Monday, April 27, 2009

The Miners of Tulsa

The townsfolk's excitement had ebbed somewhat, once the train thieves were collectively tossed in the small ferrocrete cabin that was Tulsa's jail house.

"Never a dull moment in Tulsa," a miner chuckled to Karin Hassan, jerking his thumb towards the train yard as he stepped up to the cash counter at the caravan. "Well, little lady, how much do I owe you fer all these?" he flashed a toothy grin and heaved two slabs of springer steaks, a bottle of whiskey and a large chunk of chocolate onto the counter. He grinned wider still when he produced the box of condoms.

Karin didn't blink. Tulsa wasn't the first town full of rowdy, horny labourers the caravan had visited. There were women here too, but even Karin knew that she was fresh meat. She looked down at the springer steaks, frowned, and then looked at the leering diamond miner.

"Hm, that's ... " she did the calculations silently, nodding, "seventy two dinar, all told."

"I'll give you fifty for the lot," the miner grunted, suddenly all business.

Karin scoffed, leaning closer, "you'll pay seventy two. All our prices are knocked down for you grimy bastards." She winked, "seventy two, take it or leave it."

"Awww...shit, how can I say no to a little diamond like you?" the miner fished around and deposited two bills on the table. His hands were grimy and calloused, "there, seventy two!" he declared.

"Sold!" Karin smiled and made change, "next!" she called. An even dirtier, hornier man leered at her with crazed black eyes from behind an enormous stack of porno data-disks. His beard effectively doubled the size of his head.

It was going to be a good evening's trading.

-----------

"I told Zeke he'd be a fool doing what he did," a grizzled veteran of the mines spat out at Sam from across the poker table. "I told him, I told him: 'them diamonds ain't worth squat the way they are. And where you gonna off-load 'em anyways?'"

Sam did not respond.

"So he must have found someone to offload them from the train. Still..." the miner continued as if he had Sam's complete attention, "still there's always the Westridge Rail Line. If he had made it to that spur, he coulda gotten away up north towards Wounded Knee. I betcha them smugglers up there would pay a pretty penny..." the man had a gleam in his eye.

Sam looked uninterested.

"Hey, you even listening to me?" the man grunted?

"Hmm? What? Oh, full house, tens over sixes," Sam laid his cards down.

"Awww...crap."

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