The Last Spin by Evan Hunter

(taken from Classroom Literature Reader by Darren Crowitz and Thomas Ross, Riga, Zvaigzne, 1999.)

The boy sitting opposite him was his enemy.
The boy sitting opposite him was called Tigo, and he wore a green silk jacket with an orange stripe on each sleeve. The jacket told Danny that Tigo was his enemy. The jacket screamed, "Enemy, enemy!"
"This is a good piece," Tigo said, pointing at the gun on the table. "This would cost you close to forty-five bucks, you try to buy it in a store. That's a lot of money."
The gun on the table was a Smith & Wesson .38 Police Special.
It sat exactly in the center of the table. It had a sawed-off, two-inch barrel that made the weapon look ugly. There was a rich wooden handle on the gun, and the gun itself was polished blue. Next to the gun were three .38 Special bullets.
Danny looked at the gun without interest. He was nervous, but he kept tight control of his face. He could not show Tigo what he was feeling. Tigo was the enemy, and so he showed a mask to the enemy, raising one eyebrow and saying, "I seen pieces before. There's nothing special about this one."
"Except what we got to do with it," Tigo said. Tigo was studying him with large brown eyes. The eyes were wet-looking. He was not a bad-looking kid, Tigo, with thick black hair and maybe a nose that was too long, but his mouth and chin were good. You could usually tell a person by his mouth and his chin. Tigo would not be scared of this particular fight. Of that, Danny was sure.
"Why don't we start?" Danny asked. He licked his lips and looked across at Tigo.
"You understand," Tigo said, "I got no bad blood for you."
"I understand."
"This is what the club said. This is how the club said we should settle it. Without a big street fight, you understand? But I want you to know I don't know you from a hole in the wall - except you wear a blue and gold jacket."
"And you wear a green and orange one," Danny said, "and that's enough for me."
"Sure, but what I was trying to say..."
"We going to sit and talk all night, or we going to get this thing started?" Danny asked.
"What I'm tryin' to say," Tigo went on, "is that I just happened to be picked for this, you know? Like to settle this thing that's between the two clubs I mean. You got to admit your boys shouldn't have come in our territory last night."
"I got to admit nothing," Danny said.
"Well, anyway, they shot at the candy store. That wasn't right. There's supposed to be a truce on "
"Okay, okay," Danny said.
"So like... like this is the way we agreed to settle it. I mean, one of us and... and one of you. Fair and square. Without any street fightin', and without any law trouble."
"Let's get on with it," Danny said.
"I'm trying to say, I never even seen you on the street before this. So this ain't nothin' personal with me. Whichever way it turns out, like..."
"I never seen you neither," Danny said.
Tigo stared at him for a long time. "That's because you're new around here. Where you from?"
"My people come down from the Bronx."
"You got a big family?"
"A sister and two brothers, that's all."
"Yeah, I only got a sister." Tigo shrugged. "Well." He sighed. "So." He sighed again. "Let's do it, huh?"
"I'm waitin'," Danny said.
Tigo picked up the gun, and then he took one of the bullets from the table top. He opened the gun, slid the bullet into the cylinder, and then snapped the gun shut and spun the cylinder. "Round and round she goes," he said, "and where she stops, nobody knows. There's six chambers in the cylinder and only one bullet. That makes the chances five-to-one that the bullet will be in firing position when the cylinder stops moving. You understand?"
"I understand."
"I'll go first," Tigo said.
Danny looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"
"You want to go first?"
"I don't know."
"I'm giving you a break." Tigo grinned. "I may shoot my head off the first time."
"Why you giving me a break?" Danny asked.
Tigo shrugged. "What the hell's the difference?" He gave the cylinder a fast spin.
"The Russians invented this, huh?" Danny asked.
"Yeah." 
"I always said they were crazy bastards."               
"Yeah, I always..." Tigo stopped talking. The cylinder was stopped now. He took a deep breath, put the barrel of the .38 to his forehead, and then' squeezed the trigger.
The firing pin clicked on an empty chamber.
"Well, that was easy, wasn't it?" he asked. He shoved the gun across the table. "Your turn, Danny."
Danny reached for the gun. It was cold in the basement room, but he was sweating now. He pulled the gun toward him, then left it on the table while he dried his hands on his trousers. He picked up the gun then and stared at it.
"It's a nice piece," Tigo said. "I like a good piece."
"Yeah, I do too," Danny said. "You can tell a good piece just by the way it feels in your hand."
Tigo looked surprised. "I said that to one of the guys yesterday, and he thought I was crazy."
"Lots of guys don't know about pieces," Danny said, shrugging. "I was thinking," Tigo said, "when I get old enough, I'll join the Army, you know? I'd like to work around pieces."
"I thought of that, too. I'd join now, only my mother won't let me. She's got to sign if I join now."
"Yeah, they're all the same," Tigo said smiling. "Your old lady born here or the old country?"
"The old country," Danny said.
'Yeah, well you know they got these old-fashioned ideas."
"I better spin," Danny said.
"Yeah," Tigo agreed.
Danny slapped the cylinder with his left hand. The cylinder spun, whirled, and then stopped. Slowly,  Danny put the gun to his head. He wanted to close his eyes, but he didn't dare. Tigo, the enemy, was watching him. He returned Tigo's stare, and then he squeezed the trigger.
His heart skipped a beat, and then over the roar of his blood he heard the empty click. Hastily, he put the gun down on the table.
"Makes you sweat, don't it?" Tigo said.
Danny nodded, saying nothing. He watched Tigo. Tigo was looking at the gun.
"Me now, huh?" Tigo said. He took a deep breath, then picked up the .38. He twirled the cylinder, waited for it to stop, and then put the gun to his head.
"Bang!" Tigo said, and then he squeezed the trigger. Again the firing pin clicked on an empty chamber. Tigo let out his breath and put the gun down.
"I thought I was dead that time," he said. "I could hear the harps," Danny said.
"This is a good way to lose weight, you know that?" Tigo laughed nervously, and then his laugh became honest when he saw Danny was laughing with him. "Ain't it the truth? You could lose ten pounds this way."
"My old lady's as big as a house," Danny said laughing. "She ought to try this kind of a diet." He laughed at his own joke, pleased when Tigo joined him.
"That's the trouble," Tigo said. "You see a nice girl on the street, you think it's crazy, you know? Then they get to be our parent's age, and they turn all fat." He shook his head.
"You got a girl?" Danny asked. "Yeah, I got one." "What's her name?" "Aw, you don't know her." "Maybe I do," Danny said.
"Her name is Juana." Tigo watched him. "She's about five-two, got these brown eyes..."
"I think I know her," Danny said. He nodded. "Yeah, I think I know her."
"She's nice, ain't she?" Tigo asked. He leaned forward, as if Danny's answer was of great importance to him.
"Yeah, she's nice," Danny said.
"Yeah. Hey, maybe sometime we could..." Tigo stopped talking. He looked down at the gun, and his sudden interest seemed to die completely. "It's your turn," he said.
"Here goes nothing," Danny said. He twirled the cylinder, sucked in his breath, and then fired.
The empty click was loud in the stillness of the room.
"Man!" Danny said.
"We're pretty lucky, you know?" Tigo said.
"So far."
"We better lower the odds. The boys won't like it if we..." He stopped himself again, and then reached for one of the bullets on the table. He broke open the gun again, put the second bullet into the cylinder. "Now we got two bullets in here," he said. "Two bullets, six chambers. That's four-to-two.
Divide it, and you get two-to-two." He paused. "You ready?"
"That's... that's what we're here for, ain't it?"
"Sure."
"Okay then."
"Go on," Tigo said, nodding his head. "You got courage, Danny."
"You're the one needs the courage," Danny said gently. "It's your spin."
Tigo lifted the gun. Slowly, he began spinning the cylinder.
"You live on the next block, don't you?" Danny asked.
"Yeah." Tigo kept slapping the cylinder. It spun with a gentle sound.
"That's how come we never crossed paths, I guess. Also, I'm new on the scene."
"Yeah, well you know, you get connected with one club, that's the way it is."
'You like the guys in your club?" Danny asked, wondering why he was asking such a stupid question, listening to the whirring of the cylinder at the same time.
"They're okay." Tigo shrugged. "I don't really like them, but that's the club on my block, so what're you gonna do, huh?" His hand left the cylinder. It stopped spinning. He put the gun to his head.
"Wait!" Danny said.
Tigo looked puzzled. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing. I just wanted to say... I mean..." Danny rowned. "I don't like too many of the guys in my club, either."
The empty click filled the basement room.
"Wow," Tigo said.
"Man, you can say that again."
Tigo slid the gun across the table.
Danny waited for a second. He did not want to pick up the gun. He felt sure that this time the firing pin would strike one of the bullets. He was sure that this time he would shoot himself.
"Sometimes I think I'm chicken," he said to Tigo, surprised that his thoughts had found voice.
"I feel that way sometimes, too," Tigo said.
"I never told that to nobody," Danny said. "The guys in my club would laugh at me, I ever told them that."
"Some things you got to keep to yourself. There ain't nobody you can trust in this world."
"There should be somebody you can trust," Danny said. "Hell, you can't tell nothing to your people. They don't understand." Tigo laughed. "That's an old story. But that's the way things are. What're you gonna do?"
"Yeah. Still, sometimes I think I'm chicken."
"Sure, sure," Tigo said. "It ain't only that, though.  Like sometimes... well, don't you wonder what you're  doing fighting some guy in the street? Like ... you know what I mean? Like ... who's the guy to you?
What you got to beat him up for? 'Cause he messed  with somebody else's girl?" Tigo shook his head,  "It gets complicated sometimes."
"Yeah, but ..." Danny frowned again. "You got to stick with the club. Don't you?"
"Sure, sure ... hell yes." Again, their eyes locked.
"Well, here goes." Danny said. He lifted the gun. "It's just ..." He shook his head, and then twirled the cylinder. The cylinder spun, and then stopped.
He studied the gun, wondering if one of the bullets would roar from the barrel when he squeezed the trigger.
Then he fired.
Click.
"I didn't think you was going through with it," Tigo said.
"l didn't neither."
"You got heart, Danny," Tigo said. He looked at the gun. He picked it up and broke it open.
"What you doing?" Danny asked.
"Another bullet," Tigo said. "Six chambers, three bullets. That makes it even money. You ready?"
"Are you?"
"The boys said..." Tigo stopped talking. "Yeah, I'm ready," he said, his voice low.
"It's your turn, you know."
"I know," Danny watched as Tigo picked up the gun.
"You ever been row-boating on the lake?"
Tigo looked across the table at Danny, his eyes wide. "Once," he said. "I went with Juana."
"Is it ...is it any fun?"
Yeah. Yeah, its great fun. You mean you never been?"
"No," Danny said.
"Hey, you got to try it, man," Tigo said excitedly. "You'll like it. Hey, try it."
 "Yeah, I was thinking maybe this Sunday I'd ... " He did not complete the sentence.
"My spin," Tigo said tiredly. He whirled the cylinder. "Here goes a good man," he said, and he put the gun to his head and squeezed the trigger.
Click.
Danny smiled nervously. "No rest for the weary," he said. "But Jesus you've got heart. I don't know if I can go through with it."
"Sure, you can," Tigo assured him. "Listen, what's there to be afraid of?" He slid the gun across the table.
"We keep this up all night?" Danny asked. "They said ... you know ..."
"Well, it ain't so bad. I mean, hell, if we weren't doing this, we wouldn't got a chance to talk, huh?" He grinned weakly.
"Yeah," Tigo said, his face in a wide grin. "It ain't been so bad, huh?"
"No, it's been ... well, you know, these guys on the club, who can talk to them?"
He picked up the gun. "We could ..." Tigo started. "What?"
"We could say ... well ... like we kept shootin' an' nothing happened, so ..." Tigo shrugged. "What the hell! We can't do this all night, can we?"
"I don't know."
"Let's make this the last spin. Listen, they don't like it, they can go to hell, you know?"
"I don't think they'll like it. We're supposed to settle this for the clubs."
"Forget the clubs!" Tigo said. "Can't we pick our own ..." The word was hard to say. When it came, his eyes did not leave Danny's face."... friends?"
"Sure we can," Danny said strongly. "Sure we can! Why not?"
"The last spin," Tigo said. "Come on, the last spin."
    "Okay," Danny said. "Hey you know, I'm glad they got this idea. You know that? I'm actually glad!" He twirled the cylinder. "Look, you want to go on the lake this Sunday? I mean with your girl and mine? We could get two boats. Or even one if you want."
"Yeah, one boat," Tigo said. "Hey, your girl'll like Juana, I mean it. She's a great girl."
The cylinder stopped. Danny put the gun to his head quickly.
"Here's to Sunday," he said. He grinned at Tigo, and Tigo grinned back, and then Danny fired.
The explosion shook the small basement room, ripping away half of Danny's head, shattering his face. A small cry came from Tigo's throat, and a look of shock struck his eyes. Then he put his head on the table and began crying.