Fistful of Feet (7 page)

   “Yeah,” Clayton said, adjusting his mask.

   Sergio got up from the table and approached a whore who was sitting on the bar, dangling her feet. He had noticed her a while ago and could tell that she was looking at him. It was as if she had already picked him and not the other way around.

   Then Sergio saw the extra foot that came out of each of her ankles. It would be the first time that he had a girl with four feet and he thought that might be just the thing to relax him before the job. He stood next to her and tried to smile as best he could. It came out like a frustrated frown.

   He said, “You available?”

   The older woman behind the bar answered for her. “No, she’s not. She hasn’t been feeling well.”

   The young whore said, “Oh, Betty, I’m feeling better now.” She turned to Sergio and smiled. “What’re you looking for? My feet can give you one hell of a jerk.” She hopped off the bar. “My name’s June.”

   Sergio said, “Let’s go upstairs.”

   “You don’t waste any time, do you?

   “No,” Sergio said. “I don’t.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

   Calamaro walked downstairs. Kersey was standing behind the front desk, shaking his head. “Those gunshots I heard?”

   “Yeah,” Calamaro said.

   “What the fuck for?”

   “It was unavoidable. A man upstairs was knocking around a lady. You probably saw her running out, didn’t you? Well, her man didn’t like me interfering and so he started something I had to finish.”

   Kersey sighed. “Yeah, should’ve known that Merrick bastard would go and do something like that. I don’t know why I even let him stay here.”

   “I take it the sheriff will want to talk to me,” Calamaro said.

   “Yeah, probably but that’ll cause me just as much trouble. I’ll see what I can do about sorting it all out.”

   “Much obliged.”

    “Just make sure you don’t make any more enemies in here, okay?”

   “I’ll do my best,” Calamaro said. He took a step towards the door but then turned around. He said, “There a good place to eat around here?”

   “If you want a hot meal, your best bet is Tom Duma’s place. He owns the General Store but Mrs. Duma also cooks meals there, too. Of course you could also try the brothel but the food isn’t too much to my liking. I figure that’s on account of the fact that people go there for the women not the grub.”

   “I guess I’ll try the General Store. A hot meal would be good.” Calamaro walked out of the hotel. He walked down the street and saw a short, bald man punching a horse.

   As Calamaro passed, the man said, “Hey you.”

   Calamaro stopped. “Yeah?”

   “You got candy?”

   “I look like a child to you?” Calamaro laughed.

   The man’s eyes glazed over. “You’re a funny guy, huh?”

   “If you think so,” Calamaro said. He looked into the man’s eyes and for the first time in his life, he got goose bumps. The man’s eyes were milky and cold. They belonged in a dead man’s skull. Calamaro didn’t want to spend anymore time looking into them so he nodded and walked away.

   From behind him, the man’s voice said, “If I see you again, you better have some candy. Some
hard
candy.”

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

   Nix knocked on William Lyons’ door. He didn’t like disturbing the man at his house but he was just too damned angry at that stranger to wait. Chaps and Ryan stood behind him.

   There were sounds of children playing and then heavy footsteps. The door opened.

   “What is it?” Lyons stood in the doorway. He was tall, blond, and good-looking, just the type of man one would expect to be running for political office. William Lyons was well-known for both his charisma as well as his devotion to his family and to the church. He was also known for his killing.

   Nix said, “Need to talk to you. This a bad time?” He saw Lyons’ two sons running around a table, smiling and yelling up a storm.

   “I’m with my family right now, you can see that. What the hell’s so important you can’t wait till tomorrow?”

   “I, uh, just need to talk to you about a little situation we have. With a stranger. Some guy came into town and started some trouble.”

   Lyons said, “That black eye of yours, that the trouble you’re talking about?”

   “Yeah.”

   Lyons lowered his voice. “Some cocksucker gives you a black eye and you come interrupt me spending time with my family? What do you reckon I do, go get a search party and lynch the cocksucker?”

   Nix blushed. His face now almost matched his eye. “There’s more than that, Mr. Lyons. The guy punched me when I wasn’t even looking. That’s a plain old coward if you ask me, know what I’m saying?”

   Lyons poked his head out of the door and looked at Chaps and Ryan. “Well, where the hell were these guys at? Why didn’t they do something? You telling me the three of you couldn’t handle one fucking guy?”

   Nix said, “Uh, it’s not like that…”

   From behind Lyons, children’s voices said, “Daddy! Daddy!”

   “Nix, I’m going to go back in the house and play with my boys.”

   “What are we going to do about it?”

   “We’re not going to do anything. You want to take care of it, do it.”

   Lyons slammed the door closed. Nix frowned and then turned back to walk down the stairs. Chaps and Ryan followed.

   The front door opened again and Lyons stuck his head out.

   “Fine, Nix. I’ll look into it. Just keep your ass out of trouble until I get back to you, you hear?”

   “Sure thing, Mr. Lyons. Thank you.”

   The door slammed again.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

   Rebecca Bywater was still looking out the window when she heard a woman’s voice from the room next door. “Give me that snake, you bastard! Give it to me! Let it spit! I want it comin outta my ears!”

   She had never heard firsthand the sound of a woman actually enjoying sex. It was going to be something she had to get used to.

   Rebecca fixed her hair, changed her clothes, and then walked downstairs.

   Betty was behind the bar, talking to a large man who was smoking a red cigarette. When she saw Rebecca, Betty said, “Hey honey, I want you to meet someone.”

   “Oh?” Rebecca said.

   “Yeah, this here’s Black Boned Keith. He’s just been asking me if I got any new girls. I told him that maybe I did.”

   Rebecca made sure she put on a sweet face. The way Betty was talking, it sounded like she was leaning toward hiring her on. That was a good sign. “Well, it’s nice to meet you.”

   “Pleasure to meet you, honey,” Keith said. “I hope you don’t mind saying but you’re a pretty one. So, you work here now?”

   Rebecca took his hand and shook it delicately. “I don’t know.” She looked at Betty. “Do I?”

   “Yeah, I guess you do,” Betty said.

   Black Boned Keith slapped his leg. “Well, isn’t that just great! I come into town expecting the same old entertainment and I get a fresh one right off the stagecoach.”

   Betty smiled. “Slow down, Keith. I ain’t sure she’s ready for you just yet. How about you let the girl mingle and then if she doesn’t find a better prospect, we’ll see if she’ll settle for you.”

   Keith laughed. “You let this girl know what fun she’ll have, I bet she’ll settle for me right now.”

   “Didn’t you already have Angie? What? She didn’t satisfy you?”

   “Of course she did but you know I’ve been away from home so long. I got some making up to do.”

   “Well, let Rebecca mingle and maybe she’ll come back.” Betty laughed and put her hand on Rebecca’s shoulder. “Go ahead, sweetie.”

   Rebecca smiled and looked at Betty who nodded her head in the direction of the tables full of drunken men. It was up to her, the new whore, to impress her boss by getting the attention of all those potential customers. So she did just that, walking by the tables, brushing past some men with her hips while running her fingers through the dirty hair of others.

   There was one man in particular she thought was interesting. He looked wealthier than the others and a little bit older. Rebecca decided that this was her mark.

   She put her mouth close to his ear and whispered. “You want to take a break from your poker game?”

   The man looked up at her and squinted. “Who are you?”

   “My name’s Rebecca and it’s nice to meet you, Mr….?”

   “Not in the mood for pussy. Go sell yours somewhere else.”

   Rebecca’s mouth fell open. Her first instinct was to slap the man across the mouth and cuss at the son of a bitch. But that wouldn’t do any good. Not with Betty watching. Instead, she smiled slyly, winked at another man, and moved on to another table. That’s when Betty called her over to the bar. When she got there, Black Boned Keith was shaking his head.

   He said, “Of all the men you decide to come on to, you had to pick that cranky bastard.”

   “How’s I to know what a son of a bitch he is?”

   Betty said, “You weren’t. But you did good. You went on like it didn’t bother you. Truth is old Frank Dozier over there doesn’t come in for the girls, he comes in to play cards. He always loses, too, but that doesn’t matter. His daddy was rich and left him everything when he died.”

   Keith said, “You want to know how his daddy died?”

   Betty threw her hands up. “Oh my god, not this story again!”

   “Let me tell her. She don’t know it.” He laughed as Betty walked away. “You see, honey, Adam Dozier, that’s Frank Dozier’s rich daddy, owned a bunch of mines all around Screwhorse. Mined for silver mostly but occasionally he’d find other things worth selling. One day he was supervising one of the mines and there they are, digging and digging, doing whatever miners do and guess what they find all buried fifty feet under the ground?”

    “What?” Rebecca wasn’t that interested but knew that Black Boned Keith seemed to be a regular customer and therefore that meant he liked to spend money. It was in her best interest to stay on his good side.

   “They found teeth.” Keith paused for dramatic effect. “And I don’t mean animal teeth. I mean human teeth, thousands and thousands of human teeth. One of the miners actually ran out screaming, ran away and never came back. Adam Dozier had no use for nonsense like that so he went in to see for himself and guess what happened?”

   “I don’t know. What?”

   “According to all his men, Adam Dozier let out a scream like all bloody hell and then tried to turn tail and run away but tripped and fell right in a pile of teeth. The men were too scared or confused to do anything because Dozier was both screaming and laughing until he sunk down into the teeth and they were only able to see his fingers. Then soon he stopped making noise.” He paused, widening his eyes. “He drowned.”

   Rebecca smiled. She was expecting Keith to start laughing, telling her that it was just a joke and that the real Adam Dozier had died of old age. Instead, he just looked at her with a serious expression and nodded.

   He said, “You understand? He didn’t drown in water. He drowned in teeth.”

   She didn’t know what he expected her to say so she just said, “Well.”

   “I know it’s strange but strange things do happen.”

   “Thanks for the story,” Rebecca said. “I guess that explains why Frank over there is such a cranky son of a bitch.” She touched his arm lightly. “Keith, where’s the General Store at? I need to pick up a few things.”

   “Just go out the door and turn right. Down the ways a bit. Place is owned by Tom Duma and his wife. Good people.”

   “Thank you,” she said. As she was walking out, she caught a glimpse of a man staring at her. He was dressed nicely, even too nicely considering he was drinking whiskey in a whorehouse. Wasn’t he on the stagecoach with her? Rebecca thought he looked familiar but wasn’t sure.

   Normally she didn’t like people staring at her but now that she was a working woman, she knew she’d have to get used to it if she wanted to make money. So Rebecca smiled at the man but continued to walk out. Maybe she’ll approach him when she came back.

   Once she was outside, Rebecca stood out on the porch for a few minutes, taking in the sights and sounds of Screwhorse. Main Street was bustling with men, women, and horses. Again, she felt that dread in her gut. Rebecca hoped it was just nerves.

   She walked down towards the General Store and walked inside. A smiling man behind the counter greeted her.

   “Hello there! What could I do for you?”

   Rebecca gave the man a great big smile. “I just moved in town so I need a few things.”

   The man put out his hand and Rebecca shook it. “My name’s Tom Duma.”

   “Rebecca Bywater.”

   “You staying at the hotel?”

   “No, I’m staying at Betty’s.”

   Tom Duma’s smile faded. “Oh.”

   “What’s wrong? I thought this town was okay with…..you know, women working there.”

   “It is. The town never had a problem with it. It’s just that...”

   “Let me guess. You’re a religious man?” Rebecca said. She always found it absurd how many of the men who object to brothels on religious grounds are the men who secretly harbor passions that are even filthier than anything you’d find in a whorehouse.

   Tom Duma said, “No, no. It’s just that whenever I see such a young, pretty woman I tend to get a little sad thinking of her selling herself to all those dirty men. I’m not judging you, please don’t think that. Things go on there that can hurt a lady. It’s just discouraging. All those filthy men.”

   Rebecca patted his hand. “Oh, rest assured I’ll make the men take a bath before they have a go at me.” She smiled.

   “You’re a funny one, Miss Bywater,” Tom said. A smile was back on his face as he continued to help Rebecca with her order. When they were done, he slipped something into her hand.

   “What’s this?”

   “Just some medicine,” he said. “For women. You feel itchy or have any sores…down there, you just rub some of that on. My wife just ordered it all the way from Thompson, New Jersey. She wants me to give it to any of the girls who come in here.”