The Bully of Order Read Online Free PDF Page B

was to stand trial if anyone could be found to come forward as a witness, which was unlikely. Not unless Hank Bellhouse allowed for it to happen. Nitz had been upstairs with his mom and the girls when it happened. Raised by women and carried a preference for boys. Two faces of the same coin. Surely there are children born onto dairies that can’t stomach milk. Tartan had been raised by the nuns and Mr. Billings. Mr. Billings had shown him how to do it with women first, and then with men. Asked him which he favored. The women , Mr. Billings . His hands in his hair, gripping his skull. Prefer the women, sir.
    The mill whistle woke him and he stood and put on his pistol and knife. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and limped to the bow and pissed. The sky was bluing and the wingflash of birds blinked at the distant shore. He could just make out the shadow of James Rock and the hills beyond. Bellhouse was suddenly beside him, muscling in for a space at the rail.
    â€œGet any sleep?”
    â€œI can sleep anywhere.”
    â€œIt’s a gift. How’s the leg?”
    â€œI’ll survive. What’d they pay you, the Feather ?”
    Bellhouse turned his back to Tartan. “A fair amount.”
    â€œAny left over?”
    â€œFor you and the boys, sure.”
    â€œI’ll be gone for a week or so then. Can you manage by yourself?”
    Bellhouse turned and smiled at Tartan, his silver front tooth flashing dimly in the morning light. “Guess I’ll just do my best. Try and get by. Where are you off to?”
    â€œNowhere. Just thinkin with the leg I could use a rest.”
    Bellhouse didn’t reply and his silence made Tartan nervous.
    The glow of the sun was clear to see now, and the water had a shine on it. The Feather ’s crew was pulling anchor, and soon the tug’s was doing the same. It was a sweet and victorious ride back to town, but the endless dark forests loomed before them and soon the brackish smells were replaced by the smoke and steam and resinaceous tang of the mills. The roar grew louder and louder and the whistles blew like they knew they were coming.

Matius
    I stayed for the whole summer and never once did my brother, dull fuck squiddler that he is, let me go upstairs to his apartment if Nell was there. He’d say the child was sleeping or that Nell was sleeping or that they were out, but I could hear her moving around. In my mind I saw her naked, the dimples of her ass. Ball warmth and ball heat, the lantern of man. We spent most of our time in his office, with me being introduced to the sick and bleeding on their way to the examination table. “This is my big brother, Matius. He’s here visiting from Ohio.” Nice to meet you. Take care now. He had an old woman, Miss Eakins, that cleaned and cared for patients before they went home or to the rooming houses. More than once I had to go outside for air, the smells so strong, the screams so loud.
    Once a boy was brought to him, eight years old, who had fallen from high in a tree. His body was pulp. His mother and father were there and his older brother. He never opened his eyes and his face was unmarked. They took him home wrapped in bedsheets, and it was only because he was out of blood that he didn’t bleed through. Miss Eakins about wore out her mop cleaning up after that. I could see that Jacob was on the penitent road and it was only vanity that kept him there. But he’d always been a soft fool, he’d always wanted people to like him.
    With some pushing he let me look over his books. He was making a smart payday off the mills alone, never mind the feverish and the hypochondriacals. I soon planted the seed for him loaning me some money.
    â€œI’d like to set a stake here,” I said. “Prove it up. Make a home, as you’ve done.”
    Behind his smile he looked worried, but flattered. Middle of June and we had a fire going in his little woodstove and out the window