Bookshelf Battle

This is the chapter that made me believe this story had legs.

I started out with Slade as a quiet stoic – a parody of Clint Eastwood’s “stranger” in his old cowboy movies like The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

Brown hair, bulging forehead vein, raspy voice, doesn’t talk much.

But then I thought well, that joke can only go so far.

Then it hit me – what if he isn’t this tough guy with everyone? What if, behind closed doors, he lets it all hang out with Miss Bonnie?

I love it. I think it’s funny. He shows such little emotion to everyone else but then he’s crying to Miss Bonnie. Waah. My Deputy hates me. Standing Eagle Hates me. Everyone hates me. Being a marshall is hard. Waah make me feel better.

I relate to this chapter. Personally, I feel like in a perfect relationship, you shouldn’t have to be “on” with your significant other. You get up, you go out in the world, you put on your brave, tough face. You might be unhappy in your mind but you get your job done and come home.

You shouldn’t have to put up a front with your wife or husband. So many other people out there will be happy to tear you down so why not be with someone who is willing to prop you up when you’re feeling down?

I guess people might differ, but I feel like that’s what a marriage is supposed to be all about and a lot of people lose sight of that. Looks seem to trump everything but people forget we all get old and you still need to be able to trust and carry on a conversation with that person when they’re old and hideous.

Slade attempts a proposal. He’s got a ring. He doesn’t actually show it. He offers to take her away from all this. It’s not the same as a proposal but its an indication that he’d like more of a relationship where he pays her to snuggle and talk.

She rebuffs him but when he knocks out Roscoe for calling her a whore, she’s like, well, I’m in love, no one’s cared enough to do something like that for me before.

And then we see how easily can slip back into his fake tough guy facade.

Unfortunately, I’m not sure if people pick up on this, but you know how Christian Bale will be Bruce Wayne and talk normal and then he’ll be Batman and talk with a raspy voice?

That’s kind of like what Slade is doing here. He’s a normal guy around Miss Bonnie but then he puts on a tough personality to the rest of the world.

I feel like this would come across better if this were a movie. An actor acting one way in front of Bonnie and another in front of everyone else, you’d get but here it is easy to miss.

I also like how he offered to pay for the money Roscoe would have paid had he not been knocked out and Miss Bonnie replies that she’ll just go through his pants and take it out later.

Oh and we learn that Miss Bonnie shot her ex husband. I still can’t think of a way in which that would come up so it’s looking like that might be a secret Slade will never find out.

She’s a prostitute and a brothel owner. Usually, you’re one or the other but I thought it worked well with the backstory – she’s scooping up as much money as she can so she doesn’t have to be dependent on a man because when she was it didn’t end well.