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.)
