four slender men unimposing which was probably why the four came
approached him from behind as he gassed
his car
they hid their identities behind tall
limpnecked misshapenheaded giraffe masks
they did seem tall
asif they believed height
had anything to do with being imposing or threatening
he caught their impracticalcomic
approach a brief glance over his shoulder but ignored them ignoring them even when it became apparent they
came to the gas station in among the gas pumps for him
the one at the head said
snidely You’re filling up with cheap gas.
You know you get what you pay for,
right?
Yes. Thank you Twoseventyone a gallon Cheapest Ive found in a while Thats an excellent observation uh uhah Jeffrey that leapt into his mindthe Toys ‘R
Us maskcot An while youre at it yamight also know Im not inclined to pay for your
attention
It isn’t good gas; and you don’t
have to pay for our attention. You have it.
You have our unflappable, dogged
attention.
Wow lucky me he said as tossed an eye up and down the
skinny mans googlyeyed lopsided mask Dogged Im hardpressed to buy
dogged
Anyways the gas gets me where Im going an yacan keep your
attention
lazy lefteye Jeffrey strodesuddenly
from between the pumps and violently slapped the gas nozzle out of his
handdousing his pants and bleeding enough down the side of the car and under it
to inform him of his peril
he smiled unperturbed Think ya got little on your sleeve there
Jeffrey he pointed and pointing his sleeve dribbled gas onto the
wetted concrete apron
his smile fell when Jeffrey
produced an worn nickel cigarette lighter flipped it openstruck it on his
palm its flame was broad undulating
Seems I find myself in a jam
Yes. A jam. You should walk this way he said
as he slowly backed off the red edged platform the gas pumps stood on
he couldnt help himself Yawant I should walk backwards
I dont care how you walk, man, as
long as you walk this way.
stepping after Jeffrey his shoes
sloshed
the other Jeffreys swung in
around behind himto his sides
nobodynot a fucking soul seemed
to pay attention to the motley crew they comprised asif it was common that twoleguged
queercountenanced giraffes walked a guy who looked like he pissed in his pants
not odd at all huh
but he knew he was deep
in times of when people kept to themselvesminded their own business didnt go
lookin for trouble
if it was him hedve said
something but that was his nature
his skin was also his nature
he didnt wanna spend months
healing from burned flesh No
Bide
your time bide your time
Its
just a matter of time
its always been just a matter of
time an the ability to recognise
opportunity
he was no shrinking violet he didnt look good in a skirt
he assumed he was taking a walk
with these gentlemen at least until they
proved themselves not to be gentlemen
they walked across the enormous
Truck Stop parking lot
at the far end of the lotobscured
by distancewhen Jeffrey slapped the lighter closed the three other giraffes
jumped him and held him down
Jeffrey yanked a fashioned
two-noosed length of rope from his jacketcinched his hands behind him with one noose
slipped the other over his headaround his throat
as long as he held his arms up high
behind him he wouldnt strangle himself
they went through a rent cut the
chainlink fence that was the lots demarcation Good old property
rights then walked forward
into the desert brown sand brackish sand
startlingwhite sand Ought
to be an ocean around here somewhere but the
nonexistent sea was curtailed by thorny bushes thick forbidding brush happy
alienshaped cacti and other forms of bizarre vegetation he couldnt identify for
his life but dug that they made their solitary lives in the desert
give it time . . . the
desert is beautiful . . . . and as desirable as a kid sister when all the other
women had dried up and blown away because he wasnt a peach he must have been hallucinating he didnt have a kid sister and women he met tended to be wet
deeper into the desert Jeffrey
wrapped a leash around his waist as his throat was otherwise engaged and pulled him forward faster setting the pace a pace he had been delaying
Okay so he played a
game of Trustclosing his eyesfiguring the bastard wouldnt walk him over a
drop evidently they wanted himwhodafuck
knew what for a little girl whose mother
busied herself on her backher kneesher belly providing for her and her daughter
took a fancy to him Trust was a game the
little girl liked to play Hold onto the
end of my skip rope Close your eyes And I’ll walk you down the street, and you have
to trust me that I won’t walk you into something? telegraphing
she almost walked him into a
post
he was peeking slyly
HEY!
Hey
nothing You almost walked me into that
post
You’re
supposed to trust me.
Kid I dont trust anyone but
myself Something you ought to learn
I know.
You know
I know.
So why were we playing Trust
I wanted to know if you knew.
You had doubts
My Mommie makes me doubt.
Youre Mommies tryin hard doin
what she can
It isn’t working.
You eating
Yes.
Youre clothedhave a place to live
Yes.
Youre in school
Yes.
Whaelse yawant out of her
I want her time.
We all wantwanted our parents
time Its something they sell to provide
for us
I want . .
. . I wanI wan I wanTAH
Ya get whacha need if your lucky
she pouted
Come on Ill buy you a carton of milk and a donut
he opened his eyes in time to
catch that they were walking up on a shell of a stone cabin its roof had collapsed
into it a small outbuilding beside it that
smelled of a coopchickens stacked tires to either side of the timber
that formed the short entrance that the giraffes couldnt enter without defrockingdecapitating
exposing themselves he
was sure he didnt know them he was sure
they didnt want him to know them
he smelled water tepid that he could smell water and
hadnt pissed informed him he was thirsty
the water smelled like rubber
water inside the tires
he veered towards the broken
shacks entrance
Jeffrey pulled on him
Jeffrey was slight
he pulled Jeffrey
Miuthafucker!
You betcha I may have fucked your old ladymebbe why
youre part of this getup Im thirsty
staggering over to the stacked
tiresdragging Jeffreypushing bodily against the other three clowns who tried to
impede him he made the tire to the right
of the emptied doorway no water
he crossed
left AwhChrist
shallow
water
two fish inverted in it
bluegills
bluegills
inflated like porcupine fish they had sucked
up what water they could hold and was recirculating it over their gills to
breathe their tails and backs dryshrunken Do
whacha need to do to survive
FUCK THIS!
in a suddenhe jerked his arms downstraightened his backjerked forward he didnt snap his neck choked briefly then rope snappedPOP!ped apparently rotted hemp
in the next moment he yanked his
arms outwardPOP!
he
was a freed muthafucker
except for Eeny Meeny Miny Moe clamouring around
him unsure what to do he
conferred Moe on Jeffrey Moe had been
from his Three Stooges viewing days the
apparent ringleader
he scooped handfuls of water out
from around the fish drinking his fill
the clods and Moe closed rank
around him tentatively Drink he said I heard your canteens rattle against your
thighs CUNTS
Now what
Moe said We keep walking
Im supposed to follow you or youll
pursuefollow me
We know where we’re going.
Theres that however I aint going anywhere without the fish
The fish?
Damnright I aint leaving themtheyre
innocent Im sick of Innocence being
sacrificed for the selfish
I suppose Im drawing a line in
theHA sand or we can have it out here I aint troubled by the odds
they balked
Awright lose the hats all
of ya Knot two of them A bluegill in each Empty your canteens into them I hope to hell youre close to where it is
youre takin me otherwise youre gonna get mighty thirsty
Eeny Meeny Miny Moe did as they
were told
he humped the knotted giraffe
heads onto his shoulder and followed the defrocked into the falling dusk and
night
where they ended up was anyone guess
he woke from his dream
1037, Day-between-Two-Ts, 27 11.
19
1720, Friday, 29 11.
19
