I've been trying to write short stories lately. And it's a struggle. I started one, got about five pages of foolscap, and didn't much like it. So, I started on another. I've been trying to tailor some family history or lore into these stories;
hey, they say to write what ya know! I've had pretty good success (
I think...
) on the latest one. It seems to be more in line with what I had in mind.
My maternal grandfather's first wife cheated on him. My grandfather found out and gave the lover a bad beating. And a
warning; that there had better
not be a next time.
But there was.
My grandfather, Tom Harris, had already been charged with murder back around 1901. At 16 or 17, he was ambushed by a couple other young men. At least one of them was the brother of a girl whom Tom had his eye on. The brother wanted his sister to go with one of his friends instead. The two met my grandfather on a country road under the pretense of buying a horse, near the central Texas town of Holland. Words were soon exhanged and they were followed with shooting. Tom was shot in the arm and returned fire, killing one and wounding the other. Tom was charged with murder but acquitted by reason of self-defense.
So, about 20 years later, after his wife began cheating again, my grandfather ended the affair for good He found the two lovers under some pecan trees on the banks of the Little River. They were on a blanket when he walked up on them. I'm guessing there was a brief
conversation and then Tom told the lover, "Well, you'll never f*ck another man's wife again!" And with those final words, Tom pulled a gun out of his coat and blew away the man's genitals. The now-neutered man didn't die then, but he did commit suicide within a few months. That man was either a Texas game warden or Bell County Constable or Deputy. My grandfather never even paid a fine for the shooting. The marriage didn't survive either. Years later, my grandfather told the story to my Uncle Elzy, momma's brother. Tom said of the poor bastard, "I guess he shot his pockets out." And old pool-shooting expression to denote someone gambling away all their money, it seemed to fit in there. Some gambles just aren't worth the loss.
Feel free to ignore lol! 
