Smoke, Guns, and Mirrors

Aldi Imam Fahrizal

SMOKE, GUNS, AND MIRRORS

PLAYERS

JERICHO, 47, vicious, hard-boiled man, strong build

BILL MURDOCK, 65, corrupt, craving for power, mastermind

TROY EARLE, 40, calm, well-mannered, cunning, fair build

BARTENDER, 43, fat, bald, coward

SCENE 1. In the land of wild Texas in the mid 1880’s, lives a man, one of the most legendary, fast hand gunslinger, a man who goes by the name of JERICHO. JERICHO is a brown-slick-back-haired and brown-bearded notorious gun-for-hire who wears an eyepatch to hide his scarred left blue eyes. The sun is high, JERICHO arrives at a town named Serenity, a small town in the middle of nowhere, he is looking for someplace to hang his hat and have a drink, so he goes straight to the only saloon in the town.

JERICHO (dismounting his stallion). Wait ‘ere, Dusty.

As JERICHO walks into the saloon, the crowd turns into silence in an instant. all the eyes inside that hornet’s nest is looking at him with fear.

JERICHO (sitting on one of the stool). Gimme any beer ye got, just make it double and make it fast.

The BARTENDER just stand paralyzed while looking at JERICHO.

JERICHO (slightly angry). Hey, am I gettin’ myself a beer or not?

BARTENDER (answering spontaneously, then left). Oh! Ye... ye... yessir! Rightaway, sir!

Suddenly, an old man confidently unbuckle his gun and put it on his table, then stand confidently from his chair and walks toward JERICHO, reaching for the stool right next to him.

BILL (standing next to JERICHO). Yer’ the one they call Jericho?

JERICHO (without turning his face). Who’s askin’?

BILL. The name’s Bill, son. Bill Murdock, and I’m the marshal of this small town. Nice ta meet ya.

JERICHO feels alarmed and then calmly yet firmly steadying his hand right next to his holstered gun, ready for trouble. The crowd does the same thing in response.

BILL (shouting to the crowd). Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, easy, no need for blood and violence ‘ere. Just, hold yer horses and put yer guns down, alright?

The situation returns to normal, BILL sits down right next to JERICHO.

BILL. Listen, son. I’m not here to arrest ya or anything, okay? Didn’t ya see I left my gun there on that table? This old man come to you unarmed, my son.

JERICHO. So whaddya want then, marshal?

BILL (whispering). Nice for ya to see reason, kid…, look, I know yer a... let say, adventurer. I know ya did ‘favors’ for people who ‘needed’ ya. So I assume you can do a favor for an old marshal like me? And for the good people of Serenity? For a little fortune, of course. I know how it works.

BARTENDER (serving beer to JERICHO, then left again) He… He… Here ya go, Sir!

JERICHO listens to BILL in silence while drinking, waiting for the marshal to get to the point. And the marshal understand his silence.

BILL. For the past two years, this little town has been under the terror of a vicious outlaw, my son. And as the marshal of this town, I can’t, under my good conscience, let this continue.

JERICHO. You got an outlaw ‘ere in yer town? So why didn’t ya call yer men and clean up the mess, marshal? Why bother hiring a gunman like me?

BILL. Believe me, I did. Me and my men had tried to bring that basterd to justice once. And ya know what I got? I got 38 reasons why I won’t try the same stupid thing again, and those 38 reasons are now lying dead in coffins over by that grave.

JERICHO is a bit surprised, wandering who is the outlaw who is able to single-handedly kill 38 men in one skirmish.

BILL. Honestly, my son. I believe it’s a miracle that ya came to this town in time when it needs you, Jericho, the most.

JERICHO (slightly confused). What does that s’ppossed to mean?

BILL. I believe you, and you alone, know this man the most, my son. this man, he goes by the name of Troy Earle. He killed over twelve innocent citizens of Serenity, including Wyatt Earp, the previous marshal of this town, the man we hold dear the most.

TROY EARLE was once JERICHO’s greatest rival, they have faced each other in hundreds of duels. He was the only man that can kill JERICHO, and vice versa. But TROY has been gone for ten years, and it’s like fate has bring these two beasts together again for a reason.

JERICHO (surprised). Troy Earle?!

BILL. Yes, my son. Troy Earle, the very same Troy Earle ya knew.

BILL picks a cigar from his pocket and fire a lighter to it, smoking it. Knowing JERICHO won’t refuse the offer.

BILL. So are ya gonna do this town a good favor, son?

JERICHO. Dead or Alive?

BILL (standing up from his stool). Away, my son. I want him away from this town. Go get yerself ready son, we’ll march to his house this night.

JERICHO finish his drink while thinking about the odds that he finally finds his rival here, and then he left to prepare for the moment he has been waiting for for his whole life.

SCENE 2. Later that night, JERICHO, BILL, and a bunch of BILL’s men surround a small house that is assumed to be TROY’s hiding. JERICHO tells BILL and his men to stay outside and cover him while he goes inside and have his last duel with TROY.

BILL (readying his gun). The sound of our horses were loud, there’s no doubt he knows that we’re here, he must’ve been prepared by now, ya sure ya wanna go in alone, son?

JERICHO (readying his gun). Well, I want ‘im to be prepared, marshal. I want ‘im to be wide awake in our long ‘waited reunion.

BILL. Suit yerself, son. We’ll watch yer back.

JERICHO, with one hand readied beside his buckled Colt Peacemaker, opens the front door and enters the house. Inside the house is TROY. But much to his surprise, TROY is sitting in a chair in his tiny, dining room and seems to be waiting for JERICHO to come over for a dinner while sipping on his coffee.

TROY (sipping his coffee). Long time no see, Jericho. I was a bit surprised when I heard you were in town. Figure you might be sparing your time to visit me here in my little house. Here, have a seat. I made a coffee for you.

JERICHO (sitting on the chair in front of TROY’s). News travels fast around this little town, huh?

He can clearly see that there is a gun on TROY’s end of the table, but Troy isn’t holding it, his hand is holding a cup of coffee he is having.

TROY. No, no, news travels normal in this town. News about YOU, though...

JERICHO. I see, well. It’s hard to slip from such thing when yer a gun-for-hire, especially a good one.

TROY. Hahaha, I won’t argue to that, Jericho. Say, how did you end up being in this little town, man? This town is not really an easy place to find.

JERICHO. I dunno, I guess I just wandered here by accident, why?

TROY. Nothing, really. You know, I just feel like there was some... magic that brings us here together again after those ten years. Fate, maybe? What do you think?

JERICHO. Don’t really have an interest in such thing as fate, I say it is what it is. Nothing more.

TROY. Hmm, maybe you’re right. But then again, who knows, right?

TROY finish his last sip of coffee and clean his mouth with a handkerchief.

TROY. So, this is it then? The moment we’ve been waiting for for ten years, I’m excited! Say, how about we do a single bullet duel, hmm?

JERICHO (emptying his gun to one bullet). Sure, doesn’t make any difference, anyway I see it, yer already dead.

TROY (emptying his gun to one bullet). Ohohoho, You’re still full of confidence, I see. Shall we do it then? Shall we finally see who is the fastest gunslinger in the wild west?

JERICHO. Anytime.

Both JERICHO and TROY stare at each other and pointing their gun. The room turns to much silent even the tick of the clock is a loud, disturbing noise.

BANG!

The loud noise comes from both guns, the only thing that can decide who dies and who lives is which one shot a split-second earlier, and who got the target. It is JERICHO, he shot TROY in the stomach while succesfully avoided his shot. JERICHO is victorious.

TROY (dying, coughing blood). Nice one, man. Nice one.

JERICHO. Tell me one thing, Troy. Who hired you to kill Wyatt Earp and twelve other people? How much did they pay you?

TROY. No one, man. Hah.. No one... ahem. Nobody hired me, nobody paid me.

JERICHO. You murdered them in cold blood without any reason at all?!

TROY. Oh, I remembered, I was there, in Wyatt’s office. He was lying on the floor, blood everywhere. What a sight

JERICHO. Ya goddamn psychopath, never thought ya would be this pathetic.

TROY. Psychopath? Hahaha! No, no... Jericho. Wyatt was already dead before I entered the office!

JERICHO (surprised). Whaddya mean?!

TROY. It was a setup... they set me up to meet Wyatt Earp, they said Wyatt had a grand contract for me, said it was top secret and I had to go to his office myself..., but by the time I came, he was already dead. I intended to seek the evidence of truth so I stayed here a little longer while in hiding.

JERICHO. Who set you up?! Who?! What about the other twelve killings?

TROY. The twelve killings... were to cover up their one real target, to make Wyatt Earp’s death... looked like a part of a random kill spree.

JERICHO. What?!

TROY. As for who set me up. They were probably the same people who hired you.

JERICHO (surprised). Bill?!

TROY. Recently, I got tired of this game that I decided to stop looking for evidence. I just wanted this to end... and then you came to end my life, what a perfect timing, man.

JERICHO (angry). But you lost to me in a duel!

TROY. Not a duel if I didn’t have a bullet in my gun.

TROY picks his gun and shows an empty shell, no single bullet was ever there. TROY tricked him into thinking he won the duel, he never did won any duel.

TROY. I let you win in purpose, I let you end my life, Jericho...

JERICHO (choking TROY’s neck, furious). You goddamn basterd! You cheatin’ goddamn basterd!

TROY (drawing his terminal breath). You see, Jericho? I didn’t need to put a single a bullet to kill you. There are plenty out there waiting for you.

(As TROY dies, the door behind JERICHO starts banging repeatedly, signing the end of JERICHO’s life and legend. JERICHO just sits back on his chair and helplessly watch on how ironic his death will be.)