Grit
Hello my pretty reviewers =] this story is a bit out of nowhere but I'm liking the idea so we are just gonna roll with it Hahaha. Anyway, this story is based on the 2010 movie True Grit by the Coen Brothers. Except this story will take place in modern times.
To quickly set up the story, Seth Clearwater is out to avenge the murder of his father Harry Clearwater. The killer? Sam Uley. The Police won't do anything, so he hires a local Bounty Hunter named Jacob Black, who he has heard has 'True Grit'. Unfortunately, Jacob Black is...well, he's a drunk. And he also wears an eye patch and is very trigger happy. Meanwhile, a man named Emmet Cullen has come all the way from Texas to find Uley, and bring him back so he can receive the death penalty for killing a famous Actor/Author. So the three set out across Washington and across the US to find Sam Uley, and bring him to justice. I am actually quite excited for this story, and to appease a few unruly fans, Hahaha, yes, after this story I will be making The Black and Clearwater Detective Agency 3, and yes, this will be the final one.
Anyway, let us begin chapter 1! Oh, and this entire story will be from Seth's POV, no POV changes…at least I am pretty sure there won't be any.
"I run wild through the streets of nowhere …ironic, as I'm looking for somewhere."
-Me-
Chapter 1: My Own Sense of Justice
My father always found that, with a little whistle and a happy thought, the bad shit would just disappear from his life and he could find a little happiness through all the grit and grim.
Well fuck that.
"Is this him?" The mortician asked. He pulled back the plastic sheet and there was my father, a bullet hole the size of a nickel right in the middle of his forehead.
"Ya that's him." I said, not really feeling any sadness or guilt at the moment, just anger.
"This is Harry Clearwater?"
"Yes, this is my father." I repeated.
"Ah well then you just need to sign a few things…"
Hello, my name is Seth Clearwater. I am 15 years old, though I look older or so I am told. To quickly explain, I am here in Forks Washington, some hick town no one's ever heard of, because my father was shot and killed by a man named Sam Uley. My father was here on some business of some kind, I'm not really sure, and he was killed for the money in his pocket, which didn't amount to much. The local Sheriff found the body and called us, us being me my younger sister and my mother. They wanted us to confirm who the body was so I volunteered to go in my mother's steed; she was not a bright woman and was stricken with grief. To be honest, I was smarter than her, and I was half her age. Anyway, that's why I was here, 200 miles away from home.
"The Chief Swan still needs to see ya, about your father's car and things."
"Indeed." I said, I sighed.
"When does the next train leave for my home?" the mortician shook his head.
"About 5 minutes from now." I sighed again.
"Seems I'm staying in a hotel tonight."
"Seems so, the body will be shipped back tomorrow to your home Mr. Clearwater."
"Don't call me that, I am not an old man." I said. I left and was soon at the police station.
"Ah Mr. Clearwater, thank you for coming over, I know this must be a shock…"
"It's not Mr, and for me no it isn't, I am angry more than anything, there was something about my father's things?" He seemed surprised but nodded.
"Your father had a couple things on him…" he pulled out a small bag filled with two things. My father's wallet and a simple black handgun.
"The Wallets been emptied so…"
"I already canceled his cards." I said taking it and putting it in my shirt pocket. I then grabbed the gun and let the ammo clip fall out. Two bullets were inside.
"I will leave it unloaded if it makes you feel better, and yes I know how to handle the gun." I stated just before he started speaking, which I knew he would.
"I…as long as you don't use it…"
"It won't be used in this town." I said which didn't seem to satisfy him.
"What of the investigation?" I asked. He shook his head.
"Uley's place was empty, he's left town but I hear he is back with his old biker gang again."
"Figures, what are the plans to pursue him?" The man seemed surprised.
"What?"
"Pursue and capture, send him to jail so he can get a death sentence." I said. He seemed shocked.
"Um…" I put the gun in a small pocket in my close fitting green jacket. It fit perfectly.
"Well you see…he's left the area…it's no longer in my jurisdiction."
"Excuse me?" I snapped. He jumped a little.
"Look kid, I can't do anything about this, it's not under my…"
"Blah blah blah." I said, shutting him up.
"That man is going to pay sir for killing my father, I will make sure of that." He frowned.
"Look I know you are sad and angry right now…"
"Oh good lord, you aren't going to try the sympathy shit with me. I am not sad or angry, I simply want justice, and since you aren't going to do anything…" I frowned and he sighed.
"Look kid…this place…Forks I mean, this place is a town full of Bounty hunters. If you really want this guy caught, I suggest getting one." I nodded.
"Sounds perfect, tell me, who's the best?" he walked around the desk and started walking out, he ushered for me to follow and we walked outside. He pulled out a cigarette and lit up before talking.
"Well there are three I can recommend. There's a man named Rooster who is an excellent shot, he is a bit high priced though. There's a man named Black, Jacob Black, he is even priced and always gets the job done, true grit that one is…but he is a drunk so be warned. Finally there is Mason, just Mason, who isn't much of a shot but is low priced and gets the target about 80 percent of the time." I thought for a minute before answering.
"Where can I find Black?"
I arrived 20 minutes later at a small inn, deciding to try to convince this 'Jacob Black' tomorrow to accompany me and kill Sam Uley. As I walked to the inn, I noticed a broad shouldered man with short black hair staring at me, watching with indifferent eyes. He was sitting on the front porch of the homey little inn, about 5 ft to the left of the door. I walked up the stairs, gaze nervously at him as he watched in silence. I opened the door and took one more look at him; he was still staring in uncomfortable silence. I quickly got inside.
"Why hello!" an old woman, about 60, said with a huge smile.
"How many my handsome little man?"
"Just me." I said, still feeling his eyes on the back of my neck. She handed me a small key and walked me up the stairs. I only had one small bag full of about 3 pairs of clothes and my bathroom essentials, it now cluttered behind me as I lazily wheeled it behind me as I was led to my room and told that they had breakfast from 7 AM to 10 AM every day. She then left me alone and I sighed as I stripped off my coat and tossed it on the bed. I pulled out my father's wallet and tossed it on the small nightstand with the lamp and TV remote on it. It also had a small alarm clock that said 10:54 PM on it. I sighed and stripped off my shirt and pants, leaving me in a pair of tight briefs. I pulled out my toothbrush and toothpaste and walked into the tiny bathroom. I brushed my teeth then let my briefs fall to the floor as I took a hot shower. I dried my hair quickly then walked out, not caring that the rest of my body was still wet. I fell on the bed nude and started falling asleep. I turned on the lamp, got under the covers, and before I fell into oblivion, I put the gun under my pillow, loaded and the safety on.
When I woke the clock said 8:10 AM. My first thought was that at least I hadn't missed breakfast. But before I started moving, I felt a chill run over my body. The covers were gone just leaving me open to the cool November air. I started getting up but then I felt them.
The eyes.
I ripped the gun out from under my pillow and jumped out of bed, my gun aimed right at his head. He had been sitting in the chair right in front of my bed, the dark haired man from the porch.
"Who are you." I snapped. He stayed silent, watching me, it made me feel uncomfortable, him staring and me being nude. What was even more embarrassing was that I had had…um well, morning wood. Though now it was only half hard.
"Who are you." I repeated, my hands only trembling slightly. Still silence.
"I know how to shoot this gun and if I have to I will kill you, I don't want to though, this gun is only supposed to shoot the man who killed my father. Just tell me who you are." He suddenly planted his left leg on the ground; it had been crossed over his right, and stood.
"Stay down." I snapped. He just kept walking forward.
"I mean it." I said seriously. He kept walking forward. I closed an eye and aimed right for his head and fired.
Click.
I stared blankly at the gun, why wasn't it firing? Suddenly the gun was plucked from my fingers and tossed on the bed.
"You should pick a better place to hide your weapons." He chuckled, he was about a foot and a half away from me now, finally stopping to stare once again.
"I…" he smiled and reached behind him and pulled out the clip. I was in shock, how in the hell did he manage to take the gun right out from under me…literally!
"Heavy sleeper." He chuckled, as if reading my mind. He turned and walked over to a black bag on the table I hadn't noticed before.
"How did you get in here?"
"I picked the lock, would make Bond proud." He said.
"Seriously?" I said with a frown. He laughed.
"No dude, you left the door unlocked." I frowned and sat on the bed. He tossed me a shirt from his black backpack.
"Cover yourself up, though if you stay nude I won't complain." He chuckled, I frowned.
"How old are you?"
"22."
"I'm 15." I said, that apparent trademark grin suddenly became the stoic look from before.
"Great, thanks for making me feel like a pervert."
"You are one ass, what do you want?" he sighed.
"I hear you are going after Uley." I stared surprised.
"Wow news travels fast, and you are?"
"Emmett Cullen, Private Investigator." He said, not offering his hand.
"I need to know if you know anything about the whereabouts of Uley."
"I don't right now, do you?"
"Last I heard was he was here, but I just missed him apparently."
"What do you want with him?" he sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"I am going to bring him back to Texas so he can be judged and sentenced to death." He chuckled.
"He killed a famous author and actor in Texas 8 months back and I've been after him ever since. Hired by the family of course."
"Geez, you aren't very good are you." He growled but I ignored him.
"He's a slippery bastard, whenever I get close, that damn biker gang, the 'pack', always is there to save his sorry ass."
"Ya well, I don't get why you broke into my room just to ask me that, when you easily could have spoken with me yesterday."
"This seemed more fun." He chuckled. I shook my head.
"Well I don't need your help and I don't think you need mine, so leave, I already am going to hire someone to help me kill him."
"Geez kid, you're 15 and you want to kill a man?"
"I'm avenging my father, I'll do whatever I need to do." He scoffed.
"And who are you hiring if I may ask?" I tossed his shirt on, it was so big it reached to my knees, and pulled on underwear and pants.
"Bringing the bad guy to justice." He chuckled to himself.
"This is my own sense of judgment, so don't judge me Cullen." He just shrugged.
"Sure, sure…repeat of question."
"Local bounty hunter…"
"Ah, no need for that, I'll just take you along with me if you want." I laughed without a hint of humor.
"A minute ago you wanted me to go home."
"Changed my mind, you're interesting."
"Oh, now I'm interesting, ha! You certainly have a different mindset…" I put all my things together, not wanting to leave my stuff incase that man decided to take a few things.
"Well I would much rather have a professional bounty hunter."
"I'm not professional?"
"Probably not, you're 22." I countered. He laughed.
"I suppose that's true."
"Just…get out of here, I expect you to be gone once I come back." I turned and left the room, all my possessions loaded up in my black backpack.
I arrived at the local general store 10 minutes later, I was asking about where I could find Jacob Black.
"Oh my word, what's a boy your age doing looking for a bounty hunter?"
"No offence ma'am, but it is none of your business." She stared at me sternly then shrugged.
"Fine, whatever, but you do realize who you are looking for right? Man's a legend round here…he's killed a lot of men." I just smiled.
"I see that as a bonus ma'am." She just sighed.
"Kids these days…he's at Newton's Bar down the road, on Elizabeth road, you can't miss it…all the bounty hunters in this town hoard there."
"Thanks ma'am." I turned to walk out.
"Wait!" I stopped at the door and turned.
"Fair warning, if Black gets threatened, he turns dangerous…if that man starts killing…stay out of the way." I nodded.
"Thanks for the advice." I walked down the road, since I had no car, in the cold chill of November. The sky was clear and the sun bright, but it didn't match the 30 degrees that was chilling my bones at the moment. Finally I arrived at the bar. The whole thing looked like a stereotypical biker bar, with the ramshackle sign that read in large capital letters 'NEWTONS BAR' except the W was broken in half so it instead read 'NEVTONS BAR'. The two windows on either side of the door had neon signs on them, one for Bud Light, the other said football. There were three motorcycles parked in front, with two other cars parked farther away, one was a Hummer, the other what looked like a Hybrid, which I found horribly ironic. After staring for god knows how long, I finally entered the place.
The inside was surprisingly nice; a jukebox was propped up against the back wall, with a man in a black scarf and an eye patch over his left eye sitting in a table right next to it. He was alone. There were another three tables in the bar, one empty while the others were occupied by two people talking in quiet, and the other occupied by a large group of loud, seemingly happy people, perhaps having some kind of private celebration?
I quickly tried to remember the description of Black and immediately I knew who he was, because in the description I had been given, I had been told he had an eye patch. I quickly walked over to him, no one taking notice of me besides the bartender, who gave me an odd look as she polished a shot glass. As I approached Black, the bartender, who is a she, seemed shocked that I was approaching him. I guess a lot of people don't approach him like I was.
I sat down across from him at the table, and he stared at me with one eye, no emotion on his face. His hair was short and black, his muscles surprisingly hard (I had been told he was a heavy drinker so I expected someone, well, fat). I took a deep breath before continuing.
"Mr. Black?" he stayed silent, watching me with curious eyes, er, eye, a curious eye.
"I'm Mr. Clearwater. And I would like to…use your services." Still he stayed silent, and still no emotion betrayed him.
"I can pay any price you need…I need you to find and kill someone, with my help." Now emotion crossed his face, a look of amusement, as if I must have been joking.
"His name is Sam Uley. He killed my father and I need him captured so I can kill him myself. For my father's sake." Now his tone turned emotionless once again.
"I hear he is traveling with a biker gang called 'The Pack'…"
"What about 'The Pack'." My eyes widened, the voice had come from behind me. Black was looking up slightly over my head. Suddenly a large, meaty hand was on my shoulder, gripping it with such intensity that it hurt.
"You want to kill 'The Pack'? Is that what you just said?" The loud party group had all gone silent, the two men who had been talking silently were gone from their places, now right behind me.
"Remove your hand from my shoulder." I snarled.
"Ha! You hear the mouth on this kid Collin?"
"I do Brady! This kid he sure has a mouth! We should take care of it for him…" I grabbed a silver butter knife from the table and stabbed it as hard as I could into one of the hands.
"Ah!" he let me go and I jumped up and tumbled unfortunately onto the ground. The two large men glared at me angrily.
"You little bastard!" I quickly reached into my pack and ripped out the gun and aimed it right at him. He stopped advancing forward.
"This gun, this bullet, they are not meant for you." I said.
"They are only meant for Sam Uley. But if you try to touch me I will not hesitate to kill you." I slowly got myself up.
"Now tell me where they are heading."
"P-Pittsburg, visiting the bosses family up there."
"Collin!" Brady snapped.
"I'm not dying for this shit! I just joined!"
"Fucking idiot!" He snarled, quickly turning around.
BANG
I stared in shock as Brady fell to the ground with a hole in his head. Some lady from the party group screamed and quickly ran, so did the rest of the party group. I stared at my gun, had I done that? No, I never pulled the trigger. I stared suddenly at Black, who had a silver handgun in his hand.
"First rule kid, never hesitate, especially if you say you aren't going to hesitate." He stood and quietly walked over to Collin.
"If you tell the pack about this, or try to fight me, I will kill you." I stared, he wasn't bluffing.
"Ok, I swear! Please I just…"
"Leave now and go home, forget everything involving the pack and what you just saw."
"O-ok." He turned and started running out.
"Slowly." Jacob said. He stopped running and slowly walked out. Black put the gun in a holster and sighed.
"Well, it seems we are heading to Pittsburg."
"Y-you…" The woman had said he was trigger happy…but I didn't think he could kill like that without even a flinch.
"I charge 500 bucks kid, and that's just to get you to the guy, for everyone I have to kill its $100 so you are currently at $600 dollars."
"100 technically, you haven't gotten me there yet." He stared and I could tell by the expression on the bartenders face I shouldn't be a smart ass.
"Sorry."
"Its fine, say what you want, you're paying me…sorry bout the mess Alice." He said, turning on the bartender. She just shook her head.
"Its fine…I'm used to it by now…better head off Jake, those people would have called the cops by now."
"Right…be seeing ya." He suddenly wrapped an arm around my shoulder and led me to the door.
"Alright, now let's go see if we can find Mr. Uley." We walked out the door, him acting like he hadn't just shot a man in the head, and me somehow feeling safer with this man.
Sam Uley would soon pay.
Alright well that is all there is in this chapter, I plan on about 6 chapters in this story. But they all will be very, very, long, about 3000 words each, like this one.
Anyway, I swear to make the final BAC after this one…haha and after I finish that I don't know WHAT I'll do. Haha so anyway, I hope you all enjoy this story, and PLEASE review. I like to know that my work is appreciated.
Love you guys!