A Charmed Life

“I can’t believe you became a little wife, Doc…”Doc gnashed his teeth for what felt like the millionth time that day—his jaw was starting to hurt from it. But it was either that or hurt his fists pounding the hell out of Billy.“Stop calling me that!” He slammed the basket full of wet clothes down on the stump in front of him. “I am not a goddamn wife!”Billy Bonney cackled—that grating, nerve-shredding laugh of his that always made the hairs on the back of Doc’s neck stand on end. He had prayed every night that the last time he saw Billy was really the last, but apparently God hadn’t been listening. Or else this was some kind of punishment for all the rotten things he had done.“You’re doing laundry, Doc…” Billy was reclining against the fence that lined the edge of the property, twirling his pistol on his finger. “That’s a woman’s work…a wife’s work.” He laughed again.