Академический Документы
Профессиональный Документы
Культура Документы
This is a work of ction. Characters, places, and incidents are the products of the authors imagination, and any real names or locales used in the book are used ctitiously. 2014, Text by Michael Garriga 2014, Cover and interior art by Tynan Kerr All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publisher: Milkweed Editions, 1011 Washington Avenue South, Suite 300, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55415. (800) 520-6455 www.milkweed.org Published 2014 by Milkweed Editions Printed in Canada Cover design by Rebecca Lown Cover illustration by Tynan Kerr Interior illustrations by Tynan Kerr 14 15 16 17 18 5 4 3 2 1 First Edition Milkweed Editions, an independent nonprot publisher, gratefully acknowledges sustaining support from the Bush Foundation; the Patrick and Aimee Butler Foundation; the Driscoll Foundation; the Jerome Foundation; the Lindquist & Vennum Foundation; the McKnight Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Target Foundation; and other generous contributions from foundations, corporations, and individuals. Also, this activity is made possible by the voters of Minnesota through a Minnesota State Arts Board Operating Support grant, thanks to a legislative appropriation from the arts and cultural heritage fund, and a grant from the Wells Fargo Foundation Minnesota. For a full listing of Milkweed Editions supporters, please visit www.milkweed.org.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Garriga, Michael Christopher, 1971 [Prose works. Selections] The book of duels / Michael Garriga ; illustrations by Tynan Kerr. First Edition. pages cm ISBN 978-1-57131-093-4 (acid-free paper) ISBN 978-1-57131-886-2 (ebook) I. Kerr, Tynan, ill. II. Title. PS3607.A77335A6 2014 813'.6dc23 2013043097 Milkweed Editions is committed to ecological stewardship. We strive to align our book production practices with this principle, and to reduce the impact of our operations in the environment. We are a member of the Green Press Initiative, a nonprot coalition of publishers, manufacturers, and authors working to protect the worlds endangered forests and conserve natural resources. The Book of Duels was printed on acid-free 100% postconsumer-waste paper by Friesens Corporation.
A Black Night in the South: Ezekiel Ackers v. Alexander McCarthy Sr. 103 110 Slap Leather: James Butler Wild Bill Hickok v. Davis Tutt Jr. v. Alexander Lex McCarthy, Jr. Shanks in the Courtyard: Miguel Ramirez v. Muhtady Numan 131 138 144 Code of Conduct: Big Mike Frato v. Unkillable Danny Greene Its a Family Affair: Danyelle Sellers v. William Sellers 117 124
The Black Knight of the South (A Gothic Romance): Cadet Moran Catght in a Cathouse: Cora Carol v. Vivian LaRouche
PART I: OFFENSE
up, shut up, shut up, you goddamn bleating baby, and I shove him hard and he falls to all fours and I jump on his back and oh it feels good to spit the khat from my mouth and drive my teeth into his neck.
b 6
7 B
Basho
b 9
and I remember another dream in which I was a warrior whod been slain in a duel, though perhaps that was no dreamperhaps I am truly the dead man and this voyage but my nal dream.
10
11
herry blossoms in full bloom Sunrise above water burns high man and fruit to fall too soon at Noon, pale sun sits on high challenge! duel!both day and we await
near Sunset he arrives, disheveled, late, insulting I say not his name look: wind in robes like dragon wings mad, my master overplays his hand blood red as Sunset, as cherries
my world upendedrat kills cat I shall never follow another what use: world, water, re, wind, void? Yet still gull cries beyond me Yet still pages set before me
b 12
Dusk comes, steals away our lightsun sets Darkness, moon has failed us what is left to do but weep? Shall I now seek revenge for him? Shall I suicide or use my pen?
b 13 B
15
the rules, though come swinging time Ill pop his hide and tear it clean from the muscle, like scraping a scalded hog, and no matter the rules, Ill not call quits nor hear them neither until I am satised.
16 B
17 B
a kneeame spreads across my back and I try to scream but nothing comeshe beats my calves and he beats my neck and I cant muster the breath to call quits, and turning, I see in his eyes that it does not matter if I ever do.
b 18
at to the ground, still as a rock, save the skin on his back that opens like a wild weeping ower. I know if he could live long enough, the scars would heal like great stalks of lightning come frayed and burnt beneath his skin, but he will not survive, so the foremen start to yell the slaves back to work and they obey but tonight they will dance and singMr. Reagan, silent as an undertaker, puts his hand on Marses sweaty shoulder, who stares at me like some raging bull, breath heaving, and me staring right back with aching palms and desires I cant yet name.
b 20
Now Ive accepted Jesus Christ into my heart, though He comes and goesso much on His mind, I suppose one cannot blame Himhow to concentrate on any single one thing still, Hes lled my heart and I will waste my rst shot but I am Christ-bound to defend myself thereafterstanding twenty-ve feet from this lthy Catiline, I burrow my feet in the pebbles and I slip and the hair trigger goes off and Im not afforded the dignity of delopehas the Lord forsaken me too?Burr res his ball and a full lifetime ticks by before it burrs into my body, and in that eternity, I realize that we are a two-sided coin ipped by Fate and here I land facedown and forlorn and I forgive him everything.
23
wind whips my coat and my ears ring and the fog is burned away and my man says, Ready, and that rascal res rst His shot ies high, by Theodosia, and I know Ill send him to his long home nowmy sole regret that I was born a decade too late to be Father of this State and so will have to win my Fame by might to assure my place in History, to be the man whom everyone recalls by name, and leave as inheritance to my adoring TheodosiaTheodosia, my princess, oh Theodosia the United States of Burr.
25
last year, the editor Coleman killed the New York harbormaster, who was dropped to die on my doorstoop: all this killing in the name of Honor and yet they scurry and hide and lie like rats afterward. I crest the path, heaving, sleep still crusted in my eye, to see General Hamilton himselfof course its himI kneel by his bloody side and see where the bullet has entered and clipped his spine and my lips tremble, Your Honor, it is mortal, and his eyes roll back and he mutters, Death to this disease, Democracy, and his man says, You did not hear him, doctor, and I nod, holding the hand of this man who might have been king in any other country, in any other time, but here is just become one corpse more, and as we carry him to the boat, I recall how Hamilton tirelessly endeavored to undo Burrs careerand now, with the cost of his own life, perhaps he has succeeded at last.
27 B