CHOICESCHOICES
The other riders exchanged nervous glances as Kid and Jimmy continued to stare each other down. It wasn’t that they hadn’t seen Jimmy and Kid angry at each other before, they had witnessed too many heated arguments and explosive confrontations between the two hard-headed riders over the past year-and-a-half that they had all been riding for the express. Most of those confrontations usually occurred after Kid had rescued Jimmy from some type of trouble or other. As much as Jimmy tried to avoid trouble, it seemed to follow him around. The problem was that once trouble found Jimmy, he was all too willing to accommodate it. Even if it meant getting himself killed.
Lately though the confrontations between the two riders had become volatile. Neither Jimmy nor Kid could stand to be in the presence of the other rider for more than a few moments, before they were spouting recriminations at each other. Seeing the two friends go at each other like they would an enemy was disconcerting to the other members of the express family. Not only did they care about both of the riders equally it disturbed them beyond all reason to see Jimmy and Kid’s friendship deteriorate so rapidly. While no one knew exactly what had happened between the two riders to make them so angry towards one another, they all felt that Lou was somehow involved.
Jimmy’s mouth twisted into a dangerous smirk as he said through clenched teeth. “I’m going to let that last remark slide Kid, cause I know you’re upset. Say something like that again and I’ll forget that we’re friends.”
“Don’t do me any favors. If it wasn’t for you, Lou and I would have gotten back together a long time ago! I’d rather trust a rattlesnake than you! At least with a rattlesnake I’d know what to expect! ” Kid shouted.
Jimmy’s face darkened a fraction of a moment before he lunged at Kid. Noah grabbed Jimmy, while Cody took hold of Kid. Buck stepped between the two riders, holding out a hand in each direction to stop them from making contact with each other. His voice thundered angrily through the bunkhouse. “Stop it! Just stop it! I can’t believe the two of you! Can’t you think about someone else other than yourselves! Lou’s gone and all you’re concerned about is tearing into each other!”
“Do you think that the past few months have been easy on anyone? Kid, we did what you asked and stayed out of your business! Hoping the whole time that you would come to your senses and make up with Lou! Instead, you went out of your way to hurt her! If anything happens to Lou because of your callous behavior towards you, you’re going to have me to deal with!” Cody exclaimed angrily. There was a fierce look upon his face that none of them had ever seen before. They knew that Cody meant everything that he had said.
“You haven’t helped anything either Jimmy! You’ve done everything you could to make things worse between Lou and Kid. Instead of just being the friend that Lou needed, you decided to take things into your own hands. Seeing the two of you go at each other’s throats because of her, tore Lou up inside! She hated seeing you two fight! You’re suppose to be best friends, but lately you’ve been acting like enemies!” Noah added.
The tension Kid had felt at Jimmy’s earlier words drained out of him and was instantly replaced by a flood of hot shame. His friends were right. He couldn’t believe that he was standing here arguing with Jimmy, while the woman he loved at ridden out of his life. It shouldn’t matter if Jimmy had feelings for Lou either. As much as he wanted to patch things up with Lou, he knew there was a possibly that he wouldn’t be able to. If Lou had to choose anyone beside him, he’d rather it be Jimmy. At least he would know that Lou was well taken care of.
‘You guys are right. Nothing’s more important than finding Lou. I’m sorry, Jimmy. I shouldn’t have said what I did. As much as I hope that Lou and I will get back together, I know that there’s a chance that I won’t. I’d rather have Lou be with you, than have her be with somebody that’s going to hurt her.” Kid said, finally.
The other riders grinned as Jimmy’s face filled with surprise. Then Hickok’s eyes grew suspicious, thinking that it was another one of Kid’s jibes. He studied Kid’s face for a moment before saying, “I’m sorry too, Kid. I should have just stayed out of it. I never expected to start having feelings for her. They came on all of a sudden and the more I saw Lou hurting, the angrier I got.”
“I know. I guess I should feel grateful that Lou’s got someone else looking after her, even if it means defending her against me.” Kid told him. He stuck his hand out towards Jimmy. The other riders took a collective breath and held it, waiting to see how Jimmy would respond. A grin split Jimmy’s face and he stuck his hand in Kid’s.
(Now that you two have made up, let’s go find Lou!) Ike signed, quickly.
