BENNY THE` KID 1956

KIDS IN LONDON IN 1956

You watched Benny
twirl his 6 shooter
around his 8 year old
finger, then cleverly

put it back in the holster
on the right hand side
of his jeans;his cowboy
hat was on string about

his neck, the hat at
the back. He saw you
going towards him.
Hi Janice, did you

see that? See me
twirl the gun? You
nodded: Yes that was
good; where did

you learn to do that?
Saw it at the flicks,
he said, this cowboy
did it and I copied him,

and practised. You
walked up to him
and saw his hazel eyes
and brown hair with

the curl at the front.
Want to have ago?
He said. Ok, you said.
He gave you the gun

out of the holster, and
you put it onto your 6
year old finger awkwardly,
and tried to twirl it,

but it fell from your
finger and flew off,
but Benny caught it
and handed it back

to you. Try again, he
said. So you did, but
slower and after a
number of tries, you

finally got it to twirl
a couple of times.
See you did it, he said
smiling. Not so good

as you though, you said,
handing him the gun.
Practise is how, he said,
you got a gun at home

you can practise with?
No, you said, I'm a girl;
anyway Gran wouldn't
like me to have a gun at

home. It's only a toy gun,
it's not real, he said, but
he never told you that the
night before he shot Billy
the Kid and Wyatt Earp dead.