Fran's Brothel (Short Prose)

In 1978, Fran, the owner of Fran’s Star Ranch & Brothel in Beatty, NV sent letters to pilots and jumpers across the west announcing that she was going to put a mattress in the center of a large star painted in the parking lot and any jumper who could hit the mattress would win a free night with a lady of his choice. On the day of the event, Fran’s ladies were lined up along the runway waving like beacons dressed in spiked heels, fish-net stockings, G-strings, black lace bras, rhinestone chokers, and long capes blowing in the strong wind. The sky was crowded that afternoon as Buster, along with seven passengers, all ready to party, banked his twin Beech D-18 in a circle around the field, adjusted his throttle, trimmed his propellers, lowered his landing gear, put his flaps down, and began his final descent.

The twin Beech is a notoriously complicated aircraft to fly, especially so when landing in a crosswind. Buster would have noticed this if he’d been watching the wind sock. Instead he was gawking at the ladies, his attention only forced back to the runway at touchdown when the crosswind started to weathercock the plane around. He reduced power on his down wind engine, frantically trying to regain control of the aircraft when he realized that he’d forgotten to lock his tail wheel down. The landing gear crumpled and the plane spun like a dust devil toward the edge of the runway, clipped a high line post, and settled in the sage as the ladies watched on.
Even though the Beech was a total loss, the passengers survived. A couple of weeks later, Buster returned to salvage the engines and other valuable parts. Fran, who had noticed increased traffic, decided that a crashed plane was good for business and agreed to leave the stripped fuselage where it landed. In 1997, she sold the brothel to Mack and Angel Moore.

Former owners of a chain of funeral homes and active Christians, Mack and Angel see the brothel as a way to help ease suffering. Dave, a long haul trucker and one of the rare customers willing to talk, said,” It’s a lonely life out here on the road and you need to find a place where you feel welcome.” Just after Mack and Angel bought the place, they changed the name to Angel’s Ladies Brothel but they kept the plane which has become a landmark along highway 95.

Story ID:	269
Written by:	James Nave (bio, link, contact, other stories)
Organization:	The Writing Salon
Story type:	The Writing Salon
Location:	Taos NM USA
Year:	2006