A.P.F.H

Far away, in a land quite different from our own, a man is standing against the wall of a building. He stands there, leaning against the wall, smoking a cigar in the dead of night. Out of the darkness, a woman with wavy blonde hair approaches and stands next to him, and speaks without facing him. “He’s in there right now and is ready to talk.” The man stands there and feels around in the pocket of his coat in front of his chest. “If I don’t like what he has to say, I’m shooting him.” He takes a final puff from his cigar and drops it on the ground, his hand still in his coat pocket.

The man enters the building alone through the back door and sees the room empty except for one person. In the middle of the tavern sits a man by himself at a small table, smiling at the approaching man and speaks, “Evenin’ Ludevole.” Ludevole sits down silently and eyes the man, his gaze piercing through him. The man taps mindlessly against the table and looks around the room. “Can I help you?” Ludevole keeps his gaze on the man who laughs awkwardly and leans his arms against the tabletop. “I’ll tell ya, those little gremlins really did give me a scare,” he looked at Ludevole, expecting some sort of response, but got none. “But they’re not a problem no more, I dealt with it,” she said as he shook his head. Ludevole leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. The man sat there tapping his foot and on the table, fidgeting with a small pen. He forced a smile and spoke. “Man, that Daisy Ribbons girl sure is something,” he said as he leaned backward from the table and whistled. “I saw her just about yesterday when that Laremy boy went up and threw dirt in her eyes. She walloped him so hard!” The man lets out a forced laugh and sits forward back into his chair, looking at the table solemnly. “It’s a shame what happened to the kid.” Ludevole sat there silently.

The man sat there, looking aimlessly around the tavern, his leg bouncing up and down. “Say, Jack, you want a drink?” he says in an exaggerated tone before he hurries to the bar and stumbles as he starts pouring two drinks. On a shelf under the bar was a small pistol that he peered at, contemplating his next move. He began to sweat as he looked over to see Ludevole sitting quietly in the chair, facing the wall. He quickly stuffed the gun into the pocket of his jacket and walked back to the table, smiling as he set a small glass in front of Ludevole. Ludevole ignores the drink and silently sits up straight, looking the man dead in the eye. ”So, about the money,” he says in a deep, monotone voice. As Ludevole keeps staring into the man’s soul, the man’s forced relaxed nature dissolves, and his demeanor changes. “Listen, Jack, I didn’t mean for any of this to happen, I promise. Sometimes things go wrong and there’s nothin’ you can do about it.” While the man spoke, Ludevole slowly reached into his inside coat pocket in front of his chest. “What about the money?” Ludevole said, his hand firmly in his coat. The man began to sweat and his hands were shaking as he spoke rapidly, gripping the pistol in his pocket tightly. “Listen, no money was lost! Every penny is accounted for and no law got involved either! It was hardly a mess.” The man spoke fast and full of a hurry. Ludevole’s hand seemed to relax in his pocket. “We didn’t lose any guys either, only a couple of kids got hurt.” The man’s heart was racing as Ludevole slowly pulled something out of his coat, his hand gripping the pistol so hard he thought it would snap. Sweat dripped down his forehead until Ludevole slowly pulled out a cigar and lit it. “Well, It’s good no one got hurt,” Ludevole said, cigar in his mouth. The man felt a wave of relief and smiled wide, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He let go of his gun and placed his hands on the table. “You really had me there,” he spoke in between hard laughs, even Ludevole started to chuckle. “Did I?” Ludevole asked giggling. “You sure did,” the man said, his body loosening as he leaned back in his chair with tears in his eyes. He made it, he thought, and then Jack shot him.