Just Like Old Times

Arthur's Fear

"Hey Dutch!" Arthur shouted as him and Lilly walked hand in hand through camp.

"Arthur! Lilly!" Dutch shouted back from the balcony. "Come up here!"

Lilly and Arthur walked into the house and up the stairs to the balcony. They neared Dutch and Hosea. "What's goin' on?" Arthur asked.

"You two get the deciding votes," Hosea said as he was sitting in a chair.

"About what?"

"We take an insult and scurry off like cockroaches or deal with business the right way," Dutch replied, leaning off the balcony railing.

"We don't need to take revenge. We hardly know the guy," Hosea sternly argued.

"This ain't about revenge, Hosea." Dutch raised his arms a bit. "Angelo Bronte don't mean shit to me. This is about the fact that we are plannin' to rob a bank in his town. A bank that he no doubt protects, a town where his men are gunnin' for us. Before we do that, we need to put him out of commision."

"I disagree. There's always an easier way."

"There ain't no easier way! Now, I know his type. He is a-"

"You know his type?" Lilly interrupted with a scoff. "Did I miss somethin'? What happened while I was gone?"

"That trolley station job was a set up. Arthur, Lenny and I got shot to hell tryin' to get out of there over fifteen dollars a piece," Dutch explained.

"And a quarter. Don't forget about the quarter," Arthur joked.

Lilly shook her head with a smirk. "I did warn you two. But noooo," Lilly shook her hands and took a few steps to the side. "Let's throw caution to the fuckin' wind, disregard what Lilly has to say even though she was raised by Angelo Bronte for two god damn years!"

Hosea gaped at Lilly. "Wait a minute. Papa, the man chasin' you for years, the man who has a hundred fifty thousand dollar bounty on your head is Angelo Bronte?"

Lilly crossed her arms. "Yes. Da didn't tell you?"

"It wasn't my place, Lilly," Dutch explained.

Hosea turned his shock on both Arthur and Dutch. "When did you both find out?"

"Right after we got Jack back."

Hosea glared at Dutch and Arthur. "You both knew this and you still did the trolley job even though Lilly warned you? You're both idiots and you deserve what you got from it!"

Lilly laughed. "Well, when you put it that way..."

Dutch scoffed in amusement. "You do have a point, old friend. But I know his type." He held up a hand before Lilly could interrupt again. "He is a vindictive little power broker who rules by fear." He looked at Lilly. "Is that an accurate enough description?"

Lilly nodded. "Yes."

Dutch inclined his head with a smirk and a self-appreciative grunt. "Now, we pull that stunt in his cess pit of a town, we're doomed. You wanna leave this place? Leave this country? We need that money."