Fish Farm by Walt Sautter (ereader for android TXT) đ
- Author: Walt Sautter
Book online «Fish Farm by Walt Sautter (ereader for android TXT) đ». Author Walt Sautter
âIâll go up and get a couple of bungee cords to tie the trunk lid down.â
Jack returned and secured the lid. They got into the car and headed off towards Larryâs.
They rode along, engaged in the usual jabber with Jackâs eyes constantly looking in the side view mirror, fearful that the box might slip from its resting place in the trunk.
After twenty miles or so, he began to relax, confident that it was secure, and stopped his continual glancing in the mirror.
âHey, Jack whatâs that cop want?â
âCop! What cop?â
âHeâs right behind us with the lights goingâ, answered Petey.
âBetter pull over â, Jack replied nervously.
The car slowed and rolled to a stop at the road side. Petey rolled down the window reached for his wallet as the cop walked up to the car.
âHow are you gentleman doing today?â, the cop asked.
âWhatâs the problem officer?â
âWhatâs in that box in your trunk?â
âA television. Weâre takinâ it up to a friend.â
âTelevision, huhâ
Jackâs heart was racing top speed. He felt as if it was to jump from him chest at any moment. He swallowed hard and remained silent.
âYeah, weâre takinâ to Larry at âLarryâs Fishinâ Holeââ.
âOh, you mean Larry Fine. I know Larry, known him for years. Heâs okay. I used to call him âFine Larryâ, cause he use let me take my kids up there all the time to fish for free. He was great.
I donât know how he ever made any money. Everybody I ever met there was fishing for free! But that was Larry for you.
I guess the fish he sells wholesale is what keeps him going.
Anyway, the reason I stopped you is you have to have a flag on that box. Like a red piece of cloth will do it.â
With that the cop glanced in the back side of Peteyâs car littered with old newspapers and clothes.
âThereâs a flannel shirt in the back seat that looks kinda red. Take that and tie it on the bungee and youâre set to go.
And by the way, tell Larry that Tim Harbor was asking about him.
Have a good dayâ.
Jack reached into the back seat and grabbed the shirt, stumbled from the car in nervous exhaustion and tied it on the bungee. He got back into the car and slumped into the seat as they pulled out and continued to Larrys.
They reached Larryâs turn off. A hand lettered sign was hung over the Larryâs Fishinâ Hole sign. It read, âSorry â No Fish are Bitinâ Today â Closed for Repairsâ. They rode down the dusty, bumpy road to Larryâs house.
Larry was sitting out in front, with a cigar in hand like usual.
âYou got it here alright I see.â
âHope itâs gonna work okay after that ride down your road thereâ, answered Petey.
âOh, itâs gonna work just findâ, replied Larryâs with a slight grin.
All three walked to the back of the car. Petey reached to untie the bungees.
âNo, leave âem on â.
âWell, how are we gonna get it out of trunk and into Larryâs?â, asked Petey.
âYou didnât tell him?â asked Larry.
âNo, I didnât but I guess I gotta now.â
âListen, Petey, thereâe no TV in there. Letâs go over here and sit down for a minute.
Jack then proceeded to tell the whole story start to finish. Petey sat silently, in an almost trance-like state as the tale unfolded.
âYou gotta be shittinâ me!â, Petey exclaimed in an astounded tone as Jack finished.
âI couldnât tell you, because I thought maybe you wouldnât let me up here if I did.â
âProbably, wouldnât haveâ, replied Petey, âBut guess what, itâs too late now.
So what happens now?â
âWell, weâre gonna get rid of that âTVâ now once and for allâ, answered Larry.
âIf you wanta come along and help thatâs okay, but if youâd rather just stay here and wait, thatâs okay too. Let me tell ya though, it aint gonna be pretty.â
âIn to deep now. May as well go for the whole ride. Letâs goâ, replied Petey and with that, all three got into the car and drove down towards the fish ponds.
As they approached the ponds, Petey saw the wood chipper next to one with the shoot pointed out over the water.
âHoly shit! I think Iâm gettinâ the idea. Aint gonna be pretty is right!â, exclaimed Petey.
They backed the car up to the mouth of the chipper and all got out. They wrestled the box from the trunk onto the ground. Jack pulled out a pocket knife and cut the box open. He rolled the plastic bag out. And slit it open.
There he was just as Jack had left him.
âDonât smell too bad considerinâ its been a bunch of days nowâ, said Larry.
âJesus Christ! Thatâs one of the guys that forced me down to the bank that day. One of those Fireman gang guys. As a matter of fact, he was the boss manâ, exclaimed Petey.
âHe wonât be any more collecting, thatâs for sureâ.
âStart the chipper letâs get this over withâ.
âWait a minute Jackâ, said Larry.
âYou donât think Iâm gonna feed my fish all that cloth, do ya. We gotta get him undressed. Those cloth pieces will kill the fish.. Here gimme the knife. You pull off the shoes and belt and Iâll cut off the restâ.
Soon, the body lay naked next to the machine.
âOkay, Iâll start her up and weâll get to it.
Oh, get that old plastic shower curtain out of the back seat so we can cover the shoot. I donât wanta get all splatteredâ.
Jack got the curtain and put it over the shoot as Larry started the chipper.
âI think we gotta go head first so his arms donât get stuckâ, said Jack and Larry agreed.
They lifted the body and guided it into the shoot. The motor began to accelerate as it devoured the body. A red, pulpy stream gushed out over the pond. The water churned as the fish rushed towards the spot where it landed.
The water pooled bright red as the particles hit and then within seconds the color disappeared as the fish swarmed.
Petey watched for a second or two and then walked to the side and began to vomit.
Jack and Larry continued to feed the final portion of the corpse into the machine.
Then it was over. Larry turned off the chipper and all three stood silently for a moment with a distant gaze.
Jack broke the silence.
âNow that wasnât so bad, was it?â
âWasnât so bad! It was fuckinâ awful!â, cried Petey.
âYeah, youâre right, fuckinâ awful. But itâs doneâ, agreed Jack.
âNow we gotta hose down the machine and burn the clothes, bag and box. We donât want a trace left , not so much as a fartâ, replied Larry and with that it was finished.
They all went back to the house and Larry took some beer from the fridge and they went out to the front yard and sat down.
Larry looked up as they sat.
âWhat the hell is that? I thought I put up the closed sign?â, he said as he spied a cloud of dust coming up from the roadway.
Coming into view was a police car.
âWhat the hell!â, exclaimed Jack with his heart pounding in his throat.
The car pulled up and stopped. Larry squinted to see who was in the car. The door opened and Tim stepped out.
âHow it going?â
âNot badâ, replied Larry in the calmest voice he could muster.
âI saw that closed sign out front and I wanted to bring my kid over tomorrow to do some fishing. Are you gonna be closed tomorrow too?â
âNo, back in business tomorrowâ, replied Larry.
âGreat!
Howâd you guys make it here with that TV. How did it work out? It was just kinda hanging out of the trunk and I was wondering if you made down this road here without it falling out?â
âYeah, we made it down okayâ, replied Jack.
âHowâs it workinâ? Reception not too good around here ya know?â
âAint hooked it up yetâ, answered Larry.
âWant a beer Tim?â
âNot when Iâm drivinâ the car hereâ, and he pointed to the police car.
âBut thanks anyway. Iâll see you tomorrow then. So long boys. It was nice seeing you again. Have a safe one home.â
And with that he got back in the car and drove away.
They all exhaled in unison as Tim pulled out.
It was a long ride home. Not much was said only, Petey telling Jack that he wasnât holding any grudges.
To be quite honest, he felt a perverse sense of satisfaction.
â One less smart ass thugâ, he thought to himself. and anyway, nobody really killed anyone. It was an accident.
Even if he had been killed, so what.
âA prick that probably deserved itâ, he thought.
Chapter 5
Jack strolled out the front door of his building and headed for his usual daily smoke at the bench. He sat and lit the cigar with several long, slow draws.
It had been a week since the morbid task had been completed.
Mrs. Murray had returned from the hospital and was doing well. The doctors attributed her remarkable recovery to the medication she was taking. Jack, however, was pretty sure that the removal of the bag from the closet contributed even more to her improvement than did the medicine.
Jack had told her as soon as she arrived home that the bag and its contents had been removed. She never even asked how, where or when. He certainly never would have told even if she had asked. Her only response overwhelming relief at its disappearance.
Heâd spoken to both Petey and Hal several times since. Small talk, bench talk. Neither of them said anything to Hal about the trip to Larryâs.
âHey, Hal how you beenâ, asked Jack as Hal approached the bench.
âNot bad. Not bad.â
âWhatâs you hearing around the neighbor?â
âWell, yesterday, a guy in the building next to mine was tellinâ me that he heard some street talkâ.
âStreet talk? What do you mean?â
âStuff about that gang of young bastards, you know, they call themselves âFMâ, the Firemenâ.
âSo, what did he hear?â, asked Jack eagerly.
âWell, this guy tells me that that one was their leader is nowhere to be found. He just kinda went off into thin air. Nobody knows.
Those punks seem to be thinkinâ that he took off with pretty much all the money. He was like the safety deposit box for the gang. He used ta carry it around with him all the time and when ever any of âem needed cash he just peeled it off to them. He used ta give chits, like little pieces of paper tellinâ âem how much cash they had cominâ.
I think he probably did it that way to keep control over them all. Ya know, the guy thatâs got the cash always got the power.â
âYou said he always kept the cash on him? In his pocket?â, asked Jack with surprise.
âAre you sure?â
âIâm not sure about any of this. Iâm just tellinâ you what this guy told meâ, answered Hal.
âHow come the rest of them went for that arrangement? Why didnât they just demand their money up front?â
âI donât know. I guess because Sandman was a pretty merciless dude. I heard that he got crossed by one of them one and he went and cut one of the guyâs eyes out. He was just a mean bastard. He
Comments (0)