“Oh Mei. How old are you? Twenty? Twenty five maybe?”
“A helluva lot older than ya probably think”, she injected drily without getting specific.
“Well, just wait till you reach my age. You will view things very differently, I assure you. It is much too late for me to start over. If I lose the bar, I lose my livelihood. And if I lose the house too, I will eventually end up destitute. Without being able to use my degree I have nothing else Mei.”
“Bullshit!”, she declared firmly. “Defeat is a choice. All ya gotta do is man the fuck up!”
Again Al couldn’t help smiling in the face of her straightforward enthusiasm.
“I wish the world was that simple, Mei. I really do. But when you are up against the system itself, there is no winning scenario.”
“Bullshit!”, she repeated. “Fuck the system, and kill the bitch. Problem solved.”
“Mei!” he exclaimed. “Are you mad? Don’t even say such a thing!”
She regarded him in silence for a few seconds seemingly considering something. Then she appeared to come to a decision.
“I’ll do it, no prob. I owe ya a solid anyway. Say the word and bitch is gone. No trace.”
A chill ran down Al’s spine. For some reason he didn’t for one second doubt that this scrawny girl was both capable and willing to do exactly what she said.
“Lets drop this entire conversation. You can’t just go around murdering people who get in your way,” he said, forcing the shiver out of his voice.
“Why not?”
“Because you just can’t, ok?” he tried with a little more force. “Because it’s not right Mei.”
Mei wrinkled an eyebrow.
“If ya really feel that way, then what’s that gun doing in yer pocket?”
Al fished out his revolver and placed it on the table with a metallic clonk.
“Strictly for self defense. Every bar in the city has a weapon placed somewhere in convenient reach in case of trouble. So far I’ve never had to use it, thank god. I only had it in my pocket now because a stranger knocked on my door in the middle of the night.”
“Ok then,” Mei acknowledged with a slightly smug expression.” But didn’t ya just say that yer life will be over, if bitch takes all yer precious stuff? Then logically killing her is totally self defense. I mean, surely ya are allowed to defend yer life, right?”
“That’s not at all the same…” Al began, but stopped. Then he sighed and went on in a lower voice. “Listen, I see your logic Mei, but you are still wrong. This is a question of morals too. There are things that you just don’t do. For no other reason than because you just don’t do them.”
“Like killing bitches?” she asked rhetorically.
“Like killing bitches,” he confirmed.
Mei didn’t look entirely convinced, but seemed to accept his position for the time being. Al was relieved. He never wanted Jessica dead. There was a time long ago when they were happy together, and in some small way he still loved her despite everything that had happened.
“At least ya can do it too though, right?” Mei inquired catching his attention again.
“Eh, what do you mean?”
“Fuck around of course. If bitch’s allowed to get herself some, ya totally are too. Only fair.”