Tishomingo Blues

'They go in the truck, also the pistols we brought, and nobody ever finds those guys. They disappear.'

'How do you explain it to the cops?'

'Explain what? We weren't here.'

Dennis said, 'I know I shouldn't be.'

'But you are.'

'You actually think,' Dennis said, 'I'd shoot one of those guys?'

'I don't know,' Tonto said. 'You don't either.'

'Well, I don't intend to shoot anybody.'

'Yeah. but you still don't know.'

Robert Taylor in his youth was a down-the-blockand-around-the-corner kind of runner, not ever an oval-track runner or a cow-pasture runner, the ground all uneven and waiting to wrench your ankle, put you out of action at the wrong time. He saw the danger of it on the first charge, running with his sword pointing at the Yankees, yelling the famous Rebel yell, shit, and tripping on the rocks and ruts and clods of earth hiding in the weeds. On the second charge he took a hit and said, 'I'm hit, boys, get the motherfucker shot me,' and stuck his sword in the ground as he went down, first picking his spot, not a hundred feet from the trees on the north side. He crawled over that way as the Rebs fell back and lay there till the next charge came out of the orchard. Robert pulled the sword free, waved it in the air, and saw Hector and Tonto and Dennis break from the line and run into the trees. He waited, giving them time, wondering if Jerry would keep up. The Rebel charge came to a halt so they could fire their guns, have some fun, and Robert looked back toward the orchard to see Walter off his horse, with Arlen and his retards, Arlen careful, looking this way to watch him. 'Well, watch this,' Robert said and took off-forgot the sword, fuck it- got into the trees and remembered where he was going: through these woods and across the clearing and through some more trees to the truck waiting on the road. He asked Groove if he'd jacked it. Groove said no, man, he bought it off the bread people, the Wonder Bread bakery in Detroit being a casino now, dealing in the other kind of bread. Hey, shit, and there they all were, coming out of the trees on the other side of the clearing Robert thought looked like a park that hadn't been kept up. This was where he believed the shootout would happen.

Let's see, he'd put Hector and Tonto over on one side, down a ways in cover, Groove and Cedric on the other. Arlen tries to edge around the clearing either side, he'd run into somebody. Robert would stay back here with Jerry and Dennis-Dennis not looking too happy to be along.

Arlen started out loosey-goosey, sure he could get 'er done. Hell yeah, catch Robert in the woods loading his gun, the smoke not use to doing it, dropping bullets in the leaves. Step up to him and bam, one less smoke. Arlen believed he had the advantage knowing the woods, pretty sure General Grant and the two greasers would set up to hit him coming out of the trees into those glades. Get the smoke quick and don't even worry about the diver.

But now he didn't know where his boys were, slow coming into the woods and not paying attention or following him like he'd told them, Fish and Eugene still fighting over Rose. He'd hear them thrashing around in the trees, yelling at each other, both with a load on from the shine. He'd stop to listen and then wouldn't hear nothing. They sounded like they were somewhere off to the right. They couldn't be far. Newton could be with them but was drunker'n either one and wouldn't be any help. They might've stopped to load their weapons. He'd told them to do it before they left the orchard, but then was busy getting Walter off his horse and hadn't checked to see if they had. Arlen would bet that was it. He thought of sending Walter to find them, but knew Walter would run off he had the chance. All Walter did was piss and moan about this not being his business and he shouldn't ought to be here, till Arlen said, 'I'll shoot you you don't shut up and do what I tell you. Stay close to me. We come to that open part, I got an idea how to play it.'

Walter said, 'You think they're gonna be standing out in the open waiting for you?'

Arlen the campaigner, gear hanging from him, a loaded Colt in his hand, said, 'If they ain't, I believe I can bring 'em out.'

Newton was the one remembered. He said, 'Shit, we doodlin' around in the woods with empty weapons. Didn't Arlen tell us?-Yes sir, he did. But you two're barkin' at each other-shit, I forgot.' Newton carried a 12-gauge double-barreled shotgun that was dark and scarred and looked almost old enough to be authentic. He brought shells from his pocket and slipped them into the side-by-side barrels.

Once they'd loaded their pistols, Newton pulled the cork on his canteen, still some corn whiskey in it, to pass it around. He said to Eugene, 'Fish gonna pay you anything for his killing Rose?'

That started them again. Eugene saying Rose was worth more to him than any amount of money. Fish saying, 'Then I don't have to pay you nothing. Which I wasn't gonna anyway.'

Newton believed it was Fish's sissy tone of voice that hooked into Eugene-prissy, what it was, irksome-and got Eugene to slash the barrel of his Colt at Fish and cut him across the forehead. Fish was stopped and fell back. Eugene, the hook still in him, went at Fish to cut him again. Fish saw him coming and thumbed the hammer of his Colt and shot Eugene in the belly. It doubled him over, Eugene going 'Unnnh,' like he'd been punched, but was able to straighten enough to put his Colt on Fish and shoot him in the face almost the exact same time Fish fired his second one and shot Eugene through the heart.

In the quiet that settled, Newton said, 'Jesus Christ.'

They heard the shot and then two more that sounded almost like one and they listened until Robert said, 'That's not us.'

They were in the trees on the north side of Robert's park. Jerry came over and he told him the same thing he told Dennis, and said, 'Let's wait and see what's going on.'

A couple of minutes passed and Jerry said, 'We're taking too fuckin long. I'm going home.'

Tonto appeared as he was saying it.

'Two dead. The Fish and I don't know the other one.

'Not Arlen?' Robert said.

'Or Kirkbride?'

'I don't know him.'

'The one on the horse.'

'No, it wasn't him.'

There was a silence.

'Eugene,' Robert said. 'It was Eugene.' He waited a moment, thinking about them in the camp, and said, 'Jesus Christ.'

When Arlen looked up hearing the shots he turned toward the sound-from the same direction he'd heard his boys yelling at each other. Walter wanted to know who was that, as Arlen thought about it and said, 'Shit, those're ours. Pistol shots, so it wasn't Newton, else I'd have voted for him.' Arlen said, 'I don't want to believe what I suspect happened.' And said, ' Jesus Christ.'

Walter stood there crouching his shoulders. Arlen looked at him, studied him, and then nodded, giving approval to what he was thinking of doing, and said, 'Come on.' He brought Walter through the woods, a hand on his belt, to where they got close enough they could look out at the glades-at sunlight slanting through green ash and sweet gum standing out there-but not be seen from across the way.

'Go on,' Arlen said, 'show yourself and let's see what happens.'

'You crazy?' Walter said. 'I know what'll happen.'

'Go on, or I'll shoot you myself.'

'What am I supposed to do?'

'I don't care. Stand there and look around.'

'What if they shoot?'

'I doubt they will. They do, I'll see their smoke and know where they're at. Go on, goddamn it, or I'll tell Traci not to fuck you no more.'

Arlen came behind him to the edge of the woods, gave him a shove, and Walter walked out to the glade, the pistol held low at his side, took five strides across shafts of sunlight and stopped. He stared at the dark wall of trees no more than thirty yards away. If they wanted to shoot him he was dead.

Arlen's voice behind him said, 'Go on out'n the middle there.'

Walter didn't move.

Now another voice called to him from the wall of trees. 'Walter, come on over here or get out of the way. We won't shoot you.' Robert 's voice, the voice calling again, 'Come on, Walter.'