This would have been ridiculous if it wasn\u2019t real.<\/p>\n
The Sun was intent on drying me out like old leather. With my shirt sticking to my back I walked down the wide street with old houses on both sides. I could feel the sweat trickling down my back and pooling in my shoes. I am dressed like some old movie cowboy with a gun belt round my waist and a holstered gun at my side. I had to get out of the sun. I had a thirst like a camel fresh off the desert.
\nI spied some activity at a building further down the street and hurried in the direction.
\nThe sign out front says \u201cLittle Joe\u2019s\u201d
\nI walked in through the double-door and paused in the doorway briefly to let my eye adjust to the darkness inside. I felt better already. It was much cooler in there.
\nFeeling kind of out of place, I headed for the nearest table with only one occupant \u2013 an old man. I sat down and greeted him politely. He looked in his cup and grunted \u2013 I took that as a reply.
\n\u201cYou new in town?\u201d he asks.
\n\u201cYes.\u201d I said. I could also have told him I had no idea where I was.
\n\u201cJoe. Bring a mug over here for this fella.\u201d He said.
\nJoe came over with a tall mug of lukewarm beer. I nodded my thanks to both of them.<\/p>\n
I could see more of the interior of the place now that my eyes had adjusted to the gloom. Most of the tables were occupied with what looked like townsfolk.
\nAnd right across the room from me was a table occupied by only one person. A young woman with her hair piled high. She was definitely a looker. Even at that distance, I could see she was her own person and had an easy grace about her. She didn\u2019t seem to be interested in anything going on in the room, but yet you get the impression she knew every person in that room, except myself of course. I am a stranger.
\nI stare intently at her \u2013 trying to catch her gaze.
\nI asked the old man who the lady was.
\nHe grunted. \u201cLet her alone. There is a reason why she is sitting over there by herself.\u201d
\nMy eyes roved around the room. No one appeared to be paying me any attention, yet I had an uncomfortable feeling I was the subject of some unspoken undercurrent heaving and ebbing in the room.
\nI couldn\u2019t help myself as there was no other distraction in the room.
\n\u201cYoung fella. You had do yourself a world of good to look somewhere else.\u201d the old man says.
\nI tried. Truly I did. But soon I was back staring in the same direction. There was something familiar about the way she was seated. I couldn\u2019t quite place a finger on it. I mentally ran through the list of women I knew who were about her age \u2013 almost none \u2013 no one jumps to mind.
\nI wasn\u2019t a man to court trouble, but for some reason, something at the back of my mind seemed to indicate I needed to go over to her table.
\nI stood up and casually walked over. I casually looked round, but no one in the room seemed to be paying any attention to me except the old man.
\n\u201cHi\u201d I said.
\nNo response.
\nI am idling. I needed to say something.<\/p>\n
I spied what looked like a tattoo on her left shoulder
\n\u201cDo you mind?\u201d I asked pointing at the tattoo. She shrugs.
\nI think it was the sense of some familiarity I had about her. I reached over and slightly shifted the collar of her shirt \u2013 no skin contact \u2013 the tattoo read \u201cD. K.\u201d
\nI could not help noticing the\u00a0gentle swell of her breast.
\n\u201cWhat does D.K. mean?\u201d I ask.
\nShe shrugs again.
\nThere was a snigger behind me and a voice said \u201cDouble Kill\u201d followed quickly by another voice that whispered \u201cD*** Killer\u201d.
\nShe looks at the butt of my holstered gun and asked what \u201cA.I\u201d stood for.
\nI looked down at the gun and wondered how it got there. I was no gunslinger. But the inscription on the holster said \u201cA. I.\u201d which were my initials.
\nI toyed briefly with the idea of telling her my real name, then instead simply said \u201cArtificial Intelligence\u201d
\n\u201cWhat does that mean?\u201d she asks
\n\u201cIt would take me some time to explain it\u201d
\nShe shrugs.
\n\u201cCan I get you a drink?\u201d I ask. If she accepts, that would be my excuse to sit down at her table.
\n\u201cMy mug is empty, the day is young and it\u2019s a free world. You buying, I am drinking\u201d
\nI signaled at the barman \u201cCan you refill her cup?\u201d
\nThere was another snicker from some dark corner of the room.
\n\u201cCome get it yourself.\u201d the barman responded.
\nI walked over to the bar, paid for the drink and ferried it back to her table.
\nShe took the cup, took a swig and said a low thanks.
\nThat took me aback a little as I wasn\u2019t exactly expecting it.
\n\u201cAre you going to sit down or not?\u201d
\nFor some reason, I looked back at the old man, and noticed the barely perceptible shake of his head.
\nI dragged back the seat opposite her and sat down on it.
\n\u201cSo you interested or what?\u201d she asks.
\n\u201cHuh?\u201d
\nShe slid a little piece of paper across the table. I looked down at it and all it said was \u201cThe challenge\u201d
\n\u201cThe challenge I assume. Well, why not?\u201d I responded. Though I didn\u2019t know what it was, I thought what could it be? I needed to display some male brashness.<\/p>\n
The room seemed to come alive with my acceptance of \u201cThe challenge\u201d \u2013 whatever it was. Even though my voice was barely above a whisper, I was almost immediately surrounded by all the people in the room except the old man. They were chanting \u201cChallenge!\u201d repeatedly.
\nThe lady got up, stretched luxuriously, winked at some of the bystanders and placed both hands upon the table and looked me straight in the eye for the first time. There was something familiar about her eyes.
\nShe smiled at me and said \u201cLet\u2019s step outside, shall we?\u201d
\nFor the first time I noticed the two holstered guns in the gun belt around her waist.
\n\u201cStep outside for what?\u201d I ask.
\n\u201cThe challenge of course. The duel.\u201d
\nThe crowd switched to chanting \u201cDuel!\u201d
\nI felt I was missing something.
\n\u201cDuel?\u201d
\n\u201cYes. What did you think the challenge was?\u201d
\n\u201cDuel. With what?\u201d I ask for want of anything better to say, though I had a sinking feeling with all the obvious guns suddenly in plain view it would be a gun duel.
\nWith the crowd chanting the same word over and over, she said \u201cSee you outside\u201d and gracefully walked out the double-door. I couldn\u2019t help but admire her gracefulness, until I was suddenly propelled off my seat and into the blinding sunshine outside.
\nShe was standing with legs slightly apart about ten yards away. Her hands hanging loose by her side. I could swear I remember that stance \u2013 but from where?
\nI looked at the gun by my side. I tried to think of all the John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies I had seen. I wasn\u2019t really going to go through with this duel, was I?
\nIn the meantime, I assumed what I hoped resembled the easy stance of Clint in one of his many cowboy movies.
\nThe chanting died down and was replaced by an expectant silence. This wasn\u2019t really happening was it? How had I gone from drinking lukewarm beer to dueling in the space of thirty minutes?<\/p>\n
Some disembodied voice that sounded like the old man said \u201cReady.\u201d
\nI looked at her again. The smile was gone. Replaced by a look of determination without hatred or malice. Just a concentration on the task at hand. She hadn\u2019t moved in the last couple of minutes.<\/p>\n
I took a deep breath. Though I wasn’t exactly scared, my blood pressure had gone up a notch\u00a0. Probably the Andrenaline. I tried to remember everything I knew about guns \u2013 from films and books. They were heavy, they had a recoil, a trigger, a safety latch.
\nIt hit me again.
\nThis would have been ridiculous if it wasn\u2019t real.
\nThis is 2012 and not 1812 \u2013 or was it?<\/p>\n
Suddenly, there was loud rap music coming from somewhere in the distance. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a slim lady walk up in 5-inch heels lugging a boom box. She sets the boom box down, smiled, and said \u201cGood day ladies. Is this a duel or duet? Are we gonna see some action or grow old from boredom while you ladies pick your nails?\u201d
\nShe said it so light-heartedly, for a minute I forgot about the possibility that in the next few minutes, I might be lying in the dust bleeding to death.
\n\u201cUncle\u201d she says with a smile.
\nUncle? I was not sure if she was addressing me or not, but she sounded so familiar that for a minute I was almost certain this wasn’t our first encounter.
\n\u201cYou are looking in the wrong direction\u201d she said nodding in the direction of my supposed opponent.
\nI had forgotten about the lady with the gun for a minute. I sensed rather than saw her move. She was quick and I doubt if I would have beaten het to the draw even if I had made the first move. There was a glint of sunshine in her hand and a flash of light.<\/p>\n
She winged me. I looked down at my arm. No blood, but it hurt. Blank bullets?<\/p>\n
\u201cCut! Take 10!\u201d someone shouted. I spun around, but the Sun was in my eyes, so I couldn\u2019t make out the face of the figure descending from up the nearby scaffolding. Suddenly, the mood changed. People started bustling around, joking, chatting, and a gathering slowly formed round a huge table behind one of the houses. A big spread of food was the focus of attention.<\/p>\n
I was confused. What was going on? Am I on a film production set of some sort?<\/p>\n
She walks up to me. She lets down her hair and started to strip off some synthetic skin make-up stuff\u00a0from her face.
\n\u201cHi\u201d she says.
\n\u201cI know.\u201d I smiled.<\/p>\n
21\/02\/2012<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This would have been ridiculous if it wasn\u2019t real. The Sun was intent on drying me out like old leather. With my shirt sticking to my back I walked down the wide street with old houses on both sides. I … Continue reading