Chapter IX (cont.)
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The cool evening breeze felt good against Sonny’s sweaty skin. But that was really all he had to be thankful for as he lay on the sandy ground surrounded by the blackness of night. He looked down at his shackled hands attached to a lengthy chain of some weight. The chain passed from the right wrist, through a metal loop imbedded into the stone fountain and then back to his left wrist. He would not be going anywhere until his captors decided it was time.
How had it reached this point after what seemed a welcoming greeting? It was not that hard to figure out. That welcome had only come as Barnes and Montoya were pleased to have another contestant. When Sonny refused, it had angered Barnes and now he found himself chained and waiting. Waiting to live…or die.
As Barnes had marched him down the steps and towards the fountain, Sonny distinctly recalled the words Barnes used to convey his certainty, “You will fight, Sonny. If you do not, I will kill you myself.”
He had said it without thinking twice, though Sonny knew that Barnes far preferred watching Sonny die at someone else’s hands. It was the contest he wanted, not the cold reality of death on his hands. For Sonny, it was reversed. He still did not quite understand what the contest was, but he had no doubt in his mind that Barnes needed to die. At the moment, it would take something like a miracle to get his wish.
Sonny felt his stomach growl as he tried to reach his brow and wipe away some sweat. He was successful enough to push his hair away from his face, but the sweat would return, as would the hunger. He moved his body so that his back was against the fountain, and rested his head on the edge. Perhaps some sleep. But he knew it would not come.
The night would continue like that, with Sonny not allowing himself to think too much on what was ahead of him. When the time came, he would need to act. Until then, he would try to keep his mind focused on the task. That was all that mattered. And if somehow he were killed, then perhaps it was for the best. He had done his time on this Earth and frankly, it had not been the greatest success. He’d allowed his life to move into this direction and he saw very little that could change it. All that remained now was to complete this one last action and then he could be free. Free to disappear, or free to die. He almost hoped for the later. But not yet.
As the morning approached, he watched the various townspeople go about their business. He was struck by how completely the people seemed to take to their lives in this place. Montoya must act as some sort of Lord, not so very different from how Barnes had acted in Lago. As he thought on that, he saw more and more similarities between the two men. It almost seemed that Barnes had attempted to set up his own situation as Montoya had done before him. Perhaps he had failed in his mind and that was what drew him back here. Certainly the law on his heels played into that choice.
But Sonny knew that Barnes’ potential failure surely ate at him. This was an avenue of approach to gain his revenge. But how to play one off the other, especially now as he sat chained and awaiting death? He focused his mind on that and allowed all other thoughts to drift away. But he would not be allowed long to think on it as the slim and tall gentleman who had officiated the previous contest approached him.
“Good morning, sir.” The man was American. Sonny could hear trace elements of northern speech, perhaps New York. He’d heard little of it over the years, but he could pick out that extreme accent. “It is not long before you meet battle. Allow me to go over the rules so you are ready.”
Sonny did not respond, but listened to the man thinking the whole time what insanity must run heavy here. There would be a contest to the death. At the stroke of the large clock that Sonny could now see hovering over the square, each man would draw their weapon and shoot. The contest would not be over until one man lay dead. And the winner? Well, he got to do it again…and again…until there were no more challengers. If only Sonny could convince Barnes to try his hand at it, but he knew John Barnes would never place his own life at such risk. And Sonny knew that Barnes was aware of Sonny’s prowess with a gun. Barnes would be too sure of his own loss to attempt such.
As the man finished his speech, he turned to see the square fill up with people on the go in this small city and gestured for Sonny to see as well.
“These people enjoy a good contest, as does Senor Montoya. Do not fail them or you will surely die. But then, Mr. Barnes assures me that you are a fine fighter and thus we should have quite the test of talent this day. Good luck.”
“Luck?” Sonny asked before he realized what he was saying.
The thin man turned and smiled, “You will need it.”
He walked away and left Sonny to wait. And wait he did. Morning turned into afternoon without anything occurring. No food was brought to him, nor was he given drink. The people ignored him for the most part as they passed. Occasional looks and smirks were directed towards him, but no one confronted him directly. It was not until late afternoon that a man came to speak with him, and this man was Barnes.
“Well, my boy…it looks to be that time. Are you ready?”
Sonny saw the superior look on Barnes’ face and wanted to smash it with his fist. But he could barely reach while chained. And the various guards around the compound would have something to say in reaction. Instead he remained quiet and did not even acknowledge Barnes.
“You may ignore me all you like, Sonny. But that does not change what is ahead of you. You may choose not to fire your weapon, but Beast will surely kill you. Your only hope is to defend yourself. That is, if you wish to live. Perhaps you do not. If so, this will be quite the disappointment.”
Finally Sonny turned to face his nemesis, “You had best enjoy yerself, Barnes. I’ll fight today. But only so’s I can live long enough to kill you!”
Barnes allowed a hearty guffaw to answer Sonny’s threat. “All in good time, my boy. All in good time.”
He turned and moved towards the thin man who had appeared with a box. Barnes took it and walked back towards Sonny. He made gesture with his hand for the wispy man to unchain Sonny, but only the right arm was unshackled. His left remained fixed to the fountain, allowing him limited movement. And if that was detrimental to Sonny’s task, the next cruel joke was applied by Barnes.
He opened the box to reveal a revolver and pulling it from its resting place, held it out for Sonny to take. “To make things even more interesting, and perhaps to save some very good people their lives, I think it best to allow you just the one shot. What say you to that?”
His gleeful look was disgusting, but Sonny only nodded and received the gun offered. He checked the weapon for flaws and to ensure it was loaded as promised. Only one shot and if it failed, he would surely be dead soon after.
“Now…” Barnes began to walk away. “…Shall we begin?”
Sonny felt his legs under him. Weak but enough to provide support for the moment. He tucked the gun into the front of his pants as he moved to the side of the fountain and awaited his man. Beast walked out soon after, larger now that he was at eye level with Sonny. He only carried the one gun, but Sonny was sure it was fully loaded. That meant six shots to dodge if his one shot came up short. He would have to make sure that it did not come to that.
Barnes remained on the sidelines rather than walking back up to the house to watch with Montoya. But Sonny saw the old Mexican walk out his front door and take the familiar position on the porch overlooking the crowd. As he had done before, he stood and quieted the people and signaled for the contest to begin. The thin man walked to the center and said his usual words, looking at both contestants to make sure they understood. Neither nodded in return as both Sonny and Beast kept their gazes on each other.
Seconds turned into minutes and each minute seemed to take forever as they and everyone else waited for the clock to strike the hour. Sonny felt his fingers tingle slightly as they sat poised to pull and shoot and his eyes watched every movement of his opponent. Beast did not appear to have any fear, and he kept a slight smirk on his face. Sonny hoped to knock it off quickly.
Suddenly, the tick from above crashed into a chime and the moment was at hand. Sonny drew his weapon and fired with true aim as he watched his shot fly through the air almost in slow motion and landing square in Beast’s neck. To his astonishment, Beast only backed up a step when it hit. The shot fired in return had already sailed to the left as a result of being pushed back by Sonny’s blow, but there were five more soon to be on their way, as Beast did not drop.
The wound may have hurt the huge man, but it did not seem to faze him much as another shot was fired. Sonny had just enough time to duck and roll back towards the fountain for cover. The chain attached to his left arm yanked at him as it was pulled taut and he felt the pain in his shoulder. He pushed with his feet to get his back towards the fountain and quickly began thinking of what to do next.
He heard Beast shout over the crowd, “Beast cannot be killed! Come out of hiding you yellow bastard!”
Another gunshot ricochet off the stone of the fountain just over his head and Sonny felt the anger rise in him for being called yellow. But he would not fall for that trick. Instead, he waited. Three shots fired, and three left. His only hope was to draw Beast over to him. In fairly quick time, Sonny got his wish.
The crowd was now at a fever pitch as they cheered Beast on, and though Sonny could not see Barnes, he was sure that the bastard too was all smiles. He trained his ear to hear past the roar and listened for Beast’s approach. Soon enough, he heard it. The shuffle of feet grew louder and in short time, Sonny saw the gigantic man turn from beyond the fountain and face him, one hand covering the wound in his neck and the other holding a gun leveled at Sonny’s head.
“Now you die,” escaped Beast’s lips as he began pulling his finger back to shoot, but he was surprised when Sonny’s legs swiped his own from underneath him. He crashed to the ground as Sonny jumped on top of him, an errant gunshot escaping his gun and flying into the crowd.
Sonny used what strength he had left to wrap his chains of captivity around the huge man’s neck and he began to pull with all of his might, using his legs as leverage. Beast started to struggle and his arms flailed. His gun came very close to pointing directly at Sonny, but he kept his head and upper body moving as much as he could as he pulled harder and harder.
The pain in his wrist and hands reached levels he had never felt before as he wrestled with the giant man’s strength, but he would not be bested this day. Beast began to go blue in the face and his movement slowed as he grasped for air. The crowd began to boo but Sonny heard Barnes yell above them, “It is a fight to the finish. Now finish him!”
It was not clear whom Barnes meant, but he thought perhaps Barnes was secretly rooting for Sonny. He hated to do it, but he would grant the son of a bitch his wish. Finding a second wind of sorts, he increased his pull and watched as Beast finally went limp. He did not let up right away, but eventually loosened his grip on the chain and sat back breathing heavily. Beast lay silent on the ground in front of him, one eye still open and staring into nothingness. The huge man was dead, and with two bullets left in his gun. Somehow, Sonny had won.
Barnes walked to him and stood over the body, smiling. “I must hand it to you, my boy. An ingenious plan. I would not have thought of such myself, I admit.”
Sonny remained silent.
“You are now champion. How does it feel?”
There was still no response.
“You should be pleased with yourself, Sonny. You now rule the roost, so to speak. You could be a hero to these people if you choose. I doubt Senor Montoya is entirely pleased, but I told him of your talents and he must now accept that you are the one to carry on as the standard bearer for his little game. Come now…surely you must have something you wish to say.”
Sonny felt almost ill, as if he had need to purge. He hated having given Barnes what he wanted and still knew he had little avenue of escape or a method to gain his revenge. He would surely be forced to do this again and again until he died, just as Beast must have done. This would not be the way to gain what he wanted himself. He looked up to his old mentor and flashed him a cold smile.
“Yeah…I do. Fuck you, Barnes!”
It wasn’t the answer Barnes wished to hear.
To be continued...
