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I walked into Dutch’s tent and found him sitting with Molly (his romantic partner), who was quietly knitting. Dutch stood up when he saw me and we stepped outside the tent to talk. He seemed in good spirits, said things were finally starting to look better. I wasn’t convinced. I asked if Hosea had found a buyer for the bonds we stole. Dutch said not yet, but Hosea was working on it.

I told him the world felt like it was changing, that men like us were being pushed out. We were hunted, not just unlucky. Dutch tried to reassure me by saying that we were smarter than the people chasing us. I gave a short laugh, but I wasn’t feeling any better. Molly spoke up, told me I needed to believe in Dutch.

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Then Lenny came riding in fast, looking like he’d seen death. He could barely get the words out. He told us that Micah had been arrested in Strawberry for shooting a man and was about to be hanged. I wasn’t too surprised, to be honest. It was Micah being Micah...

I told Dutch maybe justice was catching up with Micah. Dutch didn’t like that. He said Micah had a good heart underneath it all. Dutch said he couldn’t go to Strawberry because too many people were looking for him, so he asked me. I wasn’t eager, but I agreed.

Before heading to Strawberry, Dutch told me to take Lenny into Valentine to calm him down with a drink. He told me not to stir up trouble. I half-joked that those days were behind me.

---

On the way into town, Lenny told me what happened. He and Micah were scouting, but Micah was already drunk when they got to Strawberry. He picked a fight and ended up killing a man. Lenny barely escaped. I told him we’d fix it but to let me handle it. First, we’d get that drink.

We tied up our horses in Valentine and went into the saloon. I bought us a couple beers and kept things calm. The bartender looked wary, but I promised we were just there to relax. Of course, some loudmouth drunk started making noise. I told him to leave us alone, and when he wouldn’t, we just ignored him and toasted our drinks.

Then everything blurred.

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One drink turned into several. We were laughing like fools. At one point, I turned to say something to Lenny and realized he was gone. I wandered the saloon looking for him, asking people who stared at me like I was mad. Someone said he went upstairs. I found him there, trying to balance a drink on his head. The glass fell and then we laughed like kids.

We kept drinking. I remember saying no one would ever marry me. Lenny laughed and vanished again. I searched the place, calling his name. Every stranger started looking like him. The beer effect, I guess. I was kind of hallucinating.

Eventually, I found Lenny and gave him a slap. He slapped me back and we started a silly back-and-forth. He said I was a good friend. I told him to shut up and we drank more.

The drunk feller from earlier came back, still loud. I’d had enough. Hauled him outside and dunked his head in a water trough but somehow he ran off, calling for the law. Lenny and I were in the mud, laughing, until he threw up.

It wasn’t long before deputies showed up. They tackled Lenny, and I tried to escape and then blacked out.

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I woke up in a jail cell with the worst headache of my life. Lenny was across from me, groaning. Neither of us remembered much. The deputy said we were lucky no one got seriously hurt and asked if we had any money. Lenny had ten bucks. That was enough for the fine, and they let us go.

Outside, the sunlight felt like punishment to our eyes. Lenny staggered off to throw up again.

He said, “So... that was a quiet drink?”

“The first one was pretty quiet,” I shot back.

Then he rode off to camp, and I leaned against a post, feeling every bit of regret in my bones.

(to be continued...)

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Disclaimer

^{Arthur Morgan and the world of Red Dead Redemption 2 might be fictional creations by Rockstar Games, but my love for this game? 100% real. This is a new kind of adventure I wanted to bring to Steemit. I’m narrating the story of RDR2 from the perspective of its protagonist, Arthur Morgan, offering a fresh and immersive take on his journey. Rather than directly copying the game’s dialogues, I’m weaving Arthur’s emotions and experiences into a creative and fictional retelling. You can also experience this story in a cinematic way. I play the game, record my gameplay, edit the footage in the best possible way, and upload it to my YouTube channel. This way, after reading each story episode, you can watch it unfold like a movie.}

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