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"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."
But he still didn't move, afraid if he ran Arlen would shoot him. But now he saw Robert-there he was, like one of Old Bedford 's colored fellas in his kepi, Robert stepping out in the open and waving his arm to come on.
Arlen yelled, "Shoot him," and fired past Walter. It got Robert to strike a sideways pose and return fire, squeezing off shots, Arlen firing back, Walter in the middle:
Walter aware of himself in his Confederate officer's uniform, standing there like the statue of some general nobody ever heard of, a stone figure in a park, of no more use than a place for birds to land and take a shit.
It was how he felt as the two-bit ex-convict yelled at him again, "Shoot, goddamn it!"
And this time he did. Walter half-turned raising his Colt and shot Arlen in the chest. Bam. It felt so good Walter thumbed the hammer back and shot Arlen again and watched him fall to the ground dead.
They came out of the trees from three sides: Hector and Tonto walking up to Walter; Groove and Cedric coming this way toward Robert, De
"This is how it's suppose to happen, these clowns shoot each other? This was some fuckin idea."
"I don't see nothing wrong with how it's turned out," Robert said, "except there should be one more, Newton. 'Less he passed out along the way. He might've been with Fish and Eugene and took off seeing the odds change."
Robert didn't sound worried about him.
De
"Checking him out," Robert said. "How about old Walter? Surprised the hell out of me."
Jerry said, "Let's get outta here."
It sounded good to De
De
"The fuck're they doing?"
"It looks like," Robert said, "they go
"For what?"
"Have to wait and see."
They watched Walter toss the coin. He let it land on the ground and all three looked down, Hector and Tonto nodding their heads. Now Tonto handed Walter's Colt to Hector and Hector handed him Arlen's.
"The fuck're they doing?"
Robert didn't answer him this time.
They watched Tonto step away from Hector and Walter. They watched him pull a Navy Colt from his belt and stand looking this way, a gun in each hand.
He said, "Jerry?"
Jerry raised his voice. "The fuck're you morons doing?"
Tonto said, "Take your shot, man. Is in your hand when you feel like it. You go, I go."
Jerry looked at Robert. "He's serious?"
"He's calling you," Robert said.
"You fuck. You set this whole thing up for this?"
"That's your big ego talking. No, man, this part's an afterthought."
"You're making a mistake. You know I'm co
"Jerry, come on. You never had a friend in your life."
"I raise the piece I'm going for you."
"Don't matter who you raise it at," Robert said, "long as you raise it. Go on tend your business, Tonto's waiting."
De
It happened within the next few seconds. De
De
"One in the chest. One in the neck it looks like, and one in both arms. Arlen, before-what'd he fire, three times?"
Groove, standing over to the side with Cedric, said, "He got off four at you, you come out waving your arm."
Robert said, "So Tonto hit him four times out of I guess eight, huh? Man, that's shooting. See how they grouped? Where's Jerry's coat at?"
Groove said, "I'll get it," but didn't move. "You never told me this was in the plan."
"Man, I didn't know it myself," Robert said, "till I saw the coin toss. You know, we'd talk about it. Anybody had a good idea… I saw the possibility soon as Walter shot Arlen, but didn't know Tonto and Hector did too. Man, we doing fine here."
De
Robert said, "No, don't have to now. See, here's Hector coming with Walter's gun, the one shot Arlen. He's go
De
Robert was staring at him.
Robert said, "You weren't here."
"Like I wasn't there," De
Robert stared another moment and turned to Groove and Cedric. "Get Jerry's coat and De
Groove and Cedric moved off and now De
He said, "Listen to me," his voice quiet, serious. "I don't care how many people you saw get killed and you didn't do nothing. You understand? Nobody saw what happened here. These two hardcores must've got so worked up, so intense reenacting, they came out here with live ammo to do it right."
"And happened to kill each other," De
"Why's that hard to believe? Same as Fish and Eugene, but for a higher cause than a dead dog. That's the point to make. They met a few times and never got along, having opposite views of the war. They'd trade insults, put down each other's heroes, Arlen saying General Grant was a drunk and a speed freak, Jerry saying Stonewall Jackson sucked dick, and they come to face each other as a matter of honor. That's it, deciding the honorable thing was fight a duel, same as they would back in those days. What I'm leading up to, what we have to get ready for tomorrow or the next day, is all the press and TV's go