My People's Waltz by Dale Ray Phillips

Author:Dale Ray Phillips
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 0.86001.630.7
Published: 2022-07-25T00:00:00+00:00

WHAT FOLLOWED was a lesson in humility. Ruby skunked me four games straight. First, she had me walk her the distance be tween the pits. At each stob she backed up and bumped her calf against the metal. She swung the shoes to test their weight and balance and clanked them together like tuning forks to listen to their ringing. She threw a sidewinder something only the old timers can masterand she threw all ringers. The moon hadn't risen yet, and what little light that fell from the stars was lost in the shadows of the woods near where we played. complained there had to be a trick involved; how could someone connect with something they couldn't see? Then Ruby explained she had once toured county fairs with a carnival sideshow which specialized in wagering on oddities. Ruby and her partner made money challenging oncomers they could beat blindfolded. Ac cording to Ruby, she had once thrown nothing but blindfolded ringers for a solid month.

Consider this: a guy thinks he's good in horseshoes; hell, he's won some bucks at barbecues and even a county fair champi onship trophy. Then he finds himself at a carnival where some one is willing to play him blindfolded. He figures he can triple the fifty in his wallet. The poor sap doesn't understand he's whipped before he's even started. He's an honest fellow who be lieves he can control the game's outcome if he concentrates enough and wills it so. This belief was money in Ruby's pocket.

"Ruby." I felt a sudden need to confess. "Lisa and argue lot. We smash dishes and say things which can't ever be taken back. Then we make love, and though I'm not sure if divorce isn't around the corner, I quit worrying. She has this way of looking into my eyes and leaning into me before she goes to sleep which makes everything worth it. She seems as big as a church when this happens, and all I know to do is wrap my arms around her and hold on."

"Shhh," said Ruby. "Shut your eyes and enjoy the calm before you throw."

I did. I shut my eyes why not, they were useless in this game she had mastered. Of all the things to think of, I remembered the day Lisa had announced she was pregnant. We had gotten in the car and driven toward Oklahoma in the newly wintered land scape. tried imagining the fields thick with oats and hay while Lisa listed the knickknacks the baby would need and tested the sound of names. "Listen," Lisa had urged, pointing to her stom ach. Of course it was too early to hear anything, but had lis tened. Lisa had guided the steering wheel as worked the gas and set my head in her lap. She remarked that driving like this was risky business; what wasn't, I said bullishly. [ couldn't see where we were going and didn't care; I was a man with his ear cocked toward the oldest of feelings.

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