Billy Smith is abandoned by his mother and loses his father in an accjdrnt on the railroad but with the help from friends he begins working for the railroad and advances from telegrapher to yerminal trainmaster before joining a newly found friend in the oil drilling business.
Outlaws, Railroads, and Oil Wells
A Tale of Old DallasBy Robert J. GossettAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2010 Robert J. Gossett
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4520-4333-3Chapter One
Kansas City
Billy Smith was six years old when he started school in Kansas City. He walked to and from school with his friend and next door neighbor, Bobby Jones. Bobby was a year older and taller than Billy and a lot of kids at school called Bobby his bodyguard. They were very close friends and constant companions. They almost considered themselves brothers because Bobby's mother, Helen, was a midwife and flame red-haired beauty who delivered Billy six years ago. Billy's mother was an ex model and had kept her beauty. His dad was a brakeman for the railroad whose job was to slow or stop the train when necessary. Atop each rail car was a wheel which had to be turned to set the brakes to slow or stop the train. Sometimes on a fifteen or twenty car train it was an arduous task climbing to the top of each rail car, turning the brake wheel, then going on to the next car and repeating the process. Sometimes if the weather was not raining, snowing, or icing, the more experienced brakeman learned to jump from car top to car top to eliminate the ascent and descent on each car. Even using this maneuver it would take the better part of an hour to get the train stopped, starting at the caboose at the rear and advancing car to car until one reached the wood or coal car and could relax.
The other big difference in their jobs was Bobby's dad was home every night, while Billy's dad father \\\\\\was gone for three or four days at a time depending on the length of the route. After working a ten-hour shift, they would change crew and lay over for a day or so, then they would pick up another train either heading home or farther from home depending on their schedule.
Both families lived in Kansas City owned houses for which they paid rent of 10% of their wages, which was deducted from their weekly pay. Despite the many similarities, there were many differences in the boys. Bobby was outgoing, loved the outdoors and sports and had a baby sister, Ginny, who was two years old. One day the two boys were sharing secrets, as they did often, Bobby told Billy he probably would never have a baby brother or sister. Bobby said his mother told him after she delivered Billy that Evelyn had said, "I will never, ever go through that again."
Billy did not enjoy sports and spent most of his spare time reading. The only books in his house were the bible and the McGuffey reader. Billy had read both of these from cover to cover at least twice. He also had borrowed books from his teacher and read every book he could get his hands on. If he had trouble understanding words in the books, he would write them down and ask his teacher about them the next day.
Billy hated it when his dad wasn't home, and his mother disliked it too. She did not like to read, but she busied herself knitting and canning fruits and vegetables. When his dad was home for his three day breaks they would go on picnics and pick blackberries and gather nuts. Billy hated gathering walnuts because he knew he would have to get the outer hull off the shell and spread them to dry, and the stains he got on his hands would last for weeks, even after scouring with lye soap.
Billy celebrated his eleventh birthday at home with his mother, but his dad was on the road again. He would go without a present, unless his dad returned with one when he got home.
Two days later Bill came home and he had indeed brought Billy a gift: a book. Billy grinned from ear to ear when he unwrapped his present and saw the title of the book: Riders of the Purple Sage. "Oh boy," Billy uttered, "a cowboy book! I love cowboys!" His mother and dad both grinned, looking at each other. "Thank you dad. How did you know I like cowboys?"
"All boys like cowboys," his dad answered. After giving his mother and dad a kiss and a hug, Billy took his book and some of the cookies Bobby's mother had baked for him and went to his room to read his book. A year later, Bill was home for Billy's birthday, but his mother wasn't. He had not seen her since she sent him off for school that morning.
Bill tried to reassure Billy by saying "I'm sure she is OK and will be home soon." But by eight o'clock Evelyn was still not home, so Bill made some biscuits, scrambled some eggs and he and Billy ate supper and followed it with a piece of birthday cake brought over by their next door neighbor, Helen. Bill asked her, "Helen, do you know where Evelyn could be?"
"No, sorry, I don't Bill, but I'm sure she will be home soon."
With all of the excitement, Bill finally got around to giving his son the present he had brought home for him. "Oh boy Dad. Thank you!" he said when he examined his new book Ghost Riders. "Thanks dad, another cowboy book!"
"Yes son, and you enjoy it."
"I will sir, and thank you so much. You know how much I love cowboy books."
It was ten o'clock before Evelyn came home reeking of alcohol, slurring her words, and unsteady on her feet. "Go to bed boy," Bill commanded Billy. Without a word Billy obeyed and was busy reading his book when he heard his parents arguing loudly. "Where in the hell have you been?" Bill demanded to know.
"I have been with friends and lost track of time"
"Bull shit!" Bill replied loudly, "Just get your drunk ass to bed!" A whimper came from his mother, and then silence.
Billy woke up at six the next morning and found Bill already up and cooking biscuits, ham, and eggs for breakfast. It was Saturday so Billy had no school and Bill was home for a two-day layover from work. "Why do people drink liquor, Dad?" Billy asked as soon as he saw Bill sitting at the table somber and nervously stirring his cup of coffee.
"I don't rightly know, son. I guess for a lot of different reasons. Some say they like the taste of it; some like the way it makes them feel. I think your mother drinks because she is lonely."
"Dad, is it OK if I go get Bobby to go fishing with me after I finish my breakfast?"
"Sure, that will be OK son. Go ahead."
The boys caught a nice string of pan fish, mostly blue gills and croppies. On the walk home Billy told Bobby, "You take home all the fish. I don't think my mother or dad are up to cleaning fish this evening."
"Why not?" Bobby wanted to know.
"I just don't," Billy said. "You take the fish and I will tell you later what happened."
When Billy walked into the house his mother was asleep on the sofa and his dad was busy cooking pot roast, potatoes, and green beans. "Did you catch any fish son?"
"Just a few, so I gave them all to Bobby," Billy replied.
Bill and Billy finished their dinner, washed and dried the dishes, but Evelyn slept through it all. Then Bill told Billy, "Why don't you go to your room and read your book?"
"Yes sir, I will. See you in the morning, Dad." He replied. Some time later that night Billy heard loud arguing between his mother and father, but he continued reading until he was sleepy. Then he went to sleep.
The next morning Billy woke up early but stayed in bed as long as he could; but soon he had to visit the outhouse. He hated using the slop jar under his bed because it gagged him when he had to empty it later. He tiptoed to the living room, slipped outside, visited the outhouse, then went back into the house. This time his dad was asleep on the sofa, and he guessed his mother was in the bedroom.
Later that day, Bill took Billy outside to talk to him. "Son, I am sorry but I have to leave early in the morning to go to work and I hate leaving you here."
Billy reassured him, "I will be fine, Dad. I am a big boy now and can take care of myself."
"Like hell you are, but I will ask Helen and George to look in on you. I should be home Wednesday. If you need anything, just go next door and they will look after you."
"I will, Daddy. You go and don't worry about me."
The next two days Evelyn was fine. She got Billy up in the morning, packed his lunch, and fixed his dinner at night. Billy noticed she had washed and ironed his clothes. He thanked her for it, and thought to himself, "This must be her way of saying she was sorry." Bill was due home in two days and Billy was anxious to give a full report to him. The third day changed all of that. Billy, Bobby, and two of their friends were walking home from school and when they reached Billy's front yard they saw Evelyn lying on the front stoop bleeding from a large cut over her left eye. All of the boys rushed to her aid but were unable to wake her up. She reeked of alcohol. They tried in vain to get her to her feet, so Bobby rushed home and returned with his mother. With Helen's assistance they were able to get her into the house and lay her on the sofa. Helen got a clean rag and warm water and got the bleeding to stop. She still refused to wake up, so Helen sent Bobby off running to fetch Doctor Adams who lived only four blocks away.
Shortly Doc Adams showed up in his buggy and Bobby was with him. Using smelling salts, Doc Adams was able to rouse her, and with Helen's assistance they were able to get Evelyn in her bed. Then he met with Helen and told her "She will be fine. She's just very intoxicated, and tomorrow she will have a giant headache and a very large knot on her head. Helen, if you will change her bandage tomorrow and keep her off of alcohol for a while, she will be just fine."
"Thank you doctor. I sure will and I know Bill will want to pay you when he gets home in a couple of days." Helen said.
"I'm not worried about that Helen," Doc replied.
After the doctor left and the other boys went home, Helen spoke with Billy and Bobby. "Billy, you stay with Bobby tonight and tell George to feed you boys. I will be staying here all night to make sure Evelyn is OK."
Bobby said "Sure will, Mom."
Billy said "Thank you, Mrs. Jones."
The next day at school, the other boys who had been at the Smith house must have spread the word around. At recess time when Billy and Bobby went outside to play, a group of boys and a few girls were chanting "Poor Billy Smith. Poor Billy Smith. His mother fell down-she got drunker than Cooter Brown." Then they repeated the chant. Billy started toward them, but Bobby restrained him saying, "Let's just ignore them and maybe it will stop later today." But it didn't stop and the next morning's recess the same group of kids started the chanting all over. "Poor Billy Smith. Poor Billy Smith. His mother fell down-she got drunker than Cooter Brown." They started to repeat the chant again, but Billy could stand it no longer. He rushed into the middle of the group throwing punches, as he fought his way into the center. Billy was small of stature, but he was a scrapper. Bobby did not intervene but did jump in to pull one of the boys off Billy when two of them had him down and were punching him. Billy scrambled to his feet and continued punching the boy who had held him down.
The ruckus attracted a crowd and the teacher, Miss Ranker, came to investigate. "What in the world is going on here?" She demanded to know.
A lot of the kids pointed to Billy saying, "He started it, ma'am."
"Is that true Billy?" She asked.
Blotting his bloody nose on his sleeve, he replied, "Yes ma'am."
Some of the other boys were bloodier than Billy, but Miss Ranker took Billy into the classroom to tell him, "I know what they have been teasing you about, Billy. Is it true?" She continued wiping his nose with a damp cloth as she told him, "I think you had better go home for the rest of the day and bring an adult with you tomorrow, before I can let you back into class. Do you understand me?"
"Yes ma'am, I understand."
"I will see you tomorrow and no more fighting. Now you take this cloth with you and hold it on your nose while you walk home."
"Yes ma'am, I will." Billy replied as he left for home.
When he reached his house, Helen was there attending to his mother and changing her bandage. "What in the world happened to you, Billy?" she asked.
"I got into a fight at school and Miss Ranker sent me home."
"What were you fighting about?" she wanted to know.
Before he could answer, Bill stormed into the room, "What in the hell is going on around here?" he cried out. "I come home, find my wife in bed all bandaged up and my son bleeding and battered."
"Just calm down, Bill. Follow me into the kitchen and we will make some coffee and I'll explain it all to you."
Bill said, "You are a saint, Helen, for looking after my family. Thank you." After hearing the story, Bill buried his face in his hands and confided to Helen, "What am I to do? What am I to do?"
"It will be OK, Bill," Helen replied, "It will all work out."
"I sure hope so. I can't go on like this," Bill said. Helen gave him a sisterly hug. Bill drank a cup of coffee and went in to see Evelyn but returned shortly. She couldn't or wouldn't talk to him.
The next morning Bill walked to school with Billy and Bobby and went directly to see Miss Ranker. She asked the boys to wait in the hall while she spoke to Bill. Bill spoke first, "Miss Ranker, what is going on here?"
"Billy has always been a good student, Mr. Smith, but lately something has changed. Is there something wrong at home?"
"Yes, Miss Ranker, something is terribly wrong at home. To be frank, I am afraid his mother has turned into a drunk."
"Oh my. Oh my," Miss Ranker gasped, "What can we do about it?"
"I wish I knew. I am gone on my job three or four days at a time, and she is not taking care of Billy but going out to bars drinking and coming home drunk. Two days ago she fell on the front stoop and passed out and the boys found her lying on the porch injured."
"I know Mr. Smith, that is what the other children have been teasing him about and that is what the fight was all about. I will tell you one thing, Mr. Smith. Billy may not be a big boy, but he sure is a fighter. You should have seen what he did to some of the bigger boys."
"What do you think I should do, Miss Ranker?"
"I really don't know, but something should be done soon." Stroking his arm sympathetically, Miss Ranker tried to reassure him, "You will find a way Mr. Smith, and I will do anything I can to help. You just let me know if I can help."
"Thank you Miss Ranker, I will work out something."
All day at recess there was no further teasing or chanting-perhaps they didn't want to fight with Billy again.
In two days things had improved so much that Bill left to return to work. Evelyn was up and behaving normally. Billy's nose was still swollen but no longer bleeding. When Bill returned home after two days on the road, he found everything still vastly improved. Evelyn had cleaned the house and washed a four-day accumulation of dirty clothes. Bill walked in the door, kissed Evelyn, and hugged Billy. He thought he smelt alcohol on Evelyn's breath, but he couldn't be sure.
Evelyn had a good supper on the table and they all ate in silence. As they were all clearing the table and washing and drying the dishes, Bill made his big announcement. "I spoke with Okie Green, the terminal trainmaster, and he told me that because of my seniority he was transferring my permanently to the Kansas City to Topeka run and return. That means I will only be away from home one night at a time."
Bill said "That is great, Dad. I am so happy."
Evelyn's comment was "That's nice, Bill. I guess you had to tell him about me to get that assignment."
"I did no such thing, Evelyn. I only told him I wanted to be home more often. "
"Sure, sure," Evelyn said and left the room.
Bill told Billy if his mother gave him any trouble to go next door and stay with the Jones's until he got home. Within two weeks, Evelyn was not home when he got home from school. Billy waited until nine o'clock, then he went to the Jones' to sleep. The next afternoon, Evelyn was home when Billy got home, but she was asleep on the sofa and smelling like a distillery.
When Bill arrived, he woke her up and demanded to know, "Where in God's name were you last night?"
"I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed with a friend," she lied freely.
"I'll bet you did, and who might that be?" Bill's voice trembled. "Just never you mind," she said, "It is none of your business."
"It certainly is my business and I will find out the truth, one way or another," Bill shouted.
Evelyn left for her bedroom. Bill cooked beef and biscuits for their supper, but he did not call Evelyn to join them.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from Outlaws, Railroads, and Oil Wellsby Robert J. Gossett Copyright © 2010 by Robert J. Gossett. Excerpted by permission.
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