“I don't know Jet, really. I mean there is some gossip, but I wasn't there when he was. If I had been I would have recognized him and tried to stop anything from happening to him. You know how gossip is, think about some of the things that they say about me, I'm sure the rumors are nothing.” Bryan looked extremely awkward, which only made me more determined to hear what was being said.
“Fred Barker seemed to think there was something wrong with my uncle and he knew him personally, that isn't a matter of rumor. Spit out what's being said around the gang Bryan,” I ordered.
“Well I guess that Old Man Dunlap latched on to the gang through Ma Barker so that he could drink more, and for cheap, through their connections. From what I understand he did have some feelings for Ma Barker, and they did hit it off alright when he was sober but if you remember anything from when we were kids you'll know how rare that was. He'd go out to bars and get drunk as hell and then talk to anyone who would listen about all kinds of things, including things that the gang didn't want the whole world to know about. I think they would have shot him at the drop of a hat, they were just looking for an excuse. When it was clear that some how or another they had been betrayed to the police and he had been out drinking the night before, it's easy to see how they might jump to conclusions without asking many question.”
“Fred said that Uncle Art would hit Ma Barker,” I prodded Bryan. Having known each other since we were small children and gotten into all sorts of trouble together it was easy to tell when he was trying to hold out me. At least this time I knew that he thought it was for my own good.
“That is what the rumors say,” Bryan said reluctantly. “I mean it wouldn't be the first time he's been accused of things like that.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Well all of the rumors around town when your father kicked him out of the house. Everyone was always saying that Art Dunlap had a thing for his brother's wife and they had finally gotten into a fight because he hit her when he was drunk,” Bryan said, shrugging. This was obviously back in his realm of comfort. Then again it seemed that he thought I already knew about this part, that it was old news. Maybe he felt the shocking revelations were over so he could relax. I however had never heard any of this.
“Uncle Art liked Ma? And he would hit her?”
“Jesus, this was happening in your house, it was all over town. I mean it's what my family talked about at the dinner table for a week when it happened. I thought you were talking about specifics when you said you didn't know the details of why Old Man Dunlap was kicked out of your house. I didn't think you meant that you didn't know at all.”
“People didn't talk about it around me,” I said defensively. “And I was so young that when my father said it wasn't for me to know I didn't ask any more. Every time I asked father why Uncle Art was gone he would tell me that it was none of my business.”
To be continued...
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