After a while the dust settled and Howard was accepted as a member of the community. True, he wasn’t liked, but his manly defense of his rights had impressed many of the men after they had some time to discuss it with each other. Men being the inveterate storytellers they are, each time the story was told Howard was cast in a more heroic stance. The embellishments that were invariably added served to make the minor incident more important in their minds. Howard had completely forgotten about it after making his point with the notice on the door. By elevating Howard in their thinking as the perfect example of American Manhood, they increased their own perception of their stature as males. They liked their pseudo-remembered image of Howard standing in his family room with a loaded shotgun perched on his hip like John Wayne in “True Grit” and telling them in his gravelly voice it was time to leave. It made them feel like men because they had been dangerous enough as a group to invoke his manly response. They forgave him the insult and decided as a group to allow him the benefit of the doubt. Of course, this was after their wives had brunched several times over at Anita’s house after the incident and they had been counseled by their wives about Howard’s upbringing and personal problems.

 

The neighborhood husbands chalked his actions up to a typical male’s overreaction to women’s interference and let it go at that. They had only gone over to his house because their wives had insisted they do something. Hell, the majority of them would have been happy to have a house with no lawn! The only reason they kept theirs up was to kept their wives off their backs. If Howard had managed to talk his wife into having white gravel instead of a lush green lawn, then more power to him! It sure as Hell kept the water bills down and allowed him more time to watch football on the weekends! Howard wasn’t worth the effort to stay mad at and he hadn’t really done anything wrong. It wasn’t as if he had actually shot someone. He had merely asked them to leave in a way that commanded respect and instant obedience from other men. He had every right to do what he did. Only a namby-pamby, pantywaisted, ball-less liberal would object to Howard’s handling of the problem. Didn’t cops carry shotguns? Did they hesitate to threaten ne’er-do-wells with firearms to secure the peace? Screw their wives’ opinions! They had no understanding of how men thought or deal with each other! With the number of neighborhood houses that had started zeroscaping as a consequence of Howard’s example, it was a moot point anyhow.

Of course, no one ever forgot the loaded sawed-off shotgun Howard used to defend his property rights. They left him strictly alone. Howard had done what they would’ve liked to think they’d have done in his place. He had proved to every male in the community that he was Lord and Master of his home. No one doubted who wore the pants in his family! Howard may not have been a shining example of community spirit, but he evidenced the highest ideals of American Manhood. John Wayne would have been proud of his example! Men told their sons to beware of playing football in Howard’s domain or inadvertently damaging one of Howard’s cars by their street play. One assaulted Howard’s castle at their own risk. In their eyes, Howard was a real man.