Chapter 4
Poor Zeek Zaro
Otto and Mordy had dug many holes in their day but never as deep as the one they created for Carl Burrow, The Meat Grinder. They dug for what seemed like hours and had to use a ladder to step out of the hole. By the time they dumped his corpse into the fresh worm pit, The Meat Grinders stomach had swelled so much it looked like a Buddha statue showcased in a Chinese restaurant. Otto suggested maybe they should stick him in the gut with that Rambo knife to let the pressure out but neither of them had the stomach for it and it didn’t matter much where he was going.
They finished just after eleven, sat down and shared the last cigarette of the pack.
“We finish up here then we dump the guy’s truck.” Otto said.
“First we eat those White Castles he got stashed in that truck.” Mordy added, as Otto just stared at him.
“How can you think about eating?”
“I’m fucking starving man.” Mordy protested.
“You can’t eat cold White Castles. You’ll get worms.” Otto shot back.
Mordy poked at the dirt with a stick. “That old bastard was right. This drop was a bad idea.”
Otto just looked away.
Mordy turned to him. “I bet that guy never dreamed of being done in by a couple of guys like us, huh Otto?”
Otto looked at him with regretful eyes. “Was a hell of a way for a man like that to go. Guy was a legend.”
“I really hope you’re not feeling sympathy for this guy?”
“I don’t know what I feel.” Otto said.
Mordy rose to his feet, “Let me tell you what I know about this hardon. The Meat Grinder was a card carrying prick. His father was a prick before him and spawned a whole generation of prick butchers that owned that meat shop up on Main. They had a big steel meat grinder in the back to settle beefs with collections. One of them old ones you had to crank by hand. Him and his brothers used it for people who owed and didn’t pay on time. A finger here, a toe there they’d stick in the meat grinder and make meat. Then when business grew and they upgraded and bought one of those industrial sized ones that meat men threw whole cows in at those animal torture plants in middle America. They threw poor Zeek Zaro in and ground his legs and feet into chopped meat. When they were about to finish off his top half they lost power for three whole hours. Guy was still alive. Torso just sat sticking out of that machine like a fucking Jack in the Box while The Meat Grinder and his brothers played gin rummy and waited for the power to turn back on. So, you shouldn’t be having no remorse for that cocksucker. A card carrying prick he was like his father before him.”
“His gang is gonna link us as the last people he saw while he was alive.” Otto said gravely.
“We’ll there goes our promotion.” Mordy said tossing his stick.
“Promotion? Are you insane? There goes our fucking life is more the point. The Horse is gonna burn us. Bury us right next to this guy without thinking twice about it.”
Otto motioned for him to pass the cigarette back, he’s had it too long. “Why the hell is The Horse doing business with the Meat Grinder anyway. It don’t make no sense.” Mordy quipped.
“Why are you so damn inquisitive? You’re like a little kid always questioning things. It’s that kind of shit that got us into this mess.”
“Don’t try to pin this entire thing on me.”
“This whole thing happened because of you and your bullshit Mordy. Own it.”
“You want me to be the patsy, fine, I’ll be the patsy. The blister on your left nut is my fault too. And don’t worry, the next guy that wants to chop off my hand because of some no good reason, you have my permission to let him.” Mordy sat back down and sulked.
“You just don’t get it Mordy and I’m worried you never will.”
“Well, you don’t have to worry about me, I can take care of myself.”
No one said anything for a few minutes then it was Mordy who broke the silence.
“Otto?”
“What?”
“I’m sorry.” Otto turned to him, since Mordy was usually full of shit he wanted details. “What exactly are you sorry for?”
“I’m sorry I made you kill a guy.”
He had just the slightest twinge of emotion in his voice and Otto could tell he meant it. Plus his eyebrows did not raise one inch.
“Forget it alright. He didn’t deserve your hand. I would do it again if I had to.” Otto said, looking away. Mordy turned to him, “Can I ask you something?”
“Yeah.”
“Are we friends, like real friends?”
Otto thought about it for a moment. “Yeah Mordy, we’re friends.”
Mordy smiled then pointed to the briefcase, “What about this?” Otto just shook his head defeated, “You wanna open it, open it. It don’t make no difference at this point.” Mordy gave it a hard, long stare. “No, I don’t want to open it. I’d rather not know, Otto.”
Otto just smiled, maybe there was hope for Mordy after all.