Slow Burn Page #3

- Duster?

Duster's my cousin, so I don't

wanna say nothin' bad about him.

You know what you got to do to get

25 years labor in a Mexican prison?

Don't give 'em the chance

to show ya.

Oh, no, no.

You can't go nowhere.

You can't go nowhere.

You gotta stay right here.

Shh, Tracy. It's okay.

It's okay. I'm gonna

fix your door for ya.

Hey! Don't! Don't touch her!

But the door was open.

Well, I-I-I can fix it

so she can live in there.

Hold on, hold on. I got it.

Hold it right there.

Yep, she'll be comfy

as a kitten in here, trina.

See, I'm a locksmith.

- You ain't no locksmith.

- I was before, and I trained for a long time.

And who sacrificed his hard-earned

cash to give you that training?

- Please, stop wasting everybody's time.

- See, I can do it.

- I can fix it if you want me to.

- We'll just open this up, and...

I was gonna put a piece of wire on it.

There we go!

And we got it right here.

What are you lookin' at?

I'm lookin' at nothin', Marcus.

There you are. A little drink.

Now, I-I-I know

what Marcus must've told ya,

and I understand why

you don't wanna be around me.

But I need you

to know somethin'.

I-I'd never do anything

to hurt that bird of yours.

I wanted you to know that.

I just really wanted you

to know that.

Hey, you know these little

pictures on the rocks here?

Yeah?

Are... are they like

a language or somethin'?

Like this bird here.

Does that mean somethin'?

It's not a bird.

It's a dragonfly.

Oh, it's a dragonfly.

Dragonflies need water

to breed.

When you see one on a rock, in the

direction that it's pointing,

it means there's water there.

I knew it meant somethin'.

I knew it.

The Indians used to

leave 'em for each other.

Just hundreds of years of

people leaving their mark.

Sun.

Snake.

Corn, counting.

Man. Woman.

Well, they're real beautiful.

Now, I bet you can read all

these rocks around here, huh?

Can read the chatter.

The big guys there, most of the

time they keep to themselves.

They're called petroglyphs.

"Glyph's" a carving,

and "Petro" means stone.

Hey... hey, Marcus!

- What are you doin' here?

- You know all these stone pictures?

Bug-eyed, starin' things?

They're messages.

You can read 'em. Each one

means somethin' different.

Why don't you try to read the

meaning on that one, duster?

- What are you doing?

- It's just graffiti, trina.

- It's not graffiti. These are sacred carvings.

- Sacred to who?

They're sacred to me!

It's the gran desierto!

You respect it,

or it will kill you!

It ain't gonna kill me, 'cause I'm

gettin' out of here in that vehicle!

So when you're finished teaching

art appreciation to Picasso here,

fix the goddamn truck!

What's up with you?

He's my partner.

Partner.

It's gonna be hot work.

Keep going.

You want it to melt or what?

Do I gotta do this

alone or what?

I need it hotter.

Hotter!

You're looking kind of peaked, duster.

Why don't you take a break?

I don't... I don't need a break.

Yeah?

He can't keep up.

He's down.

You all right?

Come on, pal. He's all right.

He's got heatstroke.

No, we've got to get him to the water hole.

Come on, help me!

Women of quality don't usually occupy

themselves with heatstroke and hammers.

You learn fast when your life depends on it.

That's my point exactly.

It's all about

what we depend on.

Your friend's gonna die if we

don't get his body heat down.

You don't give a damn about him, do you?

Of course I do.

The way I see it, it's pretty

much out of our hands.

If he dies, you can't tell me

you're gonna be heartbroken. What?

You got class. Mama learned

me how to spot it.

That ain't easy when you're

growin' up in a cathouse.

I learned all kinds of women. Trash,

hard-luck girls, you name it.

I know I ain't got any class,

but God, do I know the taste.

When the door is closed, you

look in the client's wallets...

At the pictures...

kids, houses, wives.

That's how I got to know class.

That's why I know you.

You don't know

a goddamn thing about me!

I know whatever

happens to duster,

it's not gonna stop you anymore

than it's gonna stop me.

'Cause I know somethin' else... you

don't let nothin' get in your way.

You're a son of a b*tch, just like me.

I am nothing like you!

I'm a sleazy, greedy roach

who doesn't give a damn...

About the one person who

gives a damn about him?

F*** you! You're trash!

Pretty soon, you grubby little desert

rat, we're gonna go our separate ways,

and you're never gonna know what kind of

pearls you just threw out with the trash.

Wait. Do...

Hey.

Hey.

You all right?

I don't feel good.

Huh? My head hurts.

You're pretty feverish.

Duster, remember anything?

I remember the forge.

I remember you.

I remember the heat.

I remember lots of heat.

- Come on, drink this.

- No, I don't want your ration. That's yours.

You have heatstroke.

You need water. No.

Come on.

Did we fix the linkage?

It's nothing

a bigger hammer won't fix.

Please, drink this.

Mmm.

I'm glad you're all right.

For a moment I thought you were

gonna leave me with Marcus.

Marcus don't mean

to do those bad things.

Marcus had a real

tough time growin' up.

- And you didn't?

- You don't understand. Marcus done extra work for me.

Someone like me

could have opportunities.

I learned about

radial pin keys...

And multipass

combination mechanisms.

He paid for all those courses.

Advanced locksmithing.

- Why'd you stop?

- Locksmithing's a special job.

I mean, I'm responsible for

people's homes, valuables.

It takes a special person,

the right kind of people.

And I ain't the right kind

of people anymore.

Oh, duster.

Why were you in a Mexican jail?

He and I robbed a bank.

Advanced locksmithing.

You shouldn't let people

take advantage of you.

Yeah. Maybe all that time

you were busy cracking safes,

it was you

who was being robbed.

One dream doesn't

make a whole life.

Trina.

It's... it's

nothin' special, but...

I can't take that.

Okay.

It's beautiful.

It's just been a long time since

anyone was glad I was around.

Be careful, duster.

It's funny how you never turn into

Florence nightingale when I'm around.

You seem to have a lot

of spare time...

For someone who's supposed to be

tryin' to get us out of here, huh?

If you're that bored, darlin'...

I said I'd work on the linkage.

So, uh, if you'll allow me.

Mmm.

All right.

All right. All right.

Jesus Christ!

How could you let her

put that thing on me?

- You know I don't like bugs!

- Without insects, human life would end in two months.

I do not wanna talk about bugs!

Aw, Jesus! Yuck!

Ehh!

Did I... see that...

Ring on her hand?

It was in the combine.

It was worth somethin'.

Well, if you had plans, Marcus,

you should've said so.

Well, it's a little late now,

isn't it?

Marcus.

Marcus.

Marcus!

Shut your f***in' mouth!

I don't wanna hear any more

of your goddamn lip!

Where the f*** did she go?

You leave her alone. I'll give you

my half of the diamonds, okay?

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