Conversation · Titus Hardie

"She didn't either! She would never do that." The blond man looks around. "Why aren't more of you defending her? This is fucking stupid, Titus."

"Glen." Titus looks grim. "I thought the same thing when she skipped town and left us in this shit."

Ooh! So he didn't rule her out completely? And she's skipped town. This is good.

"Fuck you, man, I would never fuck my guys over like that." He squeaks with indignation.

"Eugene, let's assume you killed him..."

He scoffs.

"Think. You kill him. Get up there. Shoot him. Get down..."

"Would you prefer to go on trial with your friends -- as part of a lynch mob -- or alone, for committing murder?"

The man is silent.

"If she used us to cover her own shit up... well, that's a serious violation of the Hardie code, boss."

"Which is why she didn't! This is fucking stupid, Titus. This and the queer thing, all of it!" The blond man waves his beer around. "Why aren't more of you defending her? This is fucking stupid, Titus."

"Which is why she didn't! She would never do that." The blond man waves his beer around. "Why aren't more of you defending her? This is fucking stupid, Titus."

"Would you prefer to go on trial with your friends -- as part of a lynch mob -- or alone, for committing murder?"

"Titus, let's assume you killed him..."

"You're on thin ice here, asshole." He points at you.

"It's a thought exercise, Titus," he explains. "Think. You kill him. Get up there. Shoot him. Get down..."

"Would you prefer to go on trial with your men -- as part of a lynch mob -- or alone, for cold blooded murder?"

"Alone. I don't drag my men into shit with me."

"If she used us... then that's a serious violation of the Hardie code, boss."

"But she didn't! This is fucking stupid, Titus. This and the queer thing, all of it!" The blond man looks around. "Why aren't more of you defending her? This is fucking stupid, Titus."

"But she didn't! She would never do that." The blond man looks around. "Why aren't more of you defending her? This is fucking stupid, Titus."

"Like fuck she was!"

"It was her idea, right? The hanging?"

"And I suppose you have a theory on that?"

"Klaasje told me some pretty interesting things about Ruby."

"Yeah? Like what?"

"She is part of the homo-sexual underground."

"The what now?"

You're going to have to be way more blunt here.

"Sex. She wanted sex from her."

The big man falls absolutely silent.

Behind his squinting eyes, dominoes are falling -- fast. It's all beginning to make sense to him now.

"Yeah but..." The fat man looks up from the table, oblivious. "They're both girls."

"Girls like girls too, Angus," the lieutenant explains. "Sometimes. This is one of those times -- she liked Klaasje."

"I know. It's bewildering for me too, but that's what she said."

"It's not bewildering, it's, like -- whatever, man." He looks around. "Guys, I'm not the only one who knew right?"

"Knew what?" The man can't believe what he's hearing. "First he says she murdered him -- now she's a fg* too? It's a lie!"

Glen here obviously likes men and he can't hack it. That's his thing and you do not want to get into it. Moving on.

"C'mon Glen, she likes Monica's titties more than you do." The Mesque smiles. "Everyone knows which way the wind blows there."

"I did! I knew it! That's why she didn't fuck me at Fatty's birthday party."

"She didn't fuck you 'cause you're forty and you still live with your mom, Dennis." Light laughter sounds off in the room. It feels nervous.

So this is why Shanky doesn't like her. Useful for you -- it makes him advocate against Ruby.

"Klaasje said she made advances on her -- and she thwarted them."

"Ruby then threatened her -- and told her to end her relationship with the deceased."

"This is some sordid shit." The big man rubs his chin. "It's also the kind of garbage our Miss Oranje puts out to cover her own ass."

Sort of -- but he doesn't have to know that!

"She did tell us right before we arrested her."

"Figures." He looks out the window. "But that Ruby is queer as cabaret, now that I start thinking about it. So there is some truth to it..."

"And that's okay. Some are queerer than others, you can still be a Hardie." He glances at Glen. "But if you bring your own personal shit into our outfit..."

"And then, boss..." he shakes his head "...use us to cover it up? I mean, that's just fucked up."

"If it's true." He looks at Shanky, then Titus. "But it's not -- right?"

"If that's the case then it's not right." He looks at Titus, then Alain. "But it's not the case -- right?"

There are many pieces that fit together that way, Eugene. Face it.

"She did tell us when we were close to arresting her."

"She just told us -- Ruby made her scared and she spilled the beans."

"That Ruby is queer as cabaret, now that I start thinking about it. I don't know I why didn't see it earlier..." He looks out the window, pensively.

"It's supra-natural -- a reality-breaking event. And we just need to accept it."

"She's not a ghost, she's gay. You'd have to be an idiot not to..." He looks around. "Guys, I'm not the only one who knew, right?"

"It's scary, yes. She probably went to a University and learned it from a liberal."

"Liberal, man? Ruby's like a hard core patriot. You'd have to be blind not to..." He looks around. "Guys, I'm not the only one who knew, right?"