Shootout at Joe's

Elsie grinned at me. Her jaw worked faster on the chewing gum. Her squinting eyes twinkled behind her glasses as the footsteps got louder.

Through the window, I saw the man's mussy gray hair and his scarred face with the patch on his left eye. He saw me looking. He smiled and waved.

I glanced at Lester, who was holding a napkin to his arm.

The woman aimed the revolver at me one last time. "Don't move," she warned me.

The screen door swung open.

She spun on her stool.

"DUCK, JOE!" I shouted.

He didn't duck. He just stood there looking confused as the woman jumped off the stool, crouched, and fired. The first bullet missed him high and to the left and shattered the window. The second bullet knocked his leg out from under him. He flopped onto the floor. The woman took careful aim at his head.

I was in midair, leaping off the counter. I slammed against her back as she fired. The bullet tore a hole in the floor. Then the two of us hit the hard floor and rolled. She swung the revolver at my face, but this time I blocked the blow. I knocked the gun from her hand.

They say you're not supposed to punch women. But right then, I wasn't about to let that worry me.