Renegades and Pretty Women

The smoky haze filled the stale air as Jonah sat at the bar with his whiskey and his thoughts. Two years of his life were gone. Wasted. Wasted on a woman who had run off with the first rich banker who had come sweeping in, leaving her poor ranch hand lover behind with a shattered heart and a ruined reputation.

After being called Penny’s Clown a couple dozen times and hearing the whispers and the snickering that had seemed to accompany him everywhere, Jonah had known it was time to leave that town and that life behind.

Back to a life of wandering. With no possessions other than his horse and what few scraps of clothes and this-or-that that happened to be in his saddlebags.

His friends were happy to have him back at least. Reb had let him know how crazy he’d been to try to change who he was for a woman and Bart had said he knew Jonah would come to his senses eventually.

“Turn that frown upside down, Jonah!” Bart exclaimed with a laugh as he flopped his skinny frame down on the stool next to Jonah. “There’s a good card game fixin’ to start. Why don’t ya come on and show us how it’s done?”

Jonah downed his remaining whiskey and then nodded as he swiped his dirt stained shirt sleeve across his mouth.

“When you’re left broke and crying just remember that you asked for it.” he replied with a grin. Bart chuckled and slapped Jonah on the back as the two men stood up and made their way across the fairly empty saloon.

It was the middle of the day and the sunlight coming through the windows, shone off the dust motes floating in the air and made the whiskey inside the glass bottles seem to glow in the reflection.

Jonah sat down at a table with a dealer from the saloon, Bart, Reb and two men that Jonah didn’t recognize.

“Ain’t a damn poker player alive today that’s any better’n our Jonah.” Reb stated with confidence as he adjusted his patch over his left eye. One of the strangers snorted and the other spit a long stream of tobacco into the spittoon on the dirty wooden planks of the floor.

“I’d beg to differ with that statement, gentleman.” he stated with a broken toothed grin. “I happen to believe that title would belong to me.”

“I doubt that.” Reb scoffed, his single blue eye narrowing as he picked up his dirty glass and took a long drink of beer.

“Whatd’ya say y’all quit gabbing like a couple of school girls and get down to business?” Jonah asked as he nodded at the dealer.

The men all placed their bets and the dealer dealt the five card stud game they were playing.

After ten hands in which Jonah won more than half, folded twice and only lost one it seemed that the two strangers were coming around to seeing things Reb’s way.

“You are damn good at poker, young gun.” The tobacco chewer stated as he rubbed the back of his neck. “You make a living at this or something.”

“Well…” Jonah started, but in true Reb fashion the man interrupted him.

“Hell no! Not Jonah. He’s looking for a town to settle down in. He’s a settler. He wants a job.” Reb said the last word as if it were some sort of curse or the plague and there was a collective shiver from the all the men at the table other than the dealer and Jonah.

“I try to tell him to stop trying to be what he’s not. His mama was a whore, his daddy was a outlaw and here he is trying to be an upstanding citizen.” Bart added with a shake of his head. Jonah rolled his eyes and adjusted his hat on his head.

“Well I believe I’ve heard just about enough about myself. I’m out.” he said nodding at the dealer as he stood. Jonah walked toward the door and Reb was quick to jump to his feet and follow him.