Two men sit at a bar, somewhere deep in the belly of Texas, 1909. They're playing my song, talking about me.
"They called him Pronias. He never knew his last name, some say he was drowned at birth and came back to life the meanest sum'b!tch ever lived. Lord knows, he was the blood thirstiest. *hiccup* He was a confederate solider, some said he jumped in a union foxhole and slit every unlucky bastards throat with the tip of his bayonett. Came back to the war with nothing but two colts and a single apache tomahawk. Earned the nickname Axeman by them damn Indians. Course he's just a myth now."
"No sh!t?" The other one quizzingly asked.
"No sh!t." The first cowboy replied
"Whatever happened to him?"
"Some say he blew his goddamn brains out, never to be seen or heard from again. "
"Shame, We need someone like him with all them damn yankees round here. Beer waterin' motherf#cks."
I stand up from my stool at the end of the card table, stepping away from my game only to hear the sound of those rednecks yelling, cursing, shouting, their cries like music to my ears. Like the sweet hyms of country music, real country. Not that Bullsh!t they play now on the radio, no, they're playing Conway and Merle. Good music, like my father listened too and his father before him. The bartender looks with terror as he meets my eyes. Slowly he walks away from the counter, with fear obvious by the swagger in his step and the beads of sweat pouring in buckets on the floor....he's turning the music up.Within a moments notice, I place my hand on the poor fools shoulder, a smile creeps onto his face as the music gets alittle louder to drown out what I'm about to do.
CRASH
Wood snaps and cracks alongside the man's spine. He now lays outside this fine establishment, bleedin' and broken.
"You aint' got no idea what happened to me son, shut your goddamn mouth fool. These guns have been to hell and back and ain't never missed a shot once. Devil gave em' to me."
Now he has the audacity to laugh at me? Broken and bleeding, with his spine snapped, he's nothing but a puddle but yet he's laughing at me? How dare he? Bang
"You ain't seen a damn thing"
__
Present
I look at the man, says his name Gerald. I've just saved his life. Why did I save him? is the only question I can begin to mutter in my mind. I finally come to grips with the fact....I like this little bastard. Something about him, something about how he walks...He's alright. Theres a certain level of silence for a few moments before I finally muster up the courage to say...
"You okay....Pardner?"
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