Sore From The Night

Padden Down and Drunk - Part I

"Lights up ladies! Let's go!" A tall man in a tank top banged on his dusky tin pot.

"Fuck off Jonathan!" I told him.

He gave me a direct and amused smile. "You forget who's in charge here."

He slammed my head back down on my pillow and I began to remember my childhood house.

My father was a drunk and a miner. He worked in the town of Jerome Arizona. He had made love with some wench and that led to me. Still I was stuck in this town and it really was not the place to be. But it's not like you can escape Jerome. It's surrounded by miles and miles of Arizona desert. People used to say it was both a question of how to leave Jerome just as much as it was to arrive. People seemed to just appear there and never leave.

After my somewhat normal but still disheartening alarm clock awakened me. I began to get dressed for work. The miners were about to come back from the mines and that meant it was probably around six or seven in the late afternoon.

Now when I say miners. I don't mean they mine. We all know that the opium trade has made its way into town. So essentially what occurs is they get high out of their absolute MINE-DS. Then they come into town to do what comes naturally.

"Jessy my my love please!" A familiar voice cried out from the street.

I leaned out the brothel window to address said scum. "Marcus if you don't have the money. You ain't getting the honey. You know the drill."

"Jessy please! I beg thee! Just one more night. I'll pay you back with my love." Marcus was down on his hands and knees clutching a bottle of whisky.

I gave him such a hard side eye that even if he was blind he'd seen my questioning resentment. "Marcus you chose the booze over me again? This is such a shame. How can I ever entertain such a rambunctious gentlemen." I shut the window and kept getting dressed. Before I did I saw Marcus clench the dirt and mutter things angrily.

Marcus was my first client ever when I was 16. It's actually quite a shame. He was kind and sincere. I think he truly meant what he said. I think he even aimed to marry me. If he wasn't a hapless drunk. I'd consider his offer. Brothels are not exactly good places to raise a family if one intended.