MoonShine

Meshach, Shadrach and Abednigo looked down into the dead face of their father, grey as the boiled sheet they were binding him in. Joshua Pederson, fifty seven years of age, killed by his own hand before syphilis took his mind along with his eyes.
‘Did you get a good look at that hole in his back?’
‘Wouldn’t have a face to look at if he’d put that fowling piece to his head’
Abendigo just listened to his brothers talking on, he spoke when he chose which wasn‘t often.
‘He’s been carrying that pox for years, never stopped him putting it in any paid hole he could get though’
‘He ain't been in that brothel a while, they legislated now, gotta be clean to poke in there’
‘Went down to that old widow by the tracks, Rose Marie she calls herself’
‘She never was a widow that woman, name is Rose Adams plain as her face. She’s the one got throwed out that brothel on account of her age’
‘Goddam she must be going on sixty! how’d you equate that to proper payment for services?’
‘Maybe she hoisted her petticoat from habit’
‘What you smaning at Bendy?’
He circled his finger and thumb, jerking his hand up and down.
‘I wonder about you sometimes Bendy, reckon it’s a blessing you can’t say what’s in that head of yours mostly’
‘Leave off of him Shadrach, and you Bendy quit that’
Shrugging his shoulders Abendigo stepped up to the dining table to watch Mishak put two big old pennies over Joshua’s eyes
‘Don’t harm to be sure’
‘Thought we was going to get the reverent to bury him’
‘We are’
‘So why the pennies?’
‘Putting him in holy ground is for benefit of family see, but he aint gonna be floating up to no heavenly reward. This ole’ bugger will go nowhere but down and you pay your way in that direction’
‘They going to put him in consecrated soil after doing himself in?’
‘I’m not for saying he did this on purpose, story goes he’d had a drink too many, took a fall on the gun there accident like. Mishak looked directly at Shadrak, then Abendigo, satisfying himself they were taking in what he was saying. All three nodded. Taking a last look at their father, Mishak twisted in the remaining fold over his face
‘Now let’s get to grieving’
Taking a long swallow himself, Abendigo passed a stone quart jug to Shadrak, and so it went round until each had taken a good quart pint of hooch.
‘We bury the rest of this with him’ Mishak stopper'd the sloshing jug leaving it next to Joshua’s head.
Abendigo picked empty jugs from the larder walking out to the Still for more. He made their drink and sold the leftover. It was bought on account of how good it was, as most made their own rough thereabouts. Apple cider first, then distil the sediment until when lit, a light blue flame danced across the clear oily liquor. With all the family gathering in he’d be draining off all he had.
‘How many you reckon will drop by Mish?’
‘Well I’ve walked two nights on the back of a promise, spit roast hog and liquor gives a man some purpose’
‘I plan to stay drunk between now and when he goes in the ground, don’t care for most of our kin’
Taking up the third slow rocker on the porch Abendigo passed over some still warm hooch
‘First ones will start in round noon tomorrow, I’ll get that old sow cut and hung tonight, the womenfolk can rustle up some cornbread, grits ‘n’ such’
‘The place is ours now boys’ Meshach poured out a couple more inches of Moonshine into their tin cups.
‘I’ll not miss his him, never did a damn round here’
‘Complained right enough’ ‘Where’s the goddam food, where’s the goddam drink’
Abendigo made plain his thoughts on Joshua’s buckled belt.
‘Bendy you should have stopped him cracking you about the head years back…you shrug it off but you’ve been able to knock him down since you was fifteen’
Smiling, Abendigo raised his tin, his brothers leaned over with their own, the three clanged noisily. None spoke keeping their thoughts on the farm, death and drink.
‘Meshach, you being the eldest will see this lot in your name now, by law that is’
‘Yep reckon I should start charging you two layabouts rental unless that is you two intend to keep on workin’ this scratchy old place’
‘Well if me an Bendy here gonna work it then you best be paying for our time, get minimum wage to’
Each took off another inch of drink.
‘Well my name on a piece of paper aint going to make no difference far as I’m concerned, we’ll just carry on as before’
‘Accept we won’t be feeding four, an he won’t be taking up money on whoring and gamblin, should ease up some, even start putting a bit aside’
Shadrach poked a finger through a hole in the knee of his britches, looking across at his brothers. Abendigo wearing cardboard in his rubbed out shoes, Meshach with his boys’ trousers a clean two inches clear of his ankles.
‘Probably could do with a new set of clothes each first’
Shadrach looked at Meshach like he’d announced he was taking up religion
‘And where in hell are we going to get that kind of money from, take till forever get that kinda money together’
‘Didn’t say it would be soon did I? Just that I’m sick a looking so goddam worn out all the time. Take a look at you; them boots was from your grand-daddy, trousers from a charity box and the shirt you stole in town’
‘Just borrowed it is all, you wearing the other one!’
‘I got money’ Abendigo spoke.
Meshach and Shadrach stared at him slack mouthed. Shadrach spoke for them.
‘What in hell you bleetin on about boy!’
‘The cider-still, I’ve been keeping some money back these last few years’
Meshach got a grip of himself. Sorting in his head that it was still his little brother and not to cut him open for stealin‘.
Abendigo looked at his brothers; half drunk, wanting to clear out on them but kept there by blood. He thought of grabbing hold of each to remind them of who he was, but a punch was likely a response. Meshach spoke quietly.
‘You best be splitting that money three ways Bendy’
Shadrack took his arm.‘I had enough thinking on the old man a dying, Abendigo I’m going to sort out the pig an I reckon Shad will to, then we’ll talk some more’
Wandering round back to the pen, Meshach and Shadrach guided out the old dry sow into the orchard. Trussing the back legs they hoisted her up under a tree, quickly slitting her throat, Meshach steadied the twisting body as she bled out into a bucket held by Shadrach
‘Can’t better fresh black sausage’
‘Thinking the same thing myself Mish’
The body stopped trembling and near two buckets of blood stood cooling. They set in silently cutting, pairing and scraping, working over the carcass until it was cleaned ready for the slow spit; everything either washed through or salted. Abendigo came round the back awhile later and began pulling intestine through the thickened blood, measuring of links with a couple of twists. He coiled the sausage into a cauldron of salted boiling water, giving them a few minutes to cook before looping them over a line to cool. As they got to washing off, most of the hooch had been sweated out of the brothers, so settling back on the porch they topped up with more drink and a smoke before catching a few hours sleep.
Looking out over, first light could be seen breaking on the horizon. A small figure could be made out approaching the house.
‘Who in hell is that?’ Meshach squinted into the gloom
‘Well it aint a police-man at this hour, they all be sleeping up off the turnpike, you recognise who it is Bendy?’
Shadrach reached inside the front door for his shotgun
‘I got an inkling who it may be boys’ Abendigo stepped off down the porch, walking toward the fence-line. Meshach followed behind tucking his skinning knife into the back of his waistband
‘You hang on here Mish that’s the whore he was doing, she’ll be after what she can now her meal ticket’s not getting punched no more’
Slowing Meshach took a few more steps then stopped.
‘This’ll only take a minute, I got some loose change here in my pocket, get rid of her soon enough’
Abendigo slipped out through the gate, blocking it just as the woman reached for the latch
‘I come to see him’
Staring down at the top of her shawl he stayed silent.
‘He said if anything happened to him I was due’
Leaning back against the gate Abendigo looked at her curiously, dispassionately.
‘You must be the quiet one, I need to talk with one of your brothers; Josh said if he went you’d look after me’. She held out an envelope.
‘This is his writing, signed; he said the farm would be mine’
Taking out a sheet of paper Abendigo read the barley literate words of his father, it was stamped and signed by some lawyer.
‘It’s legal, like it or not’
Bending down to the ear of the woman, he held her close by the arms, the stench of his blood soaked clothes making her gag, he began to speak.
‘Listen carefully old whore; your last an only paying hump didn’t die accidentally, I pushed that old gun hard up into his ribs and blew his dry heart out through his back, but no man or old woman can prove otherwise. Secondly I got the deeds of this place signed over to us boys in the spring by a lawyer smarter and costlier than the hick on this here note. It was easy soon as I told him the old man was dying of pox, you got that to come too I figure’
‘I got my rights…’
‘Now I got some dollars here in my pocket which will help take the pain away of your loss or, my brother there picking his nails with that blade will pin you down while I cut you open top to bottom’
Tucking his fathers’ letter back in the envelope Abendigo slipped in a five dollar bill, pushing it into her hand.
‘You got the opportunity to walk away with money in your hand or you can keep the old man company. We done here?’
Slowly backing out the gate he kept watching her, she still looked at the ground
‘He said you were the good one’
‘Papa always did mistake a lack of argument with compliance, now git the hell out’
‘You done there Bendy? Meshach came up behind wanting to see what was going on
‘Yep just telling her the arrangements for the funeral and such, shame is she has to leave town for a couple of days, so she came by to give her condolences’
Turning away the brothers walked back up, an arm slung over each others shoulder
‘You give her much?’
‘More than papa ever did’
‘You always were an easy touch Bendy. May as well stay up now’
‘Yep family will be here in few hours, nothing like family’