Sing for Me

A Choice for The Damned

The sheriff leans over the antagonist with a glare. He backs away, groaning, the first gunshot bleeding out. The damsel is strapped to the fence, a bandana gag around her mouth, and tears in her eyes, "Help me!"

The sheriff nods to her, eyes determined. "Now you just stay calm, honey." He towers over the injured man. "Please, sir. Please, sir, please."

The sheriff holds his gun up, "There's an old Mexican eulogy. Feo fuerte y formal. Means he was ugly, strong, and had dignity. Well, Joey, I'll give you two out of three on that front." Waiting in anticipation for him to pull the trigger, the damsel turns away whimpering.

"Do I really have to kill him?" Cooper's voice rings out with an unsteady tone. I look up at him, as the loose rope is being pulled off of my frame by an assistant.

"Cut!"

Cooper motions for the director, "Emil, can you come over here? I got to talk to you for a second." Cooper turns to me, lending me a hand to rise to my feet. "You were amazing, sweetheart. Just like always." I smile, giving his hand a light squeeze. He had been very open about his concerns with this individual film. He didn't want to be seen as the enemy. Cooper had a good heart and a strong grasp of the reputation of his characters. He held them dear.

As Emil nears I remove my hand and avert to my set chair. "Listen, I got to talk to you about these, these new pages, you know? I mean, I-I'm the sheriff, right? Well, why can't I just arrest the guy like I normally do? That's what I do." Emil nods in understanding, "The... The audience, Coop, yeah? They already know you're a good man. They want to see that even a good man as yourself can be driven too far sometimes." "Yeah, I understand that. But that's not really my thing, you know, Emil, that's not what I do. I mean, Bob, is Bob around here anywhere?"

I pipe up from my chair, where an assistant brushed makeup on my cheeks. "Bob's been fired, Coop." He turns to me shocked. "What?" "The Studio fired him." "Why?" Emil sighs, "See, turns out... Bob's a bit of a communist."

Cooper's eyes widen, "A communist? Cadillac Bob?" Emil nods, hands on his hips, "Cadillac Bob! The very one."

Cooper shakes his head, frustration clear in his eyes. "Well, what a shame, he was such a great writer. Terrible shame." "One of the best, but he had to go. Which is why this movie is so important. You see, it's a new kind of western.
The power of the individual when the chips are down. The new America, it's why I'm telling you, so... that's why it'd be really great if you could just... shoot Jorge in the fսck¡ng head, yeah?" Coop lets his head fall at the director's words. The fight was clearly not worth the time for either of them. "Right."

I sit silently, watching the exchange. Cooper really stressed this change for his role and reputation. He would always be the good guy in my eyes.

"He causing drama again?" I look over my shoulder to see Barb. I suck in a breath composing myself. I smile lightly pretending to now just look towards Cooper. "He's not too keen on the new ending." Barb furrows her brow. "They've changed it? He didn't mention that." My heart tinged in the most sinful way. He shares his thoughts and troubles with me instead of her. Just time was all he needed. He said so.

Cooper stiffened at the sight of the two of us speaking. He excuses himself from the director, "Uh, hey, let's, uh, let's pick this up after lunch, all right?"

He arrives placing his hand on the arm of my chair, force of habit. "I'm just going to have to do it." His sigh of defeat reflects in his eyes. I frown, patting his hand in support, "it will be fine, Coop." Barn watches the exchange, brows furrowed, lips in a tight forced smile.

Cooper makes himself drift away from my chair, wrapping an arm around Barb. "Are we about ready to do this thing?" She nods, bilking away any doubt in her mind. "I have both of your clothes right here." She hands a box to Cooper and a bag to me. The lavish tissue makes it appear as a gift. What a joke.