Chapter 16

Of course being in contact with Ruth and Paris I couldn’t ignore them, but I did try to keep a little more distance between us. I will give this to Ruth, she jumped in to help Lucy as quickly, as she had me. She was everybody’s helper for which I appreciated her more.

The money thing was settled for the moment. With more people from the Holler, Lucy and Ruth began to spend more time, when not at work, helping the newcomers learn about the town and the area. Ruth even played manager now and then when Wayne, the retired miner, had a doctor’s appointment. Like most of the men from the Holler he had worked very hard at physical labor in his younger years.

I liked our motel, and I’m sure Wayne and his wife Marty did as well, because it was a low upkeep building. It was painted concrete block walls and a flat tar and gravel roof. The only mechanical things on the site was an area with three vending machines and an ice machine. Well that and a very old fashioned cash register.

I rode by several times a week. I went inside and rang up several ghost customers on that antique machine, I also paid the premium price for their rooms including taxes. It was their daughter’s job to deliver the register’s tape and the cash to our barn. I put the money in the bank then transported the record from the cash register to our home bound accountant. I could add as much as seven hundred bucks a day, if I wanted to do so, but I didn’t. I tried to keep it believable.

I consulted with Lucy and even with Ruth who knew the family better than I did of course. “What do you two think of paying for June to go to the community college. To study their short course in bookkeeping, and tax preparation?” I asked.

“I’m sorry Ty, I think her only interests are clothes and boys right now. We need to get rid of her as soon as possible,” Ruth suggested. “That’s just my opinion.”

Lucy agreed, “Besides honey, we already have one of those small time book keeper and tax people who works from her home. She is a lot cheaper than going through all that. Her monthly charge is small enough to pay her with dirty money, and she can add the motel right away.

She thinks all your money is from the landscape, or the 2nd chance store. She might charge us a little more to add the motel, but we can keep her in the dark. Wayne and Marty know better than to mention our other arrangements.”

“Okay we will keep doing it this way, but keep in mind that we can train a family member, if the need arises.” I suggested. “Do you think June has any interests at all. I would rather she not be a drain on her parents.”

“I know what you mean. Idle hands are the Devils workshop,” Ruth said. “But like I said, she is selfish as hell, and dirt lazy.”

Everything stayed the same for couple of months until Wayne’s wife Marty asked me, “Mr Tyler do you have anything June can do out on the farm?”

“To be honest with you I don’t run the farm. Lucy does that. I can ask her if she needs any help, but I wouldn’t count on it. She and Ruth have it pretty well organized. They might need a baby sitter, but frankly I think they have a daycare in mind. Doesn’t June have any interests?” I asked.

“She likes to do hair,” Marty said. “She is good at it, but she doesn’t really have a burning desire to do that.”

“Well, maybe she can find something that interests her. If she does, the family can help,” I suggested.

We kept working on our crops while the family drama played out. I was sure every family had their dramas. Ours just required that I think hard before taking any action. Any drama could effect our real business.

The spring hadn’t broke early enough to do the transplant yet. The plants might not recover from the shock unless the temperatures were right. It was a terrible gamble, but Lucy decided she had to make room for the new seedlings inside the large greenhouse. That being the case, the more mature plants had to go into the fields. All three of us pitched in to make the big move. Even with all hands on deck it took us three full days to make the two moves. Ruth and I continued to work the field, while Lucy worked in the greenhouse with Paris.

The first day that Lucy stayed alone with Paris, Ruth said to me, “I told you she would manage to spend more time with Paris than me.”

“She hasn’t gotten that far yet,” I replied feeling I needed to defend Lucy. I also knew there was a lot of truth in Ruth’s story.

“Do you two even have sex anymore?” Ruth asked.

“If you want to know that, you need to ask your cousin,” I said seriously.

“That’s what I thought. She has enough success now. She wants to be a mother. Paris is her child of choice,” she said. “That’s okay, like I said before, it’s good for Paris to have a large family.”

“I don’t know what all that means Ruth,” I replied.

“It means you and I should get together. Lucy knows you sleep with other women. She doesn’t care. You provide her with the money we all need, and Paris supplies her with something she doesn’t get from you, unconditional love.” Ruth said.

“That’s mighty deep thinking for a farm hand,” I said.

“Well, being a farm hand doesn’t make me stupid, necessarily,” she said with a smile.

“Well let’s get back to working the plants,” I suggested.

Nothing much changed during the summer. The first harvest was a little smaller than I expected, so we hung it in the barn to cure and moved the plants into the field for a second crop for us.

“We should have our keeper crop processed and ready for storage, before the Distributors crop comes in,” Lucy speculated.

“Good, I’ll give him a call and advise him that he is getting the better second crop this time. It means we won’t be delivering it until sometime in October,” I said.