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Blackthorne
Cinemagenic 128
Regrets
“Regret is a form of punishment itself.”
--Nouman Ali Khan.
1(sound cue) cello
2(three-shot) And now him! Hop sputtered, spinning
around to face them, his index finger pointed like a
pistol between Buck’s eyes. First Thor, and now him!
3(medium close-up) Salina: Can’t help myself. I like
the bad ones. They are more honest with a woman.
Hop: Christ Almighty. You are the only decent woman
in this whole goddamn town, the only skirt worth
looking at and pursuing. And you sift through the
gutter to find a man.
Salina: No one prevented you from looking
elsewhere. That was your choice.
She reached into her bag and found a new swab.
She dipped the swab in the pan of hot water on the
stove. Returning to Buck’s side, she touched his
chin. Buck was busily watching Hop, his eyes were
smoldering. She reached around the side of his face
and dabbed at the bullet crease at his temple.
4(sound cue) piano and banjo.
5(one-shot) Hop slammed his hat on the desk.
Hell--I’m sorry, really sorry. I’m such an asshole. I
must be drunk. I promised myself I would never
say shit to you about my feelings.
6(three-shot) Salina. I’m not blind, Joe. I knew how
you felt. She scrapped some dried blood out of
Buck’s eyebrow with her fingernail.
Hop awkwardly stared at the floor.
Salina: I could be your friend if you like.
Hop put his hat back on, and cleared his throat.
Alright--that would be--good. Let’s move on.
Things will work out.
Buck, nodding, Hope you’re right. There’s been a
lot of blood under the bridge tonight.
Salina opened Buck’s shirt and began to clean his
shoulder wound.
Hop: I think it’s time for you to get back to your cell.
Buck: They will be back.
Salina was now bandaging the shoulder wound.
Hop: You pay that no never mind. They won’t get
past me. Beside, whoever sent those bastards is
running short of men. We saw to that real proper.
He’ll have to send to Silver City to get a dozen
more. So I think things will stay quiet for the rest
of the night.
7(sound cue) harmonica and fiddle.
Salina replaced the top on a bottle of iodine.
Finished, she began to pack up the bag.
Both men silently watched her.
Hop, speaking first: You look like you could use
a good dose of shuteye.
Salina hugged Buck. As he held her, he could feel
her breasts pushing against him, boring through
his cotton shirt. She patted the pistol in the back
of his pants, while stirring the pistol in front. She
turned to leave.
Hop: If Henry stops back, we’ll let him know that
you went home.
Salina kissed Buck with her eyes, and closed the
door behind her. Hop stared at the steel plate in the
center of the door, then without looking up, pointed
to the rear cell. Buck walked back into the shadows
of the cell block.
8(medium close-up) Hop: The casket maker, you
know, that skinny cousin of Mateo’s, is going to be
one busy bean-eater. Eighteen men in one night.
I haven’t seen carnage like this since I was in
the Cavalry.
Buck (as Voice-Over) Got into a few scraps with
the natives, did you?
Hop: Yeah, in my 20 years I saw a few big battles.
9(close up) Buck: I Still think you ought to give me a
gun to even up the odds a bit.
Hop: (as Voice-Over) You know how I feel about that.
Buck: This last fracas didn’t change anything?
10(close-up) Hop: No!
11(sound cue) guitar and saxophone.
Glenn Buttkus
Posted over at d'Verse Poet's Pub OLN
7 comments:
This is getting to be more and more exciting with each installment, Glenn! There is quite a love triangle here with Hop confessing his feelings to Salina in a drunken state. I thought she took it quite well and needless to say has eyes only for Buck! Especially resonate with; "Can’t help myself. I like the bad ones. They are more honest with a woman." It really is true!!💝💝
Hop may get stirred up, but he still sees things in black and white.
(I enjoyed your topical poem in the LIVE session.)
Killer Glenn! This saga is really damned engaging. Loved your rant today at OLN Live!! Drag that bastard...
:::heavy exhalation of relief::: I'm glad Hop came to his senses despite his drunken lapse of being honest with his feelings. I wish Salina would stay as she could keep things cool between Buck and Hop as well as make those scumbags outside less likely to shoot the place up. I like the pistols line.
You know because of these breaks between OLN it feels like they've been cooped up in there for a very long time. I pray help comes soon!
I also really enjoyed the poem you read today. So refreshingly honest and an open expression of sincere relief that we made it through 4 years of sheer HELL.
It is going to be a long night for Buck, I think... I look forward to the next instalment!
Excellent, impassioned reading yesterday, I enjoyed it very much.
Apologies for reading late, but after the live OLN, I was too tired to read, and we had the electrician in all yesterday to sort out the heating – there is still none in the study or dining room! Your Blackthorne instalment provided some much-needed heat! Buck is such a stalwart, Glenn, and I like his response to Hop and Selina’s conversation: ‘There’s been a lot of blood under the bridge tonight.’
Blood under the bridge, a love triangle, and a stirred pistol. 😏. A lot of things going on there!
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