are you sure?"

"Special "if Al makes you bleed" deal just for you." Merrick smiled and went back through the door to his press. Al leaned against the desk.

"Doesn't take much to pick him back up when he's down does it Chief? One of the things I like about the bastard, doesn't give up easy…tenacious. Of course that's what makes him really fucking annoying. Speaking of tenacious and really fucking annoying…" Al strode out of his office and looked down at his saloon. His eyes fixed on Bullock.

"Don't you have a home to go to?"

MARTHA

We hoped you liked Part 5 and continue following along with Part 6 which should be here shortly.

SETH

So what were you going to say earlier Alma?

ALMA

Just that the author wanted to say that some characters are being focused on much more than others

MERRICK

Yes, it seems as though my prominence in this serial is wildly incommensurate with my role in the show…not that I'm complaining! No one ever writes about me so it's been lovely.

I've noticed that I seem pretty fucking prominent too, I think she likes me.

ALMA

Which is why the young lady would like me to say that which characters she chooses are more a function of whose voice she feels most comfortable with, for whatever reason. Crucially which characters she felt she saw very clearly where they were headed in the sadly nonexistent Season 4. By the way she doesn't like you Cy, you are just here because of that second reason. It has little to do with personal character preference.

Damn it