The Heist, Part 2
1457 Words
"Good job you donkey’s ass,” I heard someone curse, “the kid damn near bled out all over the desert.”
“Ain’t my fault he got shot. He wasn’t supposed to be in front.”
“Dead kid don’t do us any good!”
“One less share,” I heard Charlie chuckle, “who cares if he dies. He knew the risks.”
“I ain’t letting a progeny of an outlaw family die if I can help it,” Billy yelled at his friends. I felt my shirt partially rip open, and the cool air exposed the wound.
Hissing, I tried to sit up, but it didn’t work out well.
“See, he’s alive.”
“Tough son of a B*tch.”
“Lay down kid,” Billy chuckled, “Charlie here shot ya in the scuffle.”
“D*MN Jack*ss!”
“We got you kid,” Charlie yelled from across the room, “You’re alive. You should be thanking your lucky stars billy didn’t leave you in the dust.”
“You better be prayin to yer lucky stars that I don’t do the same to you, bud!”
“Hey!”
We both stopped our bickering to look at Billy. He’d somehow managed to gather the supplies he’d need to pull the bullet out. I felt myself paling as I stared at the forceps.
“There ain’t no hole on the other side, is there?”
“No kid, the bullet is still in you,” he sighed, sitting back down. He put the bowl of water and rag next to me on the floor. I stared back from the forceps to Charlie, who had paled, himself, “Gonna have to pull it out If you don’t want the green.”
“Shit.”
“Rinse off the forceps so they are clean,” I said, trying to keep my voice strong, “Got some clear in the cupboard.”
Another one of the guys ran over to the cupboard and did as I’d asked. Billy cleaned off the forceps, and then poured some over my stomach, getting some of it into my wound.
“s**t!”
“Sorry kid,” he muttered, “Gotta sterilize it. You got straps round here? Or a hunk of wood that’s small enough to fit in yer mouth? I know you don’t got no neighbors, but without it, they might hear ya a few miles away.”
“Knock me out,” I pleaded, “One good hit at the base of my skull. Put me out like a light!”
“Can’t do that,” he sighed, “Lost a lot of blood between ere and the desert. Might not wake if ya did!”
“D*mn it,” I cursed. I nodded to the left and one of the guys grabbed the leather straps that I had tanning on the window. I put it in my mouth and nodded at billy.
He did the sign of the cross and then neared my wound. All I kept thinking about was when I was a kid.
I looked away and closed my eyes as the burning sensation grew in my abdomen. Biting down as hard as I could, I tried not to scream. White dots came into the blackness behind my closed lids and I felt the burning begin to fade.
XX
“Come on Cody, RUN!”
“I’m GONNA CATCH YOU DAKOtA!”
“Not a chance in h*LL!”
“What do the two of you think you are doing?”
The two children looked up at their father. The fake star badge that Cody had made fell to the dusty floor of their kitchen.
“Playin sheriffs and outlaws!”
The older gentleman whipped his son around so that the twins were facing one another, “WE DON’t play that game in this house!”
“But papa!”
“NO!” the man yelled, “Now cody, you go to your room before I beat the snot out of you. Actin like a sheriff! In this house? With this family?”
“But papa,” the little girl pleaded, trying to defend her twin, “we can’t both be outlaws. Cody let me be-“
“I know you don’t understand this Dakota, but you’re a lady,” the father growled, “you shouldn’t be playing these types of games! And yer brother-“
“She wanted to play!”
“THEN you tell her no!” the man yelled, slamming his fist. Cody held his tongue, fearing to anger their father any more, “go to your room. Right now!”
“Father?”
“I said now, d*mn it!”
The little boy practically ran away from his father, leaving his twin sister at his mercy. Through his heavy door he could hear their father yelling at his sister.
When she came in a little while later she was crying.
After that day she never asked to play those games again, reserved to the fact that her father wanted her to be a lady.
After that day his best friend became a shadow of the girl she was. She became someone he didn’t know at all.
XX
“Cody!”
“Cody!”
“Just a little bit longer,” I pleaded, “I just want a little more sleep!”
“Kid, you got a woman here at the door!”
“What?”
I lazily opened my eyes to see her, standing in all her glory. Her shawl was wrapped around her shoulders, and her delicate frame looked like it was about to break.
“Dakota?”
“Oh my lord,” she gasped, covering her mouth. She hardly paid any attention to the outlaws in front of us, “What happened to you? Are you okay?”
“He was shot, Girl!”
She glared at Charlie, then looked at me, “Cody, please tell me you’re okay.”
“I-I don’t know,” I stuttered, looking at Billy, “how long have I been out?”
“A few days,” he admitted, “you were a little touch and go for a while. Got the bullet out though. Don’t have the green. Had a doc come in and stitch you up.”
“Wait?” I asked, “did anyone see you?”
“No,” Billy said, shaking his head, “hired a kid to go send message that you were shot. Sheriff’s office sent over a state marshal because of the heist. You’re the only one left alive. Paid the kid to say he found you and brought you home, but that you did all this yourself.”
“What?” Dakota asked, eyes wide. She began to back up, “you mean you men are-“
But she couldn’t finish it. She couldn’t say the word, outlaw.
“Yes Ma’am,” Billy nodded, tipping his hat at her, “Billy the kid, pleasure to meet your acquaintance.”
“Cody-“
“I know,” I sighed, “but this was the only way I could make any money. No one else wanted to giv-“
“DADdy died like this,” She yelled, cutting me off, “is that what you want? To be hung in a town square like him? HUH!”
“Listen doll, you’re becoming hysterical,” Charlie stated from his place in the corner. He stood up and went to her, “You ju-“
“YOU GET AWAY FROM ME!” she screamed, cutting him off, “the lot of you. GET OUT OF HERE, before I send word to the marshal myself!”
“I wouldn’t do that, little miss.”
I tried to sit up to defend her but I stopped halfway. The pain in my abdomen turned into a searing one.
“Hey,” Billy said, holding his hands up, “No need for that. Alright, little lady? We just wanted to make sure your brother was alright.”
“He looks fine to me,” she said quickly, “now pack up and get out!”
Billy nodded, looking between Dakota, Charlie, and myself, then nodded at his men to go downstairs. A few minutes later they came up with their bags.
“We’ll be in touch, pal!” Billy said, tipping his hat to me, “yer share is downstairs.”
I nodded, watching as the men filed out of the house. Dakota slammed the door behind me. When she turned to face me her eyes showed a certain anger that I could only place from years of experience.
“What in the hell was that?”
- Writer
