by: Marty Chrisman

Bo and Luke were at the Boar’s Nest enjoying a couple of beers after a long hard day working on the farm (if you could call the watered down swill that Boss served beer) It had been three days since the incident with the Carsons and so far things had been quiet. Luke didn’t mind Uncle Jesse’s restrictions against him going anywhere by himself since he hardly ever went anywhere without Bo by his side anyway. It had been that way since they were kids. They were always together.

Luke had discovered who his real friends were. They stuck by him and refused to listen to the rumors about Mindy and why she had killed herself. The rumors ranged from her being pregnant with Luke’s baby to Luke having pushed her off Widow’s Peak himself in a jealous rag because she was the one who wanted to break up with him. Luckily, Luke had more friends than enemies. Still, there were a few people who could always be counted on to believe the worst possible scenario and unfortunately, Ernie Ledbetter was one of those people.

Ernie and Luke had been fighting with other ever since they were kids. They just flat out rubbed each other the wrong way. Ernie didn’t like Luke and whenever he saw him, he went out of his way to insult him and aggravate him in any way he could. Their confrontations usually ended up in a fist fight and Ernie generally got the worst end of it, but he still kept coming back for more. Luke had already broken Ernie’s nose a couple of times and a few ribs here and there but Ernie just never seemed to learn. The only time he had ever gotten the best of Luke in a fight was when he had two of his friends with him and they ganged up on Luke. And of course, most of the time Bo ended up getting in on it too and Ernie found himself dealing not with just one pissed off Duke but two. Not a good combination if you were on the receiving end of their punches.

So, when Bo saw Ernie saunter into the Boar’s Nest, he automatically expected trouble. And he didn’t have to wait long for it to happen. Ernie got himself a beer and ambled over to the table where Bo and Luke were sitting. Smiling down at Luke Ernie said “So Duke…is Widow’s Peak gonna be your new make out spot now? Take all your girlfriends there so that when you get tired of ‘em they can just jump over the edge.”

Bo saw the fire flash in Luke’s eyes and the muscle tighten in his jaw as he jumped to his feet. Ernie outweighed Luke by at least 30 pounds but Luke was quicker and his punches were a lot harder. He responded to Ernie’s taunts with a pile driver to his stomach. Ernie doubled over struggling to catch his breath. With an angry snort Ernie head butted Luke sending him sprawling backwards over the table where he’d been sitting with Bo. Other customers scrambled to get out of the way but once they were safely out of the way, they stopped to watch the fight.

“Come on, Luke!” Bo yelled from the sidelines. He wouldn’t interfere unless someone else tried to or unless Ernie tried to use any kind of weapon besides his fists.

Ernie tried to pin Luke to the ground, but Luke easily slipped out from under him and hit him with a strong right hook. Ernie raised his leg and kicked Luke in the side of his left knee, bringing him to the floor. Pinning down Luke down, Ernie got in a couple of good punches before Luke slammed his fist into the bridge of his nose. Roaring with anger, Ernie grabbed his nose which Luke had just broken for the third time.

Suddenly a gunshot rang out in the room, quieting down the crowd who had been yelling for their personal favorites to win. “Alright, you two!” Roscoe yelled as he made his way to the two fighters “Break it up!” he fired a second shot into the air for good measure to make sure he had everyone’s attention. Ernie scrambled to his feet, glaring at Luke as the blood streamed down his face. Rosco reached down and grabbed Luke’s arm pulling him roughly to his feet. “Alright, Luke Duke! You’re under arrest!”

“Come on, Rosco!” Bo protested knowing that it wouldn’t do him any good “Luke didn’t start it! Ernie did!”

“Don’t matter.” Rosco said “Luke’s going to jail. Khee Khee Khee….I love it, I love it.” He grabbed Luke’s arm tightly and began half pulling and half shoving him towards the door. Luke didn’t resist. It wouldn’t have done him any good if he had. Rosco led him outside and shoved him into the back of the squad car, slamming the door.

Luke slouched in the back seat and stared out the window as Rosco drove him to the jail. Luke knew that Bo would tell Uncle Jesse what had happened and that Jesse would be there to bail him out as soon as he could. Sometimes it seemed as if the Hazzard jail was his home away from home. But Luke had never been one to back down from a fight, especially one with Ernie Ledbetter.

At the courthouse on Hazzard Square, Rosco led Luke into the Sheriff’s office and had Enos put him in one of the two cells downstairs. “Sorry, Luke.” Enos apologized as he shut the door and locked it.

“It’s okay, Enos.” Luke said, sitting down on the uncomfortable cot that was bolted to the floor. “Just let me know when Uncle Jesse gets here.”

Once Enos had gone back upstairs, Luke finally felt the aches and pains from the fight with Ernie. Ernie had got a good shot in on Luke’s jaw. He could feel a loose tooth and a place on the inside of his lip where his teeth had cut into the soft tissue. His left side was also tender where Ernie had gotten in a couple of shots in his ribs.  He’d be sore for a day or two but it wasn’t nothing new.

Forty-five minutes later, Jesse bailed Luke out and he was free to go. Normally, he would have had to listen to lecture from Jesse about fighting but not this time. Jesse knew how badly Ernie antagonized Luke and he didn’t condone Ernie’s behavior at all. He didn’t exactly excuse Luke’s either but he couldn’t lecture him for defending himself or his honor when Ernie was the one who started the fights.

When they got to the farm, Luke went upstairs to the bathroom to take a long hot shower to soothe his aching muscles and to relieve the pent up tension in his body. Glancing in the mirror, he noticed that he had a bruise on his left cheekbone and his jaw on that side was red and swollen. Stripping off his clothes, he saw the bruising on his left rib cage. Damn, he was going to have to remember to watch out for Ernie’s right hook the next time.

            He turned on the shower and adjusted the spray to a comfortable temperature, then stepped under the water. He lifted his face into the spray and stood there for a moment letting the water flow over his body, relaxing him. He could feel his muscles starting to loosen up as the tension drained from his body. By the time he had finished with his shower and put on clean clothes, it was time for supper. Since Daisy was still at work, it was Jesse’s turn to cook and he had made pork chops with white gravy, baked potatoes and corn on the cob. The boys sat down at the table and bowed their heads while Jesse said grace, then they began to eat. Their conversation during the meal consisted of some work that the boys needed to get done around the farm the following day. After supper, the boys did the dishes while Jesse read his paper.

Later that evening, Bo watched TV while Luke and Jesse enjoyed a game of Chess. Jesse liked the game and had taught Luke and Daisy both how to play (Bo had no interest in learning) Luke was an excellent player and Jesse enjoyed the challenge of playing a good game with his oldest nephew. They all turned in shortly after eleven o’clock that evening.