Bobby Grim leaves Texan crying in the street

For those keeping score, we’ve got almost 700 followers on Twitter, helping write this story, sending private messages, telling me what they’d like to see the characters in Pay Dirt do next.

I’ll post twice this weekend, once for each scene collected from Twitter this week. The first scene takes up where we left off last week, with Bobby Grim in line at a Texas pawn shop, behind some jerk, who made his wife sell her jewelry.

Bony Girl left sobbing with Bent Hat counting her money.

Bobby Grim slapped his pawn ticket on the counter and said to Ernie, "Don't start..."

"Well, well, well," said Ernie. "First I heard dead, then the Pen, retirement after that. Now, here he is, the King of Black Ops, back in action."

"I screwed your wife, Ern. Get over it and fill the order, where I can get to work."

Ernie snatched the ticket. Shaking his head, he walked to the back and returned with a red, white, and blue acoustic guitar.

"What the hell's this?"

"You expected a black bag, a brown paper wrapper? People are wise now, thanks to fucking James Bond."

Grim grabbed the guitar and walked to the door.

"Will I see you later?" Ernie asked.

"Doubt it, there’s another 500 miles to the job, and I’m taking the train back.”

"Bullshit. You gotta show ID to buy a ticket."

"I never said I was buying anything."

Outside, Bent Hat's truck doors were open. Near the center of the lot, he was dragging Bony Girl backwards, his hand around her throat.

Behind the truck, Bobby Grim smashed the guitar over Bent Hat's skull, knocking him to the pavement, bleeding and cursing, as Bony Girl ran. Grim dug a duct-taped envelope from the red, white, and blue splinters, opened it, and pulled out a map and a two-inch stacks of 100-dollar bills.

Bent Hat stood, swinging the jagged neck of the guitar. Grim pulled his nine-millimeter from his vest and slapped him unconscious. Bony Girl came back and kneeled beside him, sobbing.

"Here." Grim peeled three bills from his stack. "Tell Barney to give your stuff back, use the rest to get away from this jackass."

Before Grim left the parking lot, Bony Girl had her arms around Bent Hat. "Who asked you, Asshole? I'm calling the cops."

No good deed goes unpunished. Tomorrow, I’ll post this week’s second scene, Kat LeRouge and DJ Ponchatoula hijacking a taxi cab in New Orleans.