It's Not a Man's World

Now there are a lot of stories floating around about what really happened that Saturday night. I hear tell that some of the townsfolk around here say I stepped out of my place and am a cold blooded killer. Others whisperers say that I'm a hero. I don't much care what they say, I'm just proud me and my little Lila survived.

You see, Saturday nights in Abilene can get pretty rowdy. It's nothing new for the boys to hit town, all clean and smelling good, weekly wages in their pocket, ready to drink away their aches and pains from a hard weeks work. To be honest, I always look forward to Saturday nights and the tips that get thrown my way once those cowboys get a little loose. Sure helps a working girls finances.

Joe Riley, owner of Prosperity Ranch and one of the richest men around here, always paid his hands on Saturday morning and let them have the rest of the day off. Joe and the boys would ride in together and, in a matter of minutes, would have the whole town of Abilene hustling and bustling with business. Everyone pretty much catered to Joe Riley's every whim.

Once Joe was finished with his business in town he would head over to the saloon to play some cards. He would throw his money around real big like to see who he could get the most attention from and every gal in the place would flirt shamefully with him just hoping to win his favors.

I couldn't stand Joe Riley. As far as I'm concerned he was one of the vilest men ever to walk the streets of Abilene. Don't get me wrong, he was fine to look at. At 55 years old, he stood a good 6'2" with smoky grey hair and eyes as blue as the sky. When he turned on the charm he could certainly make a girl swoon but Joe was inclined to drink too much red-eye and, once loaded up on hootch, he was as mean as a snake. I had learned the hard way that the best thing to do when Joe got to drinking was to stay as far away from him as possible. No easy task for a saloon girl, let me tell you.

On that particular Saturday night Joe had been drinking pretty heavy and had set his sights on little Miss Lila, the Belle of the saloon, a fiesty little red head that was as pretty as a sunset. Lila had wandered into town one day, alone, dirty and starved. She didn't have no people around Abilene and she wouldn't tell anyone where she was from. Because Lila was only 14 years old, several families offered to take her in but she refused help from any of the towns people so Billy, the saloon owner, offered to let her work for room and board. Her job was to serve drinks and keep the place picked up best she could and all of us at the saloon had taken it upon ourselves to watch over our little girl. One day, as Lila was about her daily chores Billy overheard her singing and offered her a job singing on Saturday nights. It wasn't long before she was out singing and dancing every girl in the saloon and soon became the closing show every Saturday night.

Well, it was getting close to closing time and just like every Saturday night the boys raised the roof when Lila stepped out from behind the bar to do her show. She sang a lively little ditty and danced around from cowboy to cowboy, offering them a thread of hope only to break their hearts as she twirled away. There was hooping and hollering and dancing all over the saloon.

Caught up in the chaos of a good time, Lila found herself flung right into the arms of a very drunk Joe Riley who grabbed a hold of her and proceeded to handle her like one of the common working girls. Lila kept right on singing and tried her best to dance out of Joe's arms but Joe wasn't letting go. Not wanting to cause a fuss, Lila quietly struggled to get free.

The place was in an uproar with feisty fun when I noticed that Lila was no longer singing along with the piano, I immediately looked over to Joe's table to make sure Lila was okay. She wasn't there and neither was Joe. In a panic I rushed from behind the bar toward the stairs. That's when I heard Lila's muffled screams from the storeroom.

When I burst into the room Joe had Lila pinned down on the floor. He had already ripped her dress off and was proceeding to have his way with her. I hollered at Joe and tried to pull him off of Lila but he just shoved me to the floor. I must have been screaming because Billy and a couple of the boys appeared at the door. In a matter of seconds the small room seemed packed with people but Joe was still on top of Lila and none of the men were doing anything to help her.

Again, I tried with all of my might to push Joe off of Lila. He was like a rock wall. Supplies fell all around me as I ricocheted off Joe into a shelf. In a panicked blur I grabbed the first thing I could get my hands on and hit him right in the back of the neck.

Suddenly someone grabbed me around the waist and yanked me out of the room. As I struggled to get back to Lila I was shoved even further away from the storeroom. There was all sorts of hollering but I couldn't make out any words. Billy, the saloon owner, and several of the girls were dragging me up the stairs as I desperately fought them, trying to get back to Lila. I was forced into a room upstairs behind a locked door. Livid, I ripped at the door, fighting my assailants. All of a sudden someone grabbed me from behind, smothering me with an old rag.

I'm not real sure what happened next but when I woke up I was in my bed with Billy sitting on one side of me and the Doc sitting on the other. My head was pounding and my mind was groggy. As I struggled to make sense of what had happened I jerked up in the bed, remembering Lila. It was impossible to stop my sobs as I cried out her name.

Billy wrapped his arms around me trying to calm me. My mind raced back to the appauling scene in the storeroom and questions flooded from my mouth. What had happened to Lila? Where was Joe Riley? Why didn't anyone do anything to help Lila? In a very detached voice Billy said that Lila, although beaten and bruised, was in her room safe and resting. He said Joe was dead then he stopped and stared at Doc who ducked his head and looked away. As I opened my mouth to speak Billy squeezed my hand and said, "There's nothing can be said. Let's just leave it at that."

By noon I was feeling much better and insisted on seeing Lila for myself. Poor little Lila, the Belle of the saloon was sitting in a chair looking out the window when I got to her room. She didn't turn to see who had come in. She just sat staring out the window. I spoke to her gently as I entered the room. As I said her name she sprang from the chair and rushed to me. She grabbed hold of me and began sobbing. I wasn't able to make out most of what Lila was saying but I did understand she was speaking of last night's events.

As Lila continued to speak, her sobs became deeper and she began to tremble. I thought she might fall out but she held on to me like there was no tomorrow. She continued to blubber with the words why and thank you seeming to be the only things that were important to her. Not knowing what to say, I stood holding Lila in my arms, stroking her lovely red hair. After a while I raised her face to look at me and wiped at the tears flowing down her cheeks. My heart broke for Lila as I looked into her questioning eyes. I took her by the hands and said the only thing I could think to say. "Out here in the west they say it's a man's world but I say when there ain't no men that will stand up and do the right thing it's time for a woman to do what must be done. There's nothing can be said. Let's just leave it at that."

To this day I still don't know what happened. What I do know is that me and Miss Lila are still working at the saloon. Lila is getting better every day and is still the Belle of the saloon. As for Joe, ain't seen him around Abilene since. Wagging tongues say that he disappeared and hasn't been seen in months and may even be dead. I hope he's dead for Lila's sake but, really, don't much matter to me. There's nothing can be said. Let's just leave it at that.