The Politician

He was relaxing in his deckchair when he felt the cold steel on his chest. He had been dreaming about a nubile young woman. It was less about who she was and more about the fact that she desired him, Bruno Jackson, retired MP. He had felt stirrings in the old boy as he dozed but was relieved that in this moment of vulnerability, he was barely tumescent. There were some positives to getting old or at least, where certain situations required it.

"I could kill you right now," a voice hissed.

There was menace in the voice, but years of suppressing emotion when making tough and necessary decisions meant that Bruno stayed still. He wasn't calm but he was the master of masking.

Bruno opened his eyes to squint at his potential assassin. The sun was behind them so not much to go on but using all his senses, he guessed male, early thirties, unshaven, smoker, drinker, wearer of cheap deodorant, white, working class.

The barrel of the shotgun was digging into his chest where its holder was determinedly pressing it. The deckchair choice was a hindrance; there was no leaping up, no element of surprise. The only thing overpowering today was the man's Lynx.

Bruno decided to break the silence:

"Yes, you could."

"I'm gonna!"

The barrel dug in further. It really hurt. Bruno gulped.

"Yeah, you're scared now, aren't you?"

He prodded again and Bruno winced. This seemed to be what the man wanted. Bruno thought he'd ask.

"What do you want?"

"Isn't that obvious? I want to kill you."

Bruno knew why but he asked anyway.

"Because you don't deserve to live."

Bruno sensed a route to saving his skin. He had always commended himself on his powerful rhetoric.

"Maybe not, but you do. Think of what would happen if you kill me and get caught? It would be the end of the life you have."

There was a pause.

Aha! thought Bruno. Gotcha!

"But's that just it. I don't have a life. People like you made sure of that."

There was the click of a safety catch and two window shaking booms broke the silence of the quiet suburb shortly after.

***

366 words

*Author's note: Lynx is Axe, for my North American audience.

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