Chapter 5 – Father-Son Standoff
We finally make it to the shore
where Black Jack is. It looks like the law is here along with some mobsters who
are assumingly looking for Black Jack. At least Jackie knows the exact casino
he’s at. This place is full of bounty hunters, the law, and the lawless as
well. We act carefully as Jackie leads me to several spots that he said that his
dad might be around. The place that his dad met his mom at, the rooftop where
they had their wedding party, the bar where his mom won a drinking contest, and
the dance floor where his mom and dad danced. All of these places we checked
and waited around for Black Jack to appear only to be disappointed.
“You can’t identify him in the crowd?”
Jackie asks. He’s asked me at every place we’ve been to.
“No, I can’t. He’s either really
good at hiding his face or not here.”
“Where would he be?”
“Do you think all these people here
that are looking for him scared him off?”
“No. He told me stories about times
where he’s had to hide in cities where most of the population is after him.
This is nothing compared to that.”
“Is there another spot that he
would consider special enough to be in?”
“Hmmm. Maybe.”
Leaving the casino area, we sneak
into the basement to find a hidden passage behind a loose part of the wall. The
passage takes us down a long hallway and into a small house that looks like it’s
being lived in. In this house are several family pictures that catch Jackie’s
attention. He shakes his head as if shaking off a trance and begins to walk
through the house until he sees someone standing outside on the shore. It’s a
man dressed similarly to Jackie except all in black with a black hat on.
“That’s him,” Jackie says as he
walks towards the man with Alucard out.
Alucard is a pistol that’s more
like a magnum that he earned after hunting down a heretic to the Church. Jackie
only uses it for special occasions, but I wonder why he’s pulling it out if he
doesn’t want to kill his dad. Jackie approaches his dad who has his hand on his
gun holster.
“Dad…”
“Hey, Jackie. So, you’ve finally
found me, and you’ve brought along a woman with you. Is she your girlfriend?”
“No, she’s just my partner.”
“I said the same thing about your
mom before we eventually got married. You’re more like me than I thought.”
“Yes, we are, but here’s where the similarities
end. I want you to convince everyone that I’m the real Black Jack. I want to
pay my debts rather than run away from them like you did.”
“You call this running away? I’m
paying the past debts of my sins as well, Jackie.”
“You call this paying for your
sins? Do you know how sad you’ve made mom?”
“There isn’t a single day that I don’t
think about her. I pray that God helps her understand what I need to do.”
“What you need to do is pay off
your debt some other way and let me pay off mine on my own.”
“Or what? Are you going to shoot
me?”
“I’m going to force you to see
things my way. I may be a changed man, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know my
old ways.”
“Can you two stop this already?” I
interrupt, “Why can’t you both settle this more peacefully?”
“You wouldn’t understand. It’s the
bounty hunter way,” Jackie’s dad says.
“Even the bounty hunters of the
Church do this,” Jackie says.
“Maybe the bounty hunter’s way even
those from the Church aren’t God’s way? Did you think of that?”
Both seem to have a sudden
realization.
“Maybe not…”
“I don’t know actually…”
“Tch. Seriously, you two were so
stuck in your bounty hunter ways that you couldn’t think of any other way to
settle this other than death.”
“Well…the wages of sin is death
after all.”
“Isn’t there another way to pay for
your sins? I’m you too would know better than I do.”
“Yeah…”
“I guess…”
“Then that settles it.”
There’s an awkward silence as the
two men have to drop the trigger happy mentality.
“Haha! It’s a good thing you
brought your girlfriend along, Jackie. We would’ve-”
Someone snipped Jackie’s dad from a
distance! Jackie instantly turns around with MacMillan to look for the shooter,
finds him near the hill behind us, and kills him. He then drops his gun and
runs to his dad.
“Dad! Dad!” Jackie screams with
tears in his eyes as he holds his dad.
“Jackie…I’m sorry this happened.”
“No…no, don’t be. It’s my fault.”
“No, it isn’t your fault. Your dad
wanted this to happen. I blame myself for this too for telling the law where to
find your dad.”
“No, no, no. It’s okay,” Jackie says
as he crosses himself, “The wages of sin is death and they deserve death.”
“Jackie, you can’t just go in there
and kill everyone!”
“They’re going to come for us
anyway. We’ll bury my dad after. You can stay here if you want. In fact, it
might be better if you did because I don’t want you to end up like him.”
“No. I’ll be with you this all.”
“Okay.”
Jackie heads off with a purpose
back into the house. It’s hard to keep up with him and his footsteps sound
like he’s stomping the ground with every step. Once we get back to the casino, Jackie
draws everyone’s attention by firing into the air.
“I am Black Jack! The name the Red
King was just a cover! The wages of sin is death so pay your dues all ye who refuse
to repent!” Jackie announces.
What comes next is an absolute
slaughter out of a legend as Jackie and I fight off all the officers, outlaws,
and bounty hunters that come our way. I don’t there could be a single place in
this casino that doesn’t have bullet holes in them. It’s a good thing we
stocked up on ammo and got a good night’s sleep before we did this otherwise,
we wouldn’t have made it. Our body armor is more or less worthless now, so we
set it aside while burying Jackie’s father. We say our prayers and our goodbyes
to him and all who we killed before we leave the shore. It’s only now that I
realize that Jackie has stopped crying. I don’t think he stopped even during
the gunfight.
“I’m guessing you're not going to
claim the bounty on my head,” Jackie says.
“No, of course not. No amount of
money is worth shooting you.”
“Aren’t you disappointed that you
didn’t get anything out of this whole adventure?”
“I learned a lot because of you.
That makes it worth it.”
“Oh, you’re welcome. So, what are
you going to do now?”
“I think I’ll settle down somewhere
with a husband and kids. What about you?”
“I think I’ll do the same except
with a wife and not a husband, of course.”
“Sounds like a good plan.”
Once we make sure our tracks are
covered, Jackie and I settle down in our own little farm in an unmarked town.
We aren’t married or anything…yet, but for now, we’re happy to live together
away from all the death, bounty hunters, and chaos of the West. Taking my
chances on being with Jackie turned out to be a golden opportunity more profitable
than I thought it would be, and thank You, God, for it.
The End
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