The parking lot was enormous and open. The summer Charlotte heat beat down and the atmospheric pressure swirled over the top of the asphalt. Lines of heat swayed up into the air and buried themselves inside the first sign of a tree or human being walking to the front doors of the grocery store.<\/p>\n
Off to the left of the front doors flowers of various colors and types surrounded wicker tables and wooden chairs. They were put there by the corporate office to give the place a look of high class and other upscale snobbery. Leo Murphy was anything but upscale and high class. He slid his body halfway down the chair and flopped his arms over the armrest of the chair like he owned it. His butcher coat both bloody from the morning\u2019s cuts and caked in kabob seasoning was open at the front, exposing the same black checkered short-sleeved button-up shirt he wore every day underneath the butcher\u2019s coat.<\/p>\n
He hadn\u2019t shaved in more than a month and didn\u2019t seem to care to keep clean-shaven. He was on the wrong side of forty and a transplant from Boston. Back home in Southie the name Leo Murphy meant something. He was called on to do away with people and dispose of the bodies. Sometimes he had to do both. Leo didn\u2019t use guns and other weapons of choice that other hitmen often used. He used knives, cleavers, and axes. So, when it came time to vanish from Boston after the FEDS came down on the O\u2019Brien Family, it only made sense that he took a job nine hundred miles from home and became a butcher.<\/p>\n
Over the years since he left, he hadn\u2019t hurt another man or woman. He thought about the screams and blood every day, especially at night when trying to sleep. Nothing worked. Much like a war veteran, sleep was a rarity for him. He lowered his head and worked fifty, sometimes sixty, hours a week without a complaint. He took codeine and Vicodin to numb the past. He was paid a modest hourly wage, unlike his former life, when a kill could pocket him anywhere from twenty to fifty grand, depending on how many people and if he had to get rid of the bodies himself. It was something his coworkers hadn\u2019t the slightest clue about.<\/p>\n
They thought of Leo as another hard-working man bending over for corporate America. It never crossed their minds that they were working side by side with a killer. They always tried to invite him out, like \u2018Cheese Steak\u2019 Campagna. His real name was Mario, but Leo liked the nickname because he was fat and jolly like a cheese steak. Leo always turned him down for a night out of beers and concerts. He couldn\u2019t seem to manage being around people outside of work for long periods of time.<\/p>\n
He went home, took his pills and tried to sleep. He hadn\u2019t owned a television set in years. He either read one of his thousands of books or went for long walks. The activities helped him forget the past. He felt some of them deserved what they got, but he never could forget Tara. A young prostitute who walked the night hours up and down the streets of the Combat Zone. He hated being paid to kill her. He loathed himself for pretending to be a “John,” and then driving out to the harbor, slitting her throat and kicking her body into the ocean. After he slit her throat, she looked surprised, shocked even, that she was dying, and that look never left him. Leo didn\u2019t really know why, and he didn\u2019t ask, but word on the street was she was fucking Adam \u201cChilly-Cool\u201d Wise. And when \u201cChilly-Cool\u201d was finished with her after a few weeks she had heard too much crap fall out Adam\u2019s Tequila drunk mouth. The O\u2019Briens couldn\u2019t risk it, they called Leo. Not long after, he put a cleaver in Adam\u2019s skull for trying to cut a deal with the police following an arrest for stealing a postal jeep high on crack and Mr. Bungle.<\/p>\n
One hundred T-bones a day, both cut and trimmed. Fifty ribeye, sixty Porterhouse, it didn\u2019t matter over and over he thought of Tara\u2019s face. He studied his boss\u2019 actions. He learned the movements of his coworkers. It was out of habit to study people. He couldn\u2019t help himself. He let them bust-his-balls often, even smiled, but he knew he could end every single one of them if he truly wanted to, but he never wanted to entertain the thought at the same time.<\/p>\n
He yearned for home, to be back among his people. The cold salt air of Southie. The corner stores and coffee shops that knew what a \u201cmedium regular\u201d was. He missed late nights watching the Sox go into extra innings. He missed being a person people called on when they needed him. Now, the people don\u2019t even look at him walking in the street. He\u2019s a nobody. A wanderer of the void with two feet that might as well be four. Sideways, forwards, and backwards all at once and without a change to his face. It had become a life he could no longer taste, touch nor feel.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Before his break was over Leo looked in the bakery case. The eclairs, cupcakes, and pies made his mouth water. He saw Priscilla opening and closing little ovens. She had a ponytail pulled out from the back of the store labeled baseball cap. A week\u2019s worth of tiredness dripped from her narrow face. He didn\u2019t know Priscilla well enough. She was quiet like he was. Leo had heard her husband and three boys were killed in a car wreck some years back, and she took up with Sammy Long on occasion to help her forget the loss of her husband. Cheese Steak told him that Sammy was a violent drunk, typical Carolina trash. He came from a long line of trash. All known for beating women and fucking everyone in town that would spread their legs for a Long. Cheese Steak said, \u201cyep, all them Longs have a baby with a different last name in every nook of the city.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
She looked like an intelligent woman. Not in the book smart way, but in the way a person is beat down by life. A person near suicide daily. They\u2019re never allowed to come up for air. Bills upon bills piled up so high that all there is to do is laugh hysterically because there\u2019s never going to be enough money to pay them all on time. It gives a person a kind of dark wisdom being so broke and making it work somehow. The pain from loss, regret, death and bad decisions, gives a person a certain worldview that college and books never will give you. Leo appreciated that about Priscilla although he\u2019d never say that to her for fear of her thinking him crazy. But he could see each line around her eyes as another year of wisdom gained from a mind she wanted to escape.<\/p>\n
\u201cSeen you over by the bakery again,\u201d Cheese Steak Campagna said with his hand pulling out a pound of pork from the grinder.<\/p>\n
Leo watched him pull out the pound of pork without applying much pressure to the front of the auger. Leo shook his head but didn\u2019t say anything, he picked up his knife and sharpened it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should ask her out for a beer, Leo,\u201d Cheese Steak continued, \u201cI mean, I don\u2019t think she\u2019s much serious about Sammy Long. It wouldn\u2019t hurt for you to get out and get some ass, know what I mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
He didn\u2019t like him referring to Priscilla as a \u201cpiece of ass.\u201d He wished he could say something. Instead, he put his head down and went to work cutting an order for two dozen sirloin steaks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He thought about a lot of things when he cut. It was a form of meditation for him, silently standing and cutting the flesh, blood collecting in pools around the meat, his knife decorated in bright red from the overhead lights. Doing it released him from the ghosts of the past. He found it easier to breathe and focus. Most of all, it freed him from the look Tara gave him after he ran his blade across her throat.<\/p>\n
He sometimes wondered why he went into the butcher profession after all he\u2019d done back in Boston. Why he didn\u2019t become a truck driver or maybe a fence post digger. He thought, maybe in some sick way he truly never wanted to leave his former profession behind. Maybe he wanted to keep it close as a form of punishment for the lives he took. The guilt of Tara would never leave him, he felt he deserved the life of torment.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
After his shift was up Leo went back over to the bakery and looked in the case. Priscilla came over to the case, \u201cHey, Leo what can I get you?\u201d He continued to look and was fixated on the eclairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you make those?\u201d He asked.<\/p>\n
She smiled and leaned over the counter and moved closer to his face, \u201cAngela the new girl made those and she\u2019s \u2018bout as smart as washrag, I\u2019d steer clear of those today.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you make?\u201d He asked with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have a nice smile, Leo, you should smile more. You know, you always look so serious all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhaddya mean?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou look like life has been kicking you in the balls over and over. Kinda like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
He appreciated plain spoken people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made the lemon bars a couple of hours ago, if you want a treat made by me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll take a half-a-dozen,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n
Priscilla got a box out and put the lemon bars inside and put it on top of the counter.<\/p>\n
\u201cSix lemon bars,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
He liked the lines coming from the corners of her mouth. How her cheap and faded red lipstick cracked with her dry lips. He reached up and grabbed the box, then started to pull into his chest and began to turn around, Priscilla picked up a rag and wiped the powdered sugar from the top of the counter. He thought about what Cheese Steak had said earlier about Long not really being much of a factor, and how in reality he didn\u2019t want to go home and read and eat six lemon bars and go for a walk in Chantilly Park.<\/p>\n
\u201cPriscilla?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
She looked up at him, \u201cYeah, Leo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWanna do something later? Grab a beer or get something to eat?\u201d<\/p>\n
She studied what he had just asked her, and her eyes lit up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d like that, Leo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere would you like to go?\u201d He asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI could use a couple drinks later,\u201d she replied. \u201cEver been to Billy Boyle\u2019s Pub on 2nd<\/sup> Street?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, but I know where it is.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a great place. Last of the amazing dive bars in Charlotte. You know, before everything turned micro bullshit this and waxed mustache that. Billy Boyle\u2019s has shitty band posters on the wall. A juke box with \u201870s music, and a dark wood bar and stools, and the place smells a bit like puke and piss. Just like a good bar should.\u201d<\/p>\n She looked happy, even a bit shy that he asked her out. \u201cWant to meet me there around seven-thirty?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ll be there,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n As he walked away, he saw Cheese Steak give him the thumbs up for finally growing a pair. Leo smirked and shot him the middle finger. The soft voiced store manager, Daniel, shook his head out of disgust over a cart of pears but he was too soft in the body and mind to say or do anything about it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leo arrived at Billy Boyle\u2019s Pub at seven so Priscilla didn\u2019t have to wait on him. It allowed him to order a tall beer and a shot of whiskey to kill the nerves. He couldn\u2019t remember the last time he met a woman for drinks. He put down the shot and nursed the beer. The pub was everything she told him it would be. It reminded him of the hole in the wall joints back in Southie. He took a sip of beer and a memory hit him like a lightning bolt to the brain. How in Costigan\u2019s Pub off L Street, he followed a man into a bathroom and when he was pissing the beer away in the stall Leo opened the door and slammed a knife into the man\u2019s throat. It wasn\u2019t so much the killing that bothered him, but the look of amazement on the man\u2019s face. The blood coming out of the back of the base of his skull. The red oozing down the corners of his mouth. That look followed him all the way down to the piss-stained floor, until Leo pulled out the knife and left him there. Leo ordered another shot of whiskey and downed it.<\/p>\n He walked over to the juke box and flipped through the cards inside the glass, each card the cover of an album with a list of songs he could play from the album. He flipped through a dozen or more bands and singers he hated: Elton John, Gordon Lightfoot, Foreigner, The Outfield. Leo felt like giving up, then he saw Springsteen\u2019s THE RIVER. He dropped a dollar into the machine and chose SHERRY DARLING. The summer sun blinded the bar when Priscilla opened the door and walked inside.<\/p>\n She wore a black house dress she either made or bought at Target. It had tiny pink flowers all over it and it ran just below her pale white knees. Her dirty blonde hair was up in a clip and a bit wet from a shower. She didn\u2019t care to impress Leo or anyone else. And he liked that about her. \u2018Take me as I am or don\u2019t take me at all\u2019, is how she presented herself to the world.<\/p>\n \u201cI love this song,\u201d she said to Leo.<\/p>\n \u201cI played a couple songs from the album.\u201d<\/p>\n She approved with a smile, \u201cI could really use a drink,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n They sat in a couple of chairs facing a giant Jamesons Mirror on the wall above the cash register. She ordered a Maker\u2019s Mark on the rocks, and Leo ordered another tall beer. Priscilla downed the Maker\u2019s and ordered a second, then downed the second even quicker than the first. The bartender figured she\u2019d want another, and he wasn\u2019t wrong.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes this bother you?\u201d She asked.<\/p>\n \u201cDoes what bother me?\u201d Leo replied.<\/p>\n \u201cThat I downed two whiskeys quicker than you could take a couple sips of that beer?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cGood, because I had a long day at work. And I had an even shittier phone call before I left. I really need to let loose a bit.\u201d<\/p>\n He wanted to ask about the phone call, but he didn\u2019t. He wanted to ask why her day was so long at work, but he didn\u2019t.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, I know,\u201d Leo said.<\/p>\n \u201cKnow what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbout your boys.\u201d<\/p>\n Her eyes lit up. He wasn\u2019t sure why.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, Evan, he\u2019s the oldest and he\u2019s ten. Thinks he knows everything about everyone. Pain in my ass, but he\u2019s my little Evan. And then there\u2019s Dean, he\u2019s eight and the quiet one, but you know what they say about the middle child? \u201cThey are the ones that turn out to be serial killers.\u201d She laughed and continued talking about her boys like they were still among the living, \u201cThen there\u2019s Tommy, he\u2019s the baby and acts like one too, he\u2019s five. Love my boys but sometimes they can be a handful.\u201d She took a sip of her whiskey and Leo took a long chug of his beer. \u201cWhat about you?\u201d she asked. \u201cAny kids?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo. I don\u2019t have any. I guess it wasn\u2019t in the cards for me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEver been married?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNope, never been married either,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He felt like he should\u2019ve lied about that last question so he could fit in. Maybe make her feel more comfortable with something to relate to, but he didn\u2019t want to lie. He liked her.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, Leo,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cKnow what?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m glad you asked me to hang out.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhys that?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAll the women in the bakery think you are a good-looking man; you know for an older guy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes, we all talk about it, but no one really knows you. You are mysterious and you walk around like you have the weight of the world on your shoulders. I bet you have a lot of secrets, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWho doesn\u2019t?\u201d He replied, ordering himself another beer and another whiskey for Priscilla.<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose you are right,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou live in Charlotte long?\u201d Leo asked.<\/p>\n \u201cMy whole life. Never got out of this city outside my honeymoon up in the mountains outside of Ashville, but that was a long time ago.\u201d<\/p>\n He watched her vanish into a long-ago time in her mind. A place where she was forever stuck, the frost from the ice cubes danced around her lips and nostrils. Leo thought of her look like a black and white photograph hanging in an art gallery. He thought of her mind like a puzzle with a missing piece. He didn\u2019t want her to break from her thought and return, but he also understood to live in the dark for too long wasn\u2019t good for anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, by the way,\u201d he said. \u201cOlder man?\u201d<\/p>\n She snapped out of her thought, \u201cYou know you got some white hairs in your scruff. It\u2019s handsome though. I like it. Leo the distinguished butcher.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow old are you?\u201d He asked.<\/p>\n Priscilla slapped the bar and looked over at him, \u201cYou know never to ask a lady her age, but you see the lines around my eyes and mouth,\u201d she said pointing at her face, \u201cAnd the bags under my eyes?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn\u2019t matter to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, three boys, a dead husband, a dead-end job, and you\u2019d have to say that creates a forty-two-year-old woman going on ninety.\u201d<\/p>\n Leo couldn\u2019t understand why she accepted her husband\u2019s death and not the death of her boys, but he let it go, \u201cI\u2019m forty-seven. Age isn\u2019t really a big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t reply. She was lost in the frost of her ice cubes again and Leo could only admire her. The alcohol both picked her up and let her fall back into her unshakable thoughts.<\/p>\n \u201cSo, where you from originally?\u201d She asked. \u201cI can tell you aren\u2019t from here.\u201d<\/p>\n He wanted to tell her all about Southie and growing up in the streets and fighting to make it home from school every day. And his abusive Catholic upbringing, and how in his early twenties he was an amateur boxer and lost his career to shattering his left wrist in a fight. He wanted to tell her about his family, both blood and friends, but in order to keep the rest of his life a secret, he had to tell her a lie. \u201cI\u2019m from Portland, Maine.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have the accent like they do in the movies.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhich movies are you referring to?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, like \u2018Dolores Claiborne,\u2019 they all talk with that thick and funny accent.<\/p>\n \u201cIt never did take,\u201d he said. \u201cBesides Hollywood always over does it with the accents.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose,\u201d she said. \u201cWhat did you parents do?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDad was a fisherman and Mom was a second-grade teacher.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cHow long you been in Charlotte?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAround seven years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy here? Not often we get many Mainers moving this way.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, both Mom and Dad died, and I didn\u2019t have much family left, so I came down here. I wanted to start over fresh.\u201d<\/p>\n He hated lying to her. He wished she\u2019d change the subject to anything else but his past. He knew telling one lie would lead to one hundred more lies. And he liked Priscilla and wanted to get to know her on a more intimate level.<\/p>\n \u201cCan I ask you a question?\u201d He asked.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019ll cost you, Murphy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019ll it cost?\u201d<\/p>\n She shook her empty glass, \u201canother round and a couple of songs on the juke.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you want to hear?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSurprise me,\u201d she said, \u201cbut no rap or disco. Give me something with electric guitars and lyrics.\u201d<\/p>\n He chose a couple of songs from \u2018Sticky Fingers,\u2019 and he picked upbeat songs, \u2018Can\u2019t You Hear Me Knocking,\u2019 and \u2018Brown Sugar.\u2019 She leaned her head in his direction with a buzzed look in her eyes. \u201cGreat fucking choice, Leo! Now come on over and ask me your question.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n He took his seat and ordered another beer. He spent so many years trying to shake some of the facial expressions of his \u2018hits\u2019 that he forgot how to live, but the time with Priscilla was something he hadn\u2019t experienced since before leaving Boston. He\u2019d almost forgot what it was like to talk and hang out with a woman. All he knew was that he liked it, and he wanted to stretch out the night as long as he could.<\/p>\n \u201cYou having a good time?\u201d He asked.<\/p>\n \u201cThat was your question?\u201d She said in a playful and sarcastic tone. \u201cHow boring Leo. I thought you were gonna ask me a deep philosophical question. One we could debate. Or at least ask me what color my panties are.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf I had to guess I\u2019d say pink.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWell, you guessed fuckin\u2019 wrong. They are black and they go with my black bra. Not that you\u2019ll see them tonight.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, I wasn\u2019t thinking I\u2019d\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n She slapped him on the shoulder, \u201cRelax, Leo,\u201d she interrupted. \u201cI\u2019m fucking with you. Maybe you will, maybe you won\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about Sammy Long?\u201d<\/p>\n Her facial expression soured, and she took a sip of her drink, \u201cWhat about him?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNothing, really,\u201d Leo noticed how she turned from playful to a bit angry. \u201cJust that Cheese Steak told me you have been maybe dating him?\u201d<\/p>\n She slammed down her whiskey and ordered another, \u201cI wouldn\u2019t call it exactly dating, if you know what I mean.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI suppose. I\u2019m sorry for asking it\u2019s none of my business.\u201d<\/p>\n She snapped out of wherever the question took her, \u201cAhh, don\u2019t worry about it, Murphy.\u201d She leaned over and smooched him quickly to break the tension. He could taste the gooey gloss on her lips, and he liked the fake cherry flavor of it. He didn\u2019t return one out of respect. He didn\u2019t want to push a borderline drunk woman even if they both wanted it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cPriscilla,\u201d a voice yelled from the doorway of the bar.<\/p>\n They both turned their attention to the voice. Leo saw the man standing there wearing a worn ball cap. The sun had tanned his skin from working with a road crew. His long-sleeved western shirt was rolled up to his elbows, and his long dark hair underneath his hat pointed out and up over his ears. He was drunk and vibed rage fifty feet in front of him. He didn\u2019t like that Priscilla was sitting with another man and having a good time.<\/p>\n \u201cGet your fucking ass over here,\u201d he shouted. The entire bar stared at him, then her to see what she\u2019d do.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sorry Leo. Let me go see what he wants.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n She walked over to Sammy, and she wasn\u2019t but up to his chest in height. He was easily six foot and a few inches to her five foot three. Leo watched them argue but he couldn\u2019t make out what they were saying. The bartender asked if he wanted another drink, but Leo lifted his hand to gesture \u2018no.\u2019 Sammy shoved her, and Leo stood up.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat,\u201d he said to Leo. \u201cYou gonna do something about it?\u201d<\/p>\n He imagined moving a blade gently across the veins in his neck, blood all over Sammy\u2019s hands when he reached up to try and push the blood back into his throat like he was trying to reverse his death. But he didn\u2019t make a move, he sat back down and pretended to be a coward.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd stay seated, motherfucker, if you know what\u2019s good for you.\u201d<\/p>\n Priscilla ran over to the bar and grabbed her purse. \u201cI\u2019m sorry, Leo, I\u2019m going to have to call it a night. Sammy, he\u2019s, well, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n Leo touched her hand. \u201cIt\u2019s okay, sweetheart.\u201d Her eyes briefly glowed like it had been a lifetime since she heard a kind word spoken to her. \u201cMaybe another time?\u201d She nodded and walked back towards Sammy.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leo waited a minute, paid for the tab, then walked out into the lot. Across the way he saw Sammy\u2019s big hand gripped around her upper arm. He opened the door of his pickup truck and tossed her in the passenger seat and slammed the door both to control and to scare her. Leo couldn\u2019t understand why a strong and intelligent woman would let such a garbage human into her life. He knew she was better than that. He got in his car and followed them. After twenty minutes of driving, Leo followed them to the outskirts of the city and into a trailer park.<\/p>\n Leo waited at the end of the street until he spotted where they stopped and watched him grab her by the arm and drag her towards the stairs of his trailer. She tried to pull away, but Sammy wasn\u2019t having it. He gripped tighter and dragged her with force, then she fell on the stairs. Sammy kept dragging her. She didn\u2019t even scream for help or yell at Sammy, she accepted the abuse.<\/p>\n Once inside for a few, Leo cut his headlights and pulled across the street facing the trailer. He could see them in the bedroom window. She stood at the foot of the bed. He couldn\u2019t make out what Sammy was saying to her, but he watched her turn her face away from Sammy and look down at the ground over her shoulder. Sammy chugged a beer, then threw the can down. He tried to move his hands and body close to her without being aggressive. When he noticed that she kept looking at the ground and didn\u2019t respond to him, he\u2019d had enough and slapped her across the face. Leo couldn\u2019t hear the sound, but he felt it. Sammy ripped open the front of her dress and dragged the remaining threads off her body and threw it to the ground. When she leaned over to pick it up, he slapped her again, knocking her head upwards. She stood there with a bloody nose. It didn\u2019t matter to Sammy, he owned her. Priscilla was his property, he pushed her down on the bed, unbuckled his pants and crawled on top of her.<\/p>\n Leo made his way into the trailer. He could see at the far end the door was closed and he could hear Priscilla putting up a fight, dropping every cuss word possible. Leo looked through the kitchen drawers, but he couldn\u2019t find a weapon to use. Next to the grease-spotted oven that looked as if it hadn\u2019t been washed in a year, he saw a butcher block full of knives surrounded by cobwebs. He looked through them and picked out the largest one and the smallest one. Both were still sharp from not being used.<\/p>\n He made his way to the door; he could hear shitty new country music playing. He didn\u2019t know the names of the artists. He only knew Toby Keith, so he referred to all new shitty country as Toby Keith. He slowly opened the door and saw a naked Sammy pawing at Priscilla’s beat up and bruised body. He couldn\u2019t get off her panties because she kept putting up a fight. She flat out refused to take anymore from him, but she also knew she didn\u2019t have much fight left in her. She noticed Leo at the doorway, the large knife facing out in his right hand, and the smaller one gripped in his left hand and down by his side. She lifted her head up, her eyeballs shot out over the fury dented in her forehead. Sammy took notice of her expression, for a moment it took the life out of him, but he turned around anyway.<\/p>\n \u201cSon-of-a-bitch!\u201d He yelled.<\/p>\n A naked Sammy with cock swinging and tatted chest full of skulls and Nazi symbols charged at Leo.<\/p>\n \u201cPut it in his fucking neck, Leo!\u201d Priscilla screamed.<\/p>\n He moved back quickly from Sammy\u2019s bull charge and made it out into the kitchen. Priscilla with her puffy split lip and bruised cheekbone stood at the bedroom doorway covered in what remained of her torn dress. Sammy leaned in and landed a punch to Leo\u2019s gut. He jerked back on impact and felt a rib crack.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat you are gonna do with those knives, little man, kill me?\u201d<\/p>\n Sammy took another swing and landed another blow in the same cracked rib. Leo fell to one knee; he felt the pain in his teeth. Sammy went into the cupboard above the sink and dragged out a silver revolver and jammed it in Leo\u2019s mouth.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re trespassing and best I see it I can kill you right now.\u201d He cocked the gun. \u201cPriscilla, baby, I\u2019m going to splatter your friend\u2019s brains all over the kitchen.\u201d She didn\u2019t have it in her to move. She looked at Leo like it was going to be the last time she was going to see him. She turned her head away, unable to look into the eyes of the inevitable.<\/p>\n Sammy returned his attention back to Leo, but before he could wrap his finger around the trigger, Leo planted the small knife into his shooting hand. Sammy dropped the gun and screamed in agony. He looked at his hand and saw the knife point sticking out from his palm.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a dead man now, motherfucker!\u201d Sammy turned to grab a knife from the block, but before he could reach for it, Leo jammed his large blade into Sammy\u2019s nut sack and pushed it in deep and rotated the blade a few times. Blood poured out onto the floor like a river breaking a damn. It emptied out onto the linoleum and Sammy slipped in it and fell to the ground yelling. Priscilla reached deep inside her mind, through the past and the pain and what tortures all humans, she gave Leo a nod.<\/p>\n He pulled the knife from Sammy\u2019s groin and picked up his head by the hair, and slid the knife across the veins in his throat. His daydream wasn\u2019t far off, Sammy grabbed at the blood and tried to push it back into his throat.<\/p>\n Priscilla ripped a fire extinguisher off the wall and walked over to a dying Sammy and he looked up at her in disbelief. Sammy was the kind of man who subdued and owned women, and for a short time he was able to control Priscilla, but she wasn\u2019t taking his shit anymore and felt neither should any other woman. One less Sammy Long was exactly what humanity needed. Leo didn\u2019t stop her. She repeatedly slammed Sammy\u2019s face with all the rage of this world with the butt end of the extinguisher until Sammy\u2019s face split into a pulp mess of splatter and brain. Until Priscilla didn\u2019t have the strength to destroy the present nor the past anymore.<\/p>\n She dropped the extinguisher to the ground and fell in the pool of blood in nothing but her panties and bra. Sammy\u2019s blood staining her legs. Leo, too, was covered in his blood. Leo stood up and held out his hand and grabbed Priscilla\u2019s hand and helped her up. He ran into Sammy\u2019s closet and picked out one of his large hoodies and grabbed her purse, shoes, and what remained of her dress. Leo walked her out to his car and gave her the keys.<\/p>\n \u201cDrive back to the bar and get into your car and drive home. Leave my car in the lot.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you gonna do?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m going to clean up here, so this hopefully doesn\u2019t come back to us.\u201d<\/p>\n She looked at him with the same face she carried around in the bakery. She had gained another notch of wisdom in her beaten-up and scarred life. She hadn\u2019t the slightest idea why she did, but she trusted Leo.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think you are from Maine, Leo, and I don\u2019t think you moved to Charlotte to start a new life.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYes and no,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWhich part is yes, and which part is no?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not from Maine, I lived a very different life and I\u2019d like the chance to tell you all about it, one hundred percent honesty, but I did move here to start over. I hope you let me tell you about that life, but the truth is, once I\u2019m done in there I\u2019m going to have to move on. You are welcome to come.\u201d<\/p>\n She was taken back by his invitation to run away and start over, she wanted to say \u201cyes,\u201d she also wanted to say, \u201cno,\u201d but she only nodded and started the car and drove away.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leo went inside and saw the mess of what was left of Sammy Long. He thought of burying him out back, but he didn\u2019t have the time. Instead, he soaked the curtains of the trailer in lighter fluid and struck a match and tossed it into the kitchen curtains. The fire started slowly, and he doused Sammy\u2019s body with the leftover fluid and struck a match and tossed it on his corpse.<\/p>\n In the window he saw the eyes of Tara looking at him. A face he saw every day full of fear and shock, now looked at him with forgiveness. He wasn\u2019t sure if it was because he killed a man who deserved to die, or because he had returned to killing or both. \u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d he said to the vision. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t right what I did to you. You didn\u2019t deserve to die so young. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d Tara\u2019s face kept forgiving him until it vanished from sight. He hoped forever, but he also knew that would never be the case. She would always be his chains. His deepest mistake. A piece of the past he couldn\u2019t return to and change.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Leo waited a day before trying to contact Priscilla, but when he made the call, she picked right up and was excited to hear from him.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s about time. I was wondering if you skipped town and were going to pin that shit on me,\u201d she said in a sarcastic tone.<\/p>\n \u201cYou think about my offer?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAbout leaving Charlotte? I did.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat do you think? We could start over somewhere new. There\u2019s nothing here for either of us. Eventually there will be too much heat. The police or the Long family will figure us out soon enough.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not sure why I trust you Leo, I do, but I\u2019m afraid to go. Maybe I should come clean.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ll find you in or out of prison. You\u2019ll be dead within a week,\u201d Leo explained. \u201cWe can go anywhere you want to go. You pick.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAny ideas?\u201d She asked.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know, New Mexico where all the UFOs are? Maybe Southern California where all the movie stars live? Or perhaps somewheres out by the Grand Canyon so we can investigate the world\u2019s largest hole every single weekend of our lives.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m voting for UFO country myself,\u201d Priscilla said with a smirk he could feel through the phone.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d like that too.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know, not to spoil all of this, but some of the Longs are on T.V. screaming about how it wasn\u2019t a fire. They think Sammy was murdered.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s why we need to be gone from here as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat are you thinking, Leo? Time wise?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cTwo days tops. You pack whatever and I\u2019ll bring over a U-Haul and we can put some shit into it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy do I have a feeling you\u2019ve done this before.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLike I said the other night\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI know what you said,\u201d she interrupted.<\/p>\n \u201cI promise I\u2019ll tell you all about it.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDo I want to know?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNo, you don\u2019t. You\u2019ll fucking hate it, but I\u2019m telling you, I\u2019m not that man anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFair enough, but not today. Maybe not for a while. Let me come to you once I am ready to hear about it all. Maybe I\u2019ll wake up in the middle of the night because of a strange dream that you are in, and I\u2019ll need to talk about it. I don\u2019t know. Maybe my sons will guide my way when I need to understand what happened in that trailer. There\u2019s a good chance I\u2019ll never want to know. I can\u2019t get past the visions, and I can\u2019t read thoughts, but I can feel, and when I am ready to feel again, I\u2019ll know, and I\u2019ll tell come to you.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhenever you are ready,\u201d he replied.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n They attached the U-Haul to Leo\u2019s truck. She packed up all her bedroom and living room furniture into the trailer and packed her dead children\u2019s clothes and toys. Leo said he had plenty of money tucked away and could buy more things, whatever else Priscilla needed to feel comfortable. Leo only took his books and clothes with him. Everything else he left behind in his apartment. They were headed for southern New Mexico without a town or place in mind. Once they got there, they\u2019d know, and they\u2019d settle down and start their lives over. Leo figured he\u2019d return to being a butcher and Priscilla figured she\u2019d bake again, but neither of them mentioned it to one another. They headed towards the interstate to start their journey. Priscilla saw the boys sitting in the back playing video games on handheld game systems. The look on their faces didn\u2019t seem to mind the new man in their mother\u2019s life. She felt it, and soon after she was able to settle into the choice she made. Priscilla reached down to Leo\u2019s right arm resting on the console that separated them. She rubbed his arm then slid her hand on top of his hand. He looked forward and let her have her way.<\/p>\n Near the ramp leading to the interstate sat Boyd\u2019s gas station and parked inside was a pickup truck, brand new, with steer horns on the front of the hood, and a gun rack loaded with shotguns in the back window. Hugh Long, matriarch of the long family, sat in the driver\u2019s seat. His brown Stetson hat shaded his long beard and big stomach. He watched Priscilla and the strange man pull off onto the interstate and he started his truck, if anyone had something to do with his son\u2019s death, he was convinced it was her. Hugh pulled out into the road and started up the ramp to the interstate six car lengths behind the U-Haul.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" One hundred T-bones a day, both cut and trimmed. Fifty ribeye, sixty Porterhouse, it didn\u2019t matter over and over he thought of Tara\u2019s face. He studied his boss\u2019 actions. He learned the movements of his coworkers. It was out of habit to study people. He couldn\u2019t help himself. He let them bust his balls often, even smiled, but he knew he could end every single one of them if he truly wanted to, but he never wanted to entertain the thought at the same time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":182,"featured_media":19259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19255","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fiction","writer-frank-reardon"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19255","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/182"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19255"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19255\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19260,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19255\/revisions\/19260"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19255"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mrbullbull.com\/newbull\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}