Rodrigo sets up his tent. Sue and Beth bring him two big bales of hay for him to sleep on.
"Sorry we don't got an actual bed, we don't plan to stay here too long, we got an actual place further down Arizona" Sue explains.
"You have a house for all these people? There's so many" Rodrigo says shocked.
"A couple of 'em come with us, the rest go off to do whatever it is they want. We in debt, there's no way we can feed this many people" Sue explains.
"Had me scared for a moment, by the way, which one of these is Reverend Tashe?" Rodrigo asks.
"He's the one at the far end of camp, he's got his own campfire, and he's usually leaning on a tree stump reading his Bible" Sue smiles, "didn't take you for the religious type" Sue crosses her arms.
"I'm not, just maybe he can help me figure things out, been dreaming about the past a lot, reflecting. I guess if I want to be better, I should clear my conscious" Rodrigo shrugs.
"Hm, Yeah, maybe you're on to something outlaw, might talk with him myself" Sue nods her head slowly, looking at the ground.
Rodrigo gets into his tent and pats down his bed to loosen the hay, "beats sleeping on the ground, hehe" Rodrigo sits on the bed.
"You have a good night mister," Beth says with a soft smile.
"Thank you, Ms. Beth, have a goodnight" Rodrigo lays down, Beth exits the tent.
Rodrigo reaches for the lamp and turns it off, he stares up at the ceiling of the tent, and smiles, "This is my second chance" he softly says to himself. He closes his eyes and begins to imagine himself on Sue's farm moving hay bales towards the barn. He sets one down and wipes the sweat from his face.
"So this is the life you want boy?" Buck asks leaning on a post.
"Figured you'd show up eventually, yeah it'd be better than starving, and it's honest" Rodrigo responds.
"Come on now R, since when do you care about honest? All them pretty girls you abused of, poor little Gennifer, she cared for you, and you played her little heart" Buck shakes his head.
"I know I made mistakes, most of them I gotta thank you for. Had it not been for your guidance I may have turned out to be a decent person" Rodrigo sits on one of the hay bales.
"Now boy, you miss the things we did. I taught you English, clearly, cus you don't sound like any of these country folk. How about shootin'? I taught you that too" Buck lifts his arms.
"Buck you couldn't shoot a dead horse if it was laying right in front of you. Your shooting was horrible" Rodrigo shakes his head.
"It sure was, but you stuck by me and I made your hands fast," Buck says.
"By burning me with a cigarette when I didn't meet your expectations!? Yeah, sure you made me fast" Rodrigo rolls his eyes, "I have the scars to prove it too" Rodrigo raises his hands. The back of his palms had small circles of burnt skin.
"But are you a fast shooter? Yes, you are. My methods may have been harsh, but you learned to shoot, you were like my son R" Buck walks towards Rodrigo.
"Get the hell away from me! And get the hell out of my head! I'm trying to be of some use to these folk, that old life did nothing, but kill people I cared about!" Rodrigo stands up and walks towards more hay bales.
"Don't waste your time R, the times are changing, they love hunting fools like you" Buck yells at Rodrigo.
"We'll see viejo(old man), I'll die around people who treat me right. If not, then I'll hang and join you shortly" Rodrigo turns back and Buck is gone, "hijo de la chi-"
YOU ARE READING
A Beautiful Western Story
Ficção HistóricaCan this bandit overcome his old habits and become the person he needs to be? He's done a lot of bad and gotten himself in situations he's tired of. He told himself he was leaving the life, but found his way back. Previously, he'd promised the love...
