The Wild Bill Hickoks: Lucy - Chapter Two

A Chapter by Sophia Margaret

“S**t,” I muttered, annoyed despite myself.

“It ain't that bad,” Jane, the peacekeeper of our little group, said.

With flaming red hair and emerald eyes, people often assumed Jane was the hot-blooded one among us. Nothing could be further from the truth, though. She possessed an angelic voice that went along well with her sweet temperament.

That wasn't to say she didn't love a little trouble every now and then. But usually, for her, trouble came dressed in a pair of low-hanging, well-worn blue jeans. Guys sure did love themselves a redhead, and Jane sure did love herself some guys.

“It ain't that good, either,” Raelynn, my fellow pessimist, returned.

Out of the four of us, Rae and I were the least similar in looks but the most similar in personality. At five-foot-ten, she was the tallest of our foursome. At five-foot-one, I often felt like a little kid standing next to her. She was thin, with the build of a ballerina, and she had legs that seemed to go on forever. With black hair that fell down to her a*s, hazel eyes that changed color with her moods, and full, pouty lips, she looked more like an exotic model than a guitar player in a band.

Unfortunately for the guys that lusted after her, Rae had a past that had left her defensive and distrustful. She rarely let anyone get close to her, with the exception of our small group and Lo's brother, Tucker, who'd been the one to teach us all how to play guitar. Like me, she was often the one getting us into trouble. There was an incident back in high school that'd left us sitting in county lockup for the night and Rae with the nickname “Devil in a blue dress.” That came thanks to the black eye she'd given two of Old Willy's deputies before they'd managed to get her into a pair of cuffs.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Jane give Rae the look, letting her know I was coming up on a mood.

“Well, it ain't,” she said defensively, with a shrug.

We stood out in the middle of the street in what was supposed to be downtown, but what was really just a bank, a couple little businesses, and a whole lotta nothing much else.

“Where we even gonna play?” I asked, my voice coming out low in anger. Frank had sworn to me that we were done with towns like this. We'd probably get a handful of stragglers out to see us, if we were lucky. Places like this were just too hard on us after spending so much time on the road. We'd paid our dues. Maybe we weren't ready for the big time yet, but we'd earned the ability to stop playing holes in the wall like this.

“Frank says they got a roundup, just outside of town,” Lo said.

Lo always had the details. She was the one responsible for getting us from town to town while we were out on tour.

“Yeah?” Rae asked, a little more hope in her voice. “Well, that's something.”

“It ain't much,” I said, turning and heading back to the car as I spoke. I kicked at a stone in my annoyance, giving into my foul mood. This wasn't gonna be a good day for me, I could feel it already.

“Come on, let's get some food. We can worry about tonight later,” Jane said, and I knew she was trying to keep me from spiraling. It happened quicker and quicker these days, ever since Albuquerque. I knew it and could feel when it was happening, but I couldn't do anything to stop it. The anger was just too deep in me, and some days it just took over. Deciding today wouldn't be one of those days, I nodded my head to let her know it was a plan I was OK with. Then I climbed into the back of the old VW Bus we traveled around in these days.

We traced our way back to the diner we'd stopped at on our way into town last night. Somehow I doubted we'd find another restaurant anywhere close by. None of us minded too much, though. After a while on the road, all the diners just sort of blended into one another. And this one, as we found out last night, wasn't half bad.

The four of us slid into a booth with red leather seats and a classic white confetti tabletop wrapped in chrome. It was mid-afternoon - after lunch but before dinner - which meant we were among the only customers in there. A waitress came up, handing us our menus with a smile. Before she could walk off again Lo pinned the girl, who looked to be in her late teens, with some questions.

“Is the Roundup close by?” she asked, ever the strategist when it came to getting us to our gigs.

“Y'all thinking of stopping in tonight?” the waitress said, answering our question with a question.

“We're the entertainment,” Rae explained.

When the waitress stared at her with a blank expression, I added, “You know, the freaking band.” Possibly I'd said it with a little more attitude than was strictly necessary, but it couldn't be helped. The danger was still there, hovering right below the surface, making me feel saucy.

The waitress' eyebrows shot up a little, as she looked us over appraisingly, doubtful even. “You're The Wild Bill Hickoks?”

This was always a point of annoyance for us. Whenever anyone heard our name they assumed we'd be a bunch of men, past our prime, and raised on honky-tonk and moonshine. And while the last two were pretty spot on, the first two missed the mark by a long-shot.

“That's what we hear,” Jane answered for us. “So, the roundup?” she asked, trying to get back on point.

“Yeah. It's out on Route 301, about three miles west of here. It'll be on your right. You won't miss it.”

Once she was gone and we were settled in, it was time for our strategy session. We learned long ago that we got through business much quicker, and with much less arguing, when we were facing the prospect of a meal in front of us. So now we ate as we conducted business. Otherwise we just got bitchy with each other.

“Alright,” Lo began, “so I got the upcoming schedule from Frank. Y'all will be happy to know that we'll be outta here tomorrow, first thing.”

“Shouldn't've been here to begin with,” I couldn't help but mutter.

“Well, be that as it may, we're here. Tomorrow we'll be on our way again. Things will be picking up for a while after this.”

Sensing the unease in her tone despite what should've been good news, I eyed her suspiciously. “Why don't you sound happy about this?”

“There's a … complication,” she hedged.

“What kind of complication?”

“We're supposed to meet up with the Easy Pickin' Boys in Louisiana. Frank's got us joining them for the last half of their leg.”

Stunned silence met that pronouncement, the three of us staring at Lo in disbelief. “There's no way Frank would be dumb enough to sign us up for that,” Raelynn said, finally breaking the silence.

“I'm not sure he felt he had much of a choice, honestly. Remember, his first priority is to our careers. The Easy Pickin' Boys are having their moment right now. They're on their way up and suddenly they find themselves without an opening band for the next few weeks. Frank got a call. They wanted to know if we'd come out on tour with them, help them finish this one out. He knows there's history there, but I think in this case he thinks the benefits will outweigh any discomfort we might face over the next few weeks.”

“No!” I hissed, slamming my fist on the table. “No way in hell am I opening for Wyatt Earp Jackson! This isn't even up for consideration. I don't wanna be in the same state as Wyatt, yet alone go out on tour with him. It's bullshit that Frank would commit us to something like that and y'all know it!”

I was so damn angry I was seeing red, and I knew nothing was going to be able to temper the explosion that was coming, this time. Jane reached over, placing her hand on my arm in an effort to calm me, but I yanked away from her and slid out of the booth in one fluid motion. I needed out of this damn diner.

Once outside, I let loose a string of profanity that would've made my MawMaw proud, if she'd still been alive to hear it. As it was, the only witnesses were a pair of truckers making their way into the diner, and Raelynn, who must've followed me out.

“I'm not doing this, Raelynn. I'm just not. So don't even try to talk me into it,” I stormed.

“Wasn't planning on it, girlie. I'm with you on this, I don't want anything to do with Wyatt, either. Plus, we do just fine on our own, no need to tie ourselves to his star.”

“Right. Yes. We don't ride no one's coattails. Everything we've gotten, we've earned. Everything!”

“That's right. We've worked hard to earn our place in the world, waiting for our big break. Waiting for our chance at opening for a bigger act. Not this act, of course. You know, someone who could offer us more exposure than we get playing places like where we're at right now. I'm sure another shot will come along. I mean, it's not like this can be our only one, right?”

“Damn you, Rae, I thought you were on my side!” I spat, seeing what she was so very obviously doing.

“Sweetie, I am. You know I am. You wouldn't be sitting here listening to me, otherwise. But I also know that playing places like this is killing you. I can see the bitterness in your eyes, the defeat. You ain't gonna last much longer like this. Not unless something changes, and this is that chance. When you let that fiery temper of yours calm down a little, I think even you'll say we'd be idiots to pass this up.”

I gave her the evil eye. But even as I did, I worked on my breathing to get myself calmed down, a trick I learned a few years ago. Closing my eyes, I focused on letting go of the anger and the resentment. It took a few minutes before I had myself calmed down enough to open my eyes again.

Meanwhile, Rae had just waited. She was good at that when she needed to be.

“Listen, darling. Say the word and we'll skip this. Make this call when you're calm and thinking straight and you know we'll go along with whatever you decide. If you wanna keep going on like we're going, we'll do it. We won't mention this again. We'll invoke the vault. But if you think you wanna do this, if you think you're strong enough for it, you know we'll be there for you every step of the way. What happened last time won't happen again. You're smarter this time, and your eyes are open. And, let's be honest, you're a helluva lot meaner now than you were back then. I think if you decide we're gonna do this, Wyatt's not gonna know what hit him, and that's the honest truth.”

“I don't know if I'm strong enough, Rae,” I whispered, hating to admit it.

“Of course you are. Lucy, you're one of the strongest people I know. You scare grown men almost twice your size. You stand up for people who can't stand up for themselves. You fight for those you love till you got nothing left in you, even when you know they're wrong. And no matter what happens, no matter how far you fall, you pick yourself up and shake the dust off ya and go on like nothing happened. I wish I had even half the strength you had in that tiny little body of yours.”

Nobody gave pep talks the way Raelynn did. For as prickly and as devilish as she was, Rae could cheer someone on like no one else's business. I loved her for it, and for so much more. She was the yin to my yang. If she was telling me I could do this then, damn it, I could do it. For her and the girls, I would do it.

And maybe in the process, I'd be able to get some payback on one Mr. Wyatt Earp Jackson. Lord knows, I'd been waiting years for the chance.

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