Are you a gambling’ man?
Durango asked with a smile,
As he tipped his hat,
Hefted his deck,
And looked the man in the eye,
All the while.
And the stakes?
Asked the man,
As he studied Durango’s face,
You win, you’re free…
And if I lose?
Well,
Replied Durango…
Thems’ the breaks.
The man looked around nervously,
The tavern was half empty,
A lack of obstructions to put between himself and Durango’s bullets,
No chance to break and run,
He looked back at Durango,
“I’m not too bad at cards� He thought,
“’Specially if I cheat.� He thought,
The man looked Durango in the eye and assented.
He suddenly decided to play it straight as a predatory glint crept into Durango’s eye,
And he started to deal.
Durango popped open the deck,
The cards were careworn,
But they seemed to spring to life in Durango’s lithe fingers,
Three shuffles, like clockwork,
Durango set the cards down in front of the man,
Looking him in the eye,
The whole while.
The man reached forward with slightly unsteady hands to cut the deck,
Durango took the deck and dealt swiftly,
Five cards slid to a stop in front of the man,
Clearing his throat, he picked them up,
Ace, six, eight, ace , eight,
Two pair, dead man’s hand, the man felt a twinge in his gut,
Durango looked at him with that slight smirk,
Which wasn’t so bad ‘till you looked at his eyes,
Ice chips colder than a Nazi’s heart,
Durango inclined his head in question,
One, he said as he discarded a card,,
A lone card slid into place in front of him,
He picked it up,
Ace,
A slight warmth spread through him as he realized he’d probably won,
Durango picked up his hand,
Deftly, he discarded two cards and replaced them with two more.
“You show first� said the man,
Durango smiled and spread his hand,
Jack, Jack, Ace, Jack, Jack,
The mans face went ashen as his blood ran cold,
Durango leaned back confidently,
“One chance� thought the man,
He slid his hand down and flexed his forearm as he spread his palm,
A Derringer slapped into his hand,
Durango’s smile turned cold,
And with a slight shake of the head he conveyed his desire for no bloodshed,
The man didn’t notice,
Or didn’t care,
His chair shot out behind him as he surged to a standing position , leveling his weapon,
He never got that far.
Durango kicked the table forward into the man’s gut,
He whuffed as he doubled over the table,
Lightning quick Durango grabbed the man’s wrist and twisted,
There was a sharp crack and a howl as the man dropped his gun,
Durango stood up slowly as the man extricated himself from the table,
The man, a crimson rage in his eye, lunged at Durango with his good hand,
Durango, with an economy of motion that was superhuman, deftly sidestepped the blow,
And planted a knee in the man’s gut,
Solar Plexus, to be specific,
The man crumpled to the floor, choking and gasping,
With a resigned look in his eye, Durango cuffed the man.
He turned him in to the cops,
Collected his fee,
And went home to relax,
Just another day in the life of a gunslinger.