misty, and tears clouded her vision. She knew there would come a day when he would no longer remember her, but the memory of this time was engraved on her heart and she would remember for him.
1903
A Fragile Happiness
HAVING ELIZA THREATEN TO SHOOT him and turn away after they’d climbed into bed aroused Martin. It was a side of her he hadn’t experienced before, a challenge that got his blood pumping. After that first weekend he wanted more, but he sure as hell didn’t want more kids. Martha Mae used the Marvel Whirling Spray Ladies Syringe to prevent unwanted babies. Eliza would just have to do the same.
Before he returned for a second visit, he stopped in at the pharmacy and purchased one. Handing her the box, he said, “You can’t possibly have no objection to using this, Eliza. It says in black and white this ain’t nothing but a wash to keep your insides clean.”
Looking rather skeptical, she asked where he’d gotten it.
“The pharmacy. See for yourself, the name’s right there on the box. It’s easy. All you gotta do is squirt your insides after we done something, and that’s the end of us worrying about more kids.”
As she sat there reading through the directions, he said, “I ain’t taking no for an answer. I said I don’t want no more kids, but you’re my wife, Eliza, and I got rights.”
In the end she agreed to using it, and he started visiting twice a month. He’d show up with a few sticks of candy for the kids and a little something for Eliza and later leave Coal Creek feeling like a homecoming hero. He was hard-pressed to say which he enjoyed most: the kids oohing and aahing when he told of all he was doing in Charleston or having Eliza capitulate to his ever-increasing urges.
Although Martin enjoyed Eliza and the kids, he was not about to give up Martha Mae. She had talents no man could walk away from, and having both women was something for a man to brag about. It didn’t take a whole lot to satisfy Eliza, but from time to time Martha Mae got testy about him going back to Coal Creek. When that happened, he’d buy her a new pin or bracelet and promise to take her to some show she wanted to see.
“There ain’t nothing between me and Eliza,” he’d say, “but I gotta go there to see them boys. They’re my kids.”
She’d fold her arms and pull her lips into a pout. “Seems to me you could just send a few dollars and be done with it.”
“Sounds like somebody is a bit jealous,” he’d say and turn away with a smug grin.
As far as Martin was concerned, Lady Luck was permanently perched on his shoulder. Week after week he left the poker game with a pocket full of money, and on the few occasions when he lost he’d make double the next time. With everything going his way, Martin could pretty much afford to do whatever he wanted.
That winter he became a Master Mason, and Jimmy Wilkes came through with the union rep spot. There wasn’t a great deal of money in being a rep, but the perks were good and it was a sure-fire way to move up the ladder. If he made it to union boss, he could be sitting on his duff and barking out orders instead of climbing lampposts and crawling across rafters. Getting to that level meant a lot of schmoozing with his uppity-up brothers at the Masonic Lodge, which was no problem.
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ELIZA WASN’T CERTAIN WHAT TO think when Martin started coming home every other week. The night he gave her the Ladies Syringe she wondered what kind of trickery he was up to, but after nearly three months of having him show up as regular as clockwork she’d come to believe this odd relationship was something that might last.
It wasn’t the kind of love they’d had for one another in the early days, but she found comfort in having a daddy for the children and something in the money jar. She didn’t love Martin anymore, but then, how could she? There was always the taste of tobacco on his lips and the smell of another woman on his skin.
His lovemaking had changed too; he’d become animalistic in bed, rough, demanding things they’d never done before. “Turn this way or that,” he’d say, “bend over; arch your back.” At times he’d ask for something she couldn’t bring