The First Cut (12 page)

The kid, fully awake now after having dozed off in the middle of a video game before Foley knocked his door in, pulled out a kitchen chair and dropped into it.

“Who are you?” he said. “Some sort of flag patrol?”

“I’m the guy they call when guys like you owe a shit-ton of money, Kyle,” Foley said.

“Are you gonna kill me?”

“That’s a real possibility,” Foley said.

“Then what’s with the Betsy Ross act?”

“Principles are principles,” Foley said. “If I let you live, then I have done you a favor by teaching you an important lesson. If I decide to shoot you, those flags won’t be sitting around waiting for your stoner friends to decide to paint a pot leaf or peace sign on them.”

“Principles?” the kid said, a little fight coming into his voice. “You talk about principles when you readily admit you might shoot me because I owe the mob some money?”

Foley sighed. He was tired of this. Of the job. Of these entitled brats. Of the country sliding down the tubes.

“You owe money,” he said. “Used to be, that meant something to people. You want principles? How about making good on a promise? You promised to pay us back. You didn’t. We promised to kill you if you didn’t make good. So, who is more principled?”

“That’s fucked up, man,” the kid said, the brief hint of bravado now gone. His leg began to shake violently, and he ran a shaking hand repeatedly though his stringy hair.

“So,” Foley said, pulling a pistol from his waistband. “Do you have the money?”

“No,” the kid said.

Foley pulled a silencer out of his jacket pocket.

“Can you get the money?”

“No.” The kid was dripping sweat now, his eyes locked onto the silencer as Foley slowly twisted it into place.

“Is there any reason for us to expect that you will be able to get the money?”

The kid swallowed hard, and a yellow puddle started to form under his seat.

“N- n- no.”

Foley stuck the gun against the kid’s temple and pulled the trigger. The body immediately slumped onto the table. The blowback from the kid’s head left a spray of blood and brains on the wall where the flag had been.

“Now that,” Foley said as he gathered up the flags and headed to the door,” is art.”

Cut appeared in Thuglit

A Wild and Crazy Night appeared in Beat to a Pulp

Dog Days of Summeris due in January 2012 in All Due Respect

Clean Up appeared in Crime Factory

Not So Calm, Not So Bright appeared at Do Some Damage

Gutshot appeared in Powder Burn Flash

238 appeared in A Twist of Noir

Demon, Him appeared in Pulp Metal Magazine

Countdown appeared in Thrillers, Killers & Chillers

The Bluffs appeared in the Wapsipinicon Almanac

About Snubnose Press

Snubnose Press is the ebook imprint of Spinetingler Magazine.

The snubnose revolver dominated visual crime stories in the 20th century. Every cop, every detective, every criminal in every TV show and movie seemed to carry a snubnose. The snubnose is a classic still used today.

The snubnose is easy to conceal and carry.

The snubnose is powerful.

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That’s how we like our fiction.

Snubnose Press Titles:

Speedloader

Harvest of Ruins by Sandra Ruttan

The Chaos We Know by Keith Rawson

Monkey Justice by Patti Abbott

Dig Two Graves by Eric Beetner

Gumbo Ya-Ya by Les Edgerton

Old Ghosts by Nik Korpon

Hill Country by R Thomas Brown

Cold Rifts by Sandra Seamans

Nothing Matters by Steve Finbow

Karma Backlash by Chad Rohrbacher

To Die Upon a Kiss by Craig Wallwork

Bar Scars by Nik Korpon

The Jones Men by Verne Smith

City of Heretics by Heath Lowrance

Ghost Money by Andrew Nette

Wild Child by Josh Stallings

The First Cut by John Kenyon

Moondog Over the Mekong by Court Merrigan

The Subtle Arts of Brutality by Ryan Sayles

Pulp Ink 2

A Healthy Fear of Man by Aaron Philip Clark

Dope Sick: A Love Story by JA Kazimer

Blood on Blood by Frank Zafiro & Jim Wilsky

Broken Glass Waltze

Choice Cuts by Joe Clifford

Wake the Undertaker by Joe Clifford