Contagious

Chapter 35

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You survived, Dew said.

Im the only one who survived, Perry said. Because I fought. Because Ive got discipline. Youve got to have discipline.

Dew laughed. You want discipline? Id like to give you some discipline.

Perry smiled. You want to shoot me? Shoot me. Its the only way you can put me down. You aint jack s.h.i.t without that gun, old man.

Dew had him. A fight was a foregone conclusion at this point. He just had to keep pushing b.u.t.tons, get Dawsey out of control. Put him in a rage.

You mean this gun? Dew pulled his old .45 from his shoulder holster. He ejected the magazine, c.o.c.ked back the slide and held up the gun to show there was no bullet in the chamber. He set the gun between them on the table. He held up the magazine with his right hand and used his thumb to flick out the first bullet. Then the second. He stared straight into Perrys eyes as he emptied all seven rounds. He held the final bullet, then tossed the magazine away and bounced the bullet up and down in his palm.

So now I dont have a gun, Dew said. What do you have to say now, boy?

Right, Perry said. Like thats the only piece youve got.

Dew gave an exaggerated nod. The kid was smarter than he looked. Dew pulled up his right pant leg and drew his Taurus Model 85 .38 revolver from his ankle holster. He emptied the five-round cylinder and dropped the gun on the floor. From his left leg, he took a steel telescoping baton and tossed it across the room into a wastebasket. As soon as he did, he wished hed kept it. A flick of the wrist would expand the baton from six inches to sixteen inchesinstant steel billy club. The cat was out of the bag, though; he couldnt exactly go back and get it. Dew then reached to the small of his back and extracted his Ka-Bar from its horizontal sheath. Finally he slid his hands into his crotch and removed a black switchblade. The switchblade and the Ka-Bar followed the baton into the wastebasket.

What the f.u.c.k, old man? You going to war or something?

Every day, kid, every day. Now, unless youre going to give me a body-cavity search for the frag grenade I carry up my p.o.o.p-chute, youre gonna have to take my word for it that Im disarmed. So are we gonna do this, or are you just gonna sit there w.a.n.kin your crank?

Are you serious, old man? Look at you. Gut hanging out. I see you sometimes limping and s.h.i.t. I hit you half as hard as I can, Ill probably kill you.

Im not your little b.u.t.t-buddy Bill, Dew said quietly.

Perrys eyes widened, a combination of rage and shame.

Youre a big man, Dawsey, Dew said. Killing someone who weighed all of a buck-fifty soaking wet.

Dont you talk about him, Dawsey said in a quiet voice that sent goose b.u.mps up Dews back.

Dew smiled his best a.s.shole smile. Whats the matter, p.u.s.s.y? You dont want to take a swing at me? Maybe I can find a midget around here somewhere. Maybe a baby, or a fat woman, or an eighty-year-old grandmother. But that wont work, because those people wouldnt be your friends. They wouldnt be your best friend. Someone who trusted you, who tried to help you.

Dawseys hands curled up into cinder-block-size fists. It wasnt my fault, he said in that same quiet voice. I . . . I wasnt in control.

Sure you werent, Dew said. Its called accountability, boy. If you actually had any discipline, your little f.a.ggot friend would still be alive.

Perry reached down with his left hand, across his body, and grabbed the right corner of the table. He lifted and threw in one motion, effortlessly flipping the table to his left. It smashed into the wall, legs breaking on impact. The empty .45 bounced across the carpet.

Dew waited.

A snarling Perry Dawsey raised his right fist. Huge muscles rippling, he stepped forward to throw a haymaker.

And just when Perry took that step, Dew flicked the bullet at Perrys face.

The bullet bounced off Perrys forehead. He blinked and flinched, an automatic reaction caused by something flying at his face. He turned his head just a little, his fist hung in the air, and he took an instinctive shuffle-step to maintain his balance as momentum pulled him forward.

Dew opened his right hand, making the s.p.a.ce between his thumb and pointer finger as wide as possible. He stepped into the oncoming monster, snapping forward with his horizontal open hand. The crook of his thumb smashed into Dawseys throat. Dew held back a littleany harder and he would have broken Dawseys windpipe, making him suffocate to death. He wanted to hurt the guy, not kill him.

Not yet, anyway.

Dawseys hands shot to his neck, and his eyes scrunched tightly shut. He made a single noise, part-cough, part-gag.

Then Dew Phillips thumbed him in the left eye.

Perry flinched away again, turning his head to the left to protect the eye, left hand coming up to cover it, right hand staying clutched at his throat. He couldnt breathe. He couldnt see.

Dew stepped forward to kick Dawsey in the knee, but the big man flailed his fist in a wild arc that caught Dews right shoulder. The force spun Dew all the way around, and he fell hard, knocking over the table full of open briefcases. Dew felt the sting of a cut on his right temple, and only a second later a bit of blood came trickling down.

Dew had been in hundreds of fights, and hed never been hit that hard.

He scrambled to his feet. He tried to move his right arm but couldntit was numb and unresponsive.

Dawsey was still coughing, still trying to draw a breath, still keeping his watering left eye turned away, still swinging wildly and blindly back and forth with his right hand. Dew skirted the wall to the broken table. With his left hand, he picked up a table leg by the thinner end. The legs thick top made it look like a polished wooden mace.

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