Read Online In Broad Daylight by Harry N. MacLean - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Harry N. MacLean
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out that way. Ken was almost never around, and when he left, he never said where he was going or when he would be back. He could be gone for two days, or two weeks, and when he did return, he never gave any explanations. Although he was free to come and go, Alice wasn't. She was to be there for him whenever he came home, to keep his house, satisfy his needs, and make no demands. If she asked questions or tried to do things on her own, she risked a beating. When he was drinking, he often flew into violent rages over the smallest thing-a look she gave him, or another man saying hello to her on the street. Sometimes, he would crack her across the face with a backhand; other times he would grab her by the hair and yank her across the room.
He erupted when she complained about his being gone all the time or seeing other women. Afterward, the beating was always her fault; if she hadn't complained, she wouldn't have gotten beaten. He was never to blame. In all the years he beat her, Ken never once apologized. Many times, she was so black-and-blue and swollen that she was ashamed to go outside. In the later years, more than once in the middle of a beating she fantasized about grabbing one of his guns and shooting him.
One time, when he had been gone for days, he walked in the bedroom and found her packing boxes of clothes. He went crazy over her walking out on him, and before she could explain that she was just putting the clothes away, he had grabbed her by the hair and swung her into the wall. He ended up with a fistful of her hair and she was left with lumps and a bald spot.
Other times, the rage seemed to come from nowhere. He would be fine, and then he would start drinking whiskey and brooding about something that somebody had said to him two months ago, or some imagined slight in a pool game. The memory would eat away inside him until he couldn't handle it anymore, and he would explode. If Alice got involved, if she tried to reason with him, even if she just tried to calm him down, she was immediately favoring the other side and became the enemy-another person to be punished. She learned to keep her mouth shut and stay out of his way.
The other women in Ken's life were hard for Alice to accept at first. When she met him, she had a schoolgirl's version of fidelity between a man and a woman in love. She knew that Ken saw other women, but she thought maybe he would settle down once they lived together. He didn't. The same thing that fascinated her about Ken fascinated lots of women, and he had girlfriends everywhere. After a while, she could tell when Ken had a new girlfriend because he calmed down, and would even be nice to her.
As the years passed, Alice learned that women were merely possessions to Ken-that he needed and used them. As far as sex went, it was for his gratification alone: he had it with a woman, and then went on his way. In fact, Alice felt that his real need for women was not sexual, but to boost his ego. The way Ken saw the world, he was always having to prove himself, always having to show that he was more of a man than the next guy, and one of the ways to prove it was by collecting women, the younger the better. Another way was to screw the women of men who thought they were better than he was, the rich farmers and ranchers. He would laugh and remark to Alice that he was really doing those men a favor by keeping their wives satisfied.
Ken and Alice moved to Amazonia and then Rosendale, two small towns close by St. Joe. Alice had a stillborn child during this period and became pregnant again in early 1968. She gave birth to Juarez on September 19 of that year.
Meanwhile, Sharon and her four girls, who had stayed on the farm Ken left, moved to Florida to live with Sharon's mother.
In the late sixties, McElroy hooked up with a man who would run with him until the very end. Like most of Ken's pals, Fred M. was a coon hunter. He met McElroy at a dog meet in Bedford, Iowa, and took an immediate liking to
He erupted when she complained about his being gone all the time or seeing other women. Afterward, the beating was always her fault; if she hadn't complained, she wouldn't have gotten beaten. He was never to blame. In all the years he beat her, Ken never once apologized. Many times, she was so black-and-blue and swollen that she was ashamed to go outside. In the later years, more than once in the middle of a beating she fantasized about grabbing one of his guns and shooting him.
One time, when he had been gone for days, he walked in the bedroom and found her packing boxes of clothes. He went crazy over her walking out on him, and before she could explain that she was just putting the clothes away, he had grabbed her by the hair and swung her into the wall. He ended up with a fistful of her hair and she was left with lumps and a bald spot.
Other times, the rage seemed to come from nowhere. He would be fine, and then he would start drinking whiskey and brooding about something that somebody had said to him two months ago, or some imagined slight in a pool game. The memory would eat away inside him until he couldn't handle it anymore, and he would explode. If Alice got involved, if she tried to reason with him, even if she just tried to calm him down, she was immediately favoring the other side and became the enemy-another person to be punished. She learned to keep her mouth shut and stay out of his way.
The other women in Ken's life were hard for Alice to accept at first. When she met him, she had a schoolgirl's version of fidelity between a man and a woman in love. She knew that Ken saw other women, but she thought maybe he would settle down once they lived together. He didn't. The same thing that fascinated her about Ken fascinated lots of women, and he had girlfriends everywhere. After a while, she could tell when Ken had a new girlfriend because he calmed down, and would even be nice to her.
As the years passed, Alice learned that women were merely possessions to Ken-that he needed and used them. As far as sex went, it was for his gratification alone: he had it with a woman, and then went on his way. In fact, Alice felt that his real need for women was not sexual, but to boost his ego. The way Ken saw the world, he was always having to prove himself, always having to show that he was more of a man than the next guy, and one of the ways to prove it was by collecting women, the younger the better. Another way was to screw the women of men who thought they were better than he was, the rich farmers and ranchers. He would laugh and remark to Alice that he was really doing those men a favor by keeping their wives satisfied.
Ken and Alice moved to Amazonia and then Rosendale, two small towns close by St. Joe. Alice had a stillborn child during this period and became pregnant again in early 1968. She gave birth to Juarez on September 19 of that year.
Meanwhile, Sharon and her four girls, who had stayed on the farm Ken left, moved to Florida to live with Sharon's mother.
In the late sixties, McElroy hooked up with a man who would run with him until the very end. Like most of Ken's pals, Fred M. was a coon hunter. He met McElroy at a dog meet in Bedford, Iowa, and took an immediate liking to
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