The Outlaw's Son

Restless

"There ain't nothin' wrong with that." Mama said while she pulled her long hair around her shoulder and started to twirl it around her finger. "As I recall, you were a mama's boy as well." She looked at Paw and he grinned.

"We need to go see Maw. If you're feelin' up to it tomorrow we'll go. I want her to see Britt and Jacob."

"We will see." Mama answered. She sounded like she already knew she wouldn't feel like going, but didn't want to tell Paw no. "Britt, will you bring Jacob's crib in here?"

I carefully handed Jacob back to Mama and went to retrieve the wooden crib from the living room. When I came back Mama pointed me to her side of the bed. I set it on the floor where she'd showed me and watched her place him inside. He wasn't screaming anymore and looked like he might feel sleepy. We took that as our cue to get some rest before his wailing started again. I told them goodnight and walked to my room.

________

"Get up, boy." Paw yelled from the hallway. I squinted my eyes to see it was still dark outside. I sat up on the edge of the bed and stretched. I felt lazy and knew I hadn't had much sleep. I put on my boots and my shirt and picked my vest up from the night stand. I hadn't worn it since the day I got here. My hat was no where to be found and just as I was about to get mad, I looked under the bed. It was just far enough back that I hadn't seen it.

"Where are we goin'?" I asked when I walked out into the hallway. Paw turned around and yawned.

"We got some business." I saw a youthful look on his face and grinned. I knew what we were about to do and I was a little too excited. "Don't make too much noise, we don't wanna wake your mama."

I nodded and followed him to the kitchen. He had one of his saddle bags on the table and he stuffed his canteen inside. Then he walked into the living room and opened the doors on the amoire. He pulled out a pistol that looked like it was brand new. "Where did you get that?"

"I bought this pistol after your mama and I escaped from the Morrison gang. They stole mine, so I bought a new one." He handed it to me and I examined it before handing it back. "This one is your mama's."

I took the similar looking gun from his hands and looked at it, thinking about mama shooting it was funny. "Mama shot this?"

"Yep."

"You been takin' good care of 'em." I nodded as I handed it back to Paw. He smiled before placing it back on the shelf. He opened the bottom cabinet and pulled out a shot gun. "What are we gon' need all this for?"

"I believe in bein' prepared."

After we had everything together, we quietly stepped outside through the back door. I got the horses ready while Paw filled up our canteens. We mounted the horses and quickly rode away from the house. When we had reached the woodline Paw broke the silence. "This makes me feel young again."

"Don't make you look any younger." I laughed and he punched my arm. Honestly, Paw didn't look old. He still looked the same as when I was a child, except for his few laugh lines. He wasn't regular about shaving anymore and he had dark stuble around his jaw.

"Your mama is goin' to kill me when we get back." He grinned widely. "Either for what we're gon' do or 'cause I didn't bring her along."

"She wouldn't have wanted to come, would she?"

"Oh yeah."

"Paw, are you and Mama bored?"

Paw looked startled at my question. "With each other?"