Four of the regular's friends had gathered at the table to listen in. Sally and Jane who were girls of less than high morality and Jess and Tommy who were at least equally challenged. Jess worked with the regular and Tommy was Jess's cousin from somewhere in Canada. When they had approached the regular had managed to signal them to silence, although it seemed like the stranger would not have noticed. He was talking about the meeting at the end of 2004 with someone he called the confidence man.
The stranger said, "The confidence man was not an evil person. To be evil you have to have evil intent. This was not his way, he was a fountain of hidden information, but he was as compulsive about his way of approaching things just as I was. After all, I knew what I was dealing with. He still had evidence of the tar and feathers clinging to him from when he'd been run out of the last state where he lived. Somehow, with all his alleged dishonesty, his fundamental innocence insured he was not in jail. And I was aligned perfectly with him and he always landed on his feet.
He had a convincing way about him, it was fairly irresistible but knowing what I was facing I could protect myself, I thought I could protect myself.
It was arrogance, because for all my wisdom, I am basically a simpleton, I trusted men, I trusted everyone. Despite the fact that logically I knew no one could be trusted, I gave everyone the benefit of the doubt over and over again, even though I could not be trusted myself. My reliability came from a paranoid fear of being caught doing anything wrong, my narcissism prevented me from allowing a dent in my moral armor, but within it I was rotten.
At this mention, he paused, loosened his coat for the first time and took a long drink, draining his glass again. He paused. At first, the regular did nothing, he was staring at the clothes that were exposed. They appeared tattered underneath the elegant coat. They appeared rotten just like he argued his morals. The regular wondered to himself if the analogy overcame some instinct to remain hidden and forced the non-verbal disclosure of this strange dichotomy between the outer and inner man, just as it disclosed the same of the inner and outer clothing.
Then he realized the stranger was looking down at his glass. Quickly the regular refilled it. The stranger took a drink, his hand shaking slightly.
The regular was too dry to speak, but he took a long drink from his own glass. The bartender came by and set down a bowl with ice noticed the looks from the others at the table, the half empty bottle, set down fresh glasses for the 4 who were pulling up chairs where necessary and hurried without another word. Sally sat down next to the stranger who didn't acknowledge her presence, even when she took over filling his glass before he took a sip. The quiet seemed like it would take over, as if the presence of the others had broken the spell.
The regular started, "What about the girl? You were were talking about the girl and then..."
Without looking up the stranger set the glass down and started as if the interruption had not occurred, "He was not an overly handsome man, but he had the easy self assurance of the con man, but he was not a con many, he was just infinitely confident in his own rightness. He was not governed by the morals of others, he was only true to himself and that was all that mattered to him and perhaps it is all that should matter to anyone.
He brushed aside my mention of the money owed to me and immediately started on the opportunity that was available to someone who had a little money, he was willing to put his own money and his own guarantee up for the deal. There was little downside, no other guarantee was necessary and at this point in time, it was all true. I'm surprised the confidence man didn't choke on the words, it may have been the only time when everything he said in a conversation was true.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTIB10eQnA0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NXnxTNIWkc
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