Slice of Life
thud resounded through his mind as he felt the blow against his skull. His
body tremored, revolting against the ensuing pain. He could feel his
consciousness drain as blackness took over the bright Florida sun.
"Drag �IM over here," Stove said as he chewed on his nicotine stained fingernails.
"Geez, he�s heavy for such a little shit!" Gran said as he dragged the limp body into the abandoned warehouse that smelled of death and rotted bits of human flesh. He dropped it on the ground and as Stove ripped off the Izod shirt, Gran used his bowie knife to cut the perfect white T-shirt right up the middle.
"Ooooh, such a pretty chest," Gran said sweetly as he trailed the razor sharp blade lightly against the smooth hairless skin.
"Cut it out, ya homo! Yer gonna cut �im bafore wer ready!" Stove snapped as he reached over and grabbed the knife out of Gran�s hand.
"You don�t have to grab," Gran said in an unmanly voice.
"Get �is pants." Stove said.
"Mmmm, my pleasure," Gran said as he unbuttoned the perfectly creased, tan Dockers and slowly unzipped them.
Gran could feel the stiffness rise in his pants as he spotted the bulge beneath the victim�s briefs and reached his hand down to touch it.
"Stop that! We ain�t here for you ta get yer willies," Stove said as he slapped Grans hand, "We�re here fer business�now get em off and get his wallet!"
"Oh all right, touchy, touchy," Gran whined as he took the eelskin wallet from Chad�s back pocket and handed it to Stove.
"Ball them clothes up and put em in the sack, careful with them pants�they might just fit me," Stove smiled.
"Can�t we wait till after he wakes up? I�d love to watch him squirm."
"Are you nuts? And take a chance of him getting away?." Stove said as he held an unlit smoke between his yellow teeth.
Gran began to pout as Stove continued to talk.
"Now cut �im nice and clean like usual, and take out them parts �n put �em in the cooler."
"But he�s so handsome," Gran said as he rubbed his hand against the bulge in his pants.
"Oh for chrissake! Fuck �im and get it over with you horny bitch!"
Stove walked into the abandoned office and lit up the smoke to ward off the nausea from the thought of one man screwing another. He could hear Gran�s moans as he tried to swoon the unconscious man underneath him and though he tried to block it out he heard Grans climax and he fought with his mind not to think of Gran grinding on top of another man.
"Sick Bastard!" Stove said as he inhaled the bitter smoke.
As Gran walked toward Stove, he could see a drop of wetness on his pants.
"Can we get back to business now?" Stove said as he rolled his eyes trying to avoid looking at the wet spot.
"Ummhmm," Gran said as he took the Bowie knife and began to slice Chad�s skin apart at his breast bone. If it was possible for one to be graceful at the art of slicing up a person, Gran was. As he cracked the breast bone, exposing the precious commodities, he moved his hands slowly with extreme precision in order to avoid accidentally cutting the liver, kidneys, heart and lungs that he and Stove would sell on the black market. Inside the small cooler that was packed with ice was a black bag with the surgical instruments needed to carefully take the body parts out. The heart was no longer beating as he precisely cut the connecting valves that once circulated the blood. Grans hands were covered with the red fluid and he loved the way it felt between his fingers, warm and sticky� almost like his own jism.
The formica table beside the victim was a mess of sticky red body parts as Gran cut the pieces out of the way to get to the valued transplant pieces.
ere ya� go�everything you asked for, fresh and in perfect condition,"
Stove said as he handed the cooler over to the bald Chinese man.
"You get this fresh huh? You and you girly friend do nice work," Ching Yi said in a thick accent.
"You bring me more huh? Soon! Big need for parts!" he said as he handed Stove a handful of greenbacks.
"You bet, but I gotta disappear for a while to cover my ass here. I�ll let ya know when it�s clear again."
"Soon�very soon please," Ching Yi said as Stove walked out of the dry cleaners that served as a disguise for the black market parts store.
�you get it all cleaned up?" Stove said as he walked into the warehouse.
The windows were painted solid white and all around the dirty brown ceiling hung cob webs of dust and grime. Their only light came from three huge skylights in the ceiling and when the sun was bright, that was enough. They always did their work during the day. It was always much easier to find a victim walking by during the daytime anyway. They had their attacks choreographed perfectly�Stove would sit on the bench in front of the warehouse door smoking a cigarette and when he�d spot a healthy looking person, he�d greet them�, "G�mornin". When Gran heard the greeting he would lift the hammer over his head and as soon as they passed the corner where he hid, he would club them. It always worked.
And after they got the parts and disposed of the body pieces in black plastic bags in the smelly dumpster behind the warehouse, they would clean up their mess and disappear for a couple of weeks. Enough time for the heat to cool down.
"Almost done," Gran said as he wiped the table with bleach. Stove couldn�t help but notice another wet spot on Gran�s pants.
"You shoulda been done by now! Whaddaya been doin? Don�t tell me you was playin with that corpse!"
Gran looked down toward the ground as Stove ranted.
"Dammit, if it weren�t for you bein so good at cuttin them parts out, I�d a got rid of you a long time ago! You are a sick s.o.b.! You know that?"
"Oh, don�t get all uppity, a man�s gotta have some fun once in a while doesn�t he?" Gran said.
"You ain�t a man, ya homo, men don�t screw corpses! Now get this stuff cleaned up so we can get outta here!"
Gran quickly finished cleaning up the mess and took the black garbage bag out to the dumpster, "He is so picky! I just can�t do anything right!" Gran said to himself as he dropped the waste into the putrid green container.
nside the immaculate condo on the intercoastal waterway in Miami, Stove
packed a satchel of clothing. He took a hot shower to wash off the scum from
the grimy warehouse and put on a dark blue collared shirt and his favorite
tan shorts that he had taken from one of their victims on a rainy day during
hurricane season. With his teeth brushed, hair perfectly combed, and the
aftershave he put on covering the smell of the nicotine that had permeated
his skin, he looked much less like a killer, but his black eyes still gave
him away, if you looked deep enough into them you could see death.
"C�mon Gran, our plane leaves in an hour," He yelled into the bathroom.
"Almost done," Gran shouted through the shower curtain as he scrubbed his hairless body clean. Gran was an immaculate person when he wasn�t working. He had sandy brown hair and hazel eyes that always seemed to attract women and sometimes men. He didn�t smoke and his nails were perfectly manicured. At five feet ten inches tall and 185 pounds, he was slim but muscular and he dressed with a style that most men lacked.
Gran had spent 4 years in medical school until he was expelled for lude behavior when one of the teachers caught him masturbating in the lab while the rest of the class were dissecting a human corpse. He tried to control himself, but the smell of the lifeless body parts aroused him so that he couldn�t. He tried to hide under the desk he was at but a girl spotted him and the rest was history. Out of feeling hatred for himself and love for the decaying smell of flesh, as well as a need to make money to support his extravagant taste in clothing and material things, when Stove offered this job to him he jumped at it. The money was great, and about every two weeks they flew to some far off place had a mini vacation, plus it made use of his gift for using a scalpel.
"Gran! Come on! We�ll be late!" Stove shouted once again.
"Oh all right!" Gran said as he dried his body off with a soft dry towel and walked into the bedroom to get dressed.
"I hope you�re all packed�geez yer worse than a woman for bein late!"
Gran threw Stove a dirty look as he slipped his pants on and buttoned his shirt. Once dressed, Gran grabbed his overnight bag and off they went to Miami International and flight 155 to Puerto Rico.
an, this load really reeks!" Max said from inside the green truck, "Must
have been months since they emptied it!"
"Yeah, they didn�t think it was in use anymore since the sweat shop closed down, if it hadn�t been for that lady calling to complain about the smell it�d still be sitting there," Gene said as they backed the huge container into a corner of the dump after they emptied the contents into the mechanical truck and destroyed them.
"Man!" Max said as he covered his mouth and nose, "That�s the worst smelling garbage my nose has ever sniffed, and I�ve smelled a lot of garbage!"
"Uh," Gene said as he jumped out of the truck to vomit.
"Guess, it smells pretty bad to you too," Max said, finding it humorous that Gene got sick and he didn�t.
"OH MY GOD!" Gene screamed, "MAX GET OUT HERE!"
Max jumped out of the truck and ran to the back of the truck where a black plastic bag lay stuck in the compactor with a decayed hand hanging out, "Oh shit, we gotta call the cops."
s Stove sat by the pool of the posh hotel, an unlit cigarette between his
teeth, he enjoyed the sites of the women in sparse bikinis as they wiggled
past him. "Get me a drink Gran," He ordered.
"I�m not your slave, you get it," Gran replied.
"You ass, if it weren�t fer me, you�d be sittin in some gutter with no faggy lookin clothes on your faggy lookin body! Now get me a drink."
"Asshole!" Gran said under his breath as he walked toward the bar. He was sick of Stove treating him like some possession, and even sicker of the constant put downs that were hurled upon him.
"That�s better," Stove said as Gran handed him the drink, "Now don�t you forget, you work for me," And Stove showed his yellow teeth in a maniacal smile that made Gran want to punch them out.
"I�m going to the hot tub," Gran snapped, "Is there anything else you require master?"
"Freakin homo," Stove mumbled as Gran walked off.
aptain, I think we have a lead on where a few missing persons have
disappeared to," Lieutenant John Worsham said as he covered the phone
receiver.
There had been several reports of people missing lately. This was nothing new, but no one noticed that these people were disappearing in the same area all the time. The 111th precinct in downtown Miami was bogged down with murders, rapes, drugs, and immigration problems and Captain Eric Muldoon did his best to handle all of it, unfortunately some things didn�t get noticed until they warranted noticing. Disappearing people in this city of millions didn�t warrant it, chopped up body parts in a dumpster did.
"What the hell�what�ve ya got now?" Muldoon said as he chugged from a light green bottle of maalox.
"The city dump is on the line Cap, and they�ve found some parts they say we may be interested in," Worsham said in his most comedic voice.
"Cut the crap, Johnny, that�s just what I need, ta go look at a rotted butcher shop full o parts, tell em we�ll be there and call the goddam coroner." Muldoon said as he cursed under his breath.
Worsham snickered at Muldoon�s temper, he was a good guy but had no sense of humor left after dealing with this precinct for over twenty years. Just the same, Muldoon tolerated Johnny�s sick humor because he knew it was his way of dealing with the cruelty.
"Let�s go," Muldoon said as he chugged more maalox.
"Shouldn�t you have something a little more nutritious than that stuff Eric? You go through a bottle a day," Johnny said as he grabbed his keys.
"Damn, sonabitchin heart burn don�t stop without it."
hew! Now that�s nasty!" Johnny said as he covered his mouth and nose to
avoid the odor.
Muldoon was already walking toward the drivers to interview them, cursing under his breath.
"Captain Eric Muldoon," He said as he offered his hand to Max, "Mind if I ask ya a few questions?"
"Well Captain, to tell you the truth, this smell is really getting to me, could we go up to the office?"
"It�ll only take a few minutes then you�ll be free to go," Muldoon hadn�t noticed the smell and didn�t want to have to go to the office, he just wanted to get this over with and get back to the precinct to wind up the case on that drug addict mom who left her kid in the tub until it drowned, "Damn idiots," He thought to himself, "They can�t take care �o themselves and go and have babies!" He couldn�t get the picture of that blue two year old out of his head, floating in a dirty tub of water, he shivered to try and throw off the feeling.
"Ok, I guess�," Max said.
"Just give me all the details you can remember," Muldoon said, "Where did you get this dumpster?"
Max told him every detail and was glad to get away from the dump and it�s rotten stench, Gene had left hours ago because he was so sick.
"Looks like it�s open and shut," Muldoon said to Worsham as they watched the coroners pick through the rotted flesh with their gloves.
"Why do you say that?"
"We know where the dumpster was, the killers have to be in that area, I say we place another dumpdoggie there and stake out the area�one of these days that killer�ll walk out with some pieces and we�ll have him."
"Umm, Eric�don�t you think we should attempt to catch them before they kill another poor fool?"
"Dammit Johnny, who�s the Captain here? Me or you?" Muldoon shouted, once more Johnny had shown him how his thoughts were not as clear as they should be.
"Sorry, Cap, do what you need to." Johnny felt sorry for Muldoon sometimes, he was a great guy turned hard from seeing much more than a man should have to, but he continued to love the police force because it was in his blood.
ep, this is the life, gimme a chip Gran," Stove said as he lounged on the
balcony, " You gotta go and get our food tonight, I don�t wanna go out."
"Sorry, Stove, I got a date. You�ll have to call room service."
"Now you know I hate room service food, and I hate eatin alone, cancel your date."
"No can do Stove, you will just have to get your own dinner for a change."
What do you mean by that? You sure as hell ain�t very appreciative of my good intentions�some payback for making sure you got clothes on your back and money and your pocket!"
As Stove raved about Gran being no good, he walked out the door. Stove yelled out "Freakin Homo!" as the door slammed.
"He�ll get his one of these days," Gran thought to himself as he entered the elevator.
et a new dumpster set up in that alley, I want 4 men to stake out that
area, two watching from that roach motel behind it and two hidden with access
to the alley, I want to know if a mouse makes a suspicious move!" Muldoon
said as he chugged the last of the bottle of Maalox and took a bite out of a
hoagie.
The press was now swooping down on precinct 111 and they had to get this one wrapped up quick. "Damn press," He thought to himself, "Where the hell were they when this little baby was being born to a crack addicted mama who eventually killed her?" He still couldn�t get the picture of that little blue body out of his mind.
"Cap, I�ll be glad to go on this one if you want, I got nothin better to do," Johnny said, his wife had had enough of the long hours and danger and took their daughter and left a few months ago, thankfully the long hours kept him too busy to dwell on it.
"You been workin a lot Johnny, take some time with the family for a change."
"Wife�s outta town at her mom�s�I�ll take this one," Johnny didn�t want to tell Muldoon about her leaving him for good, it bothered him to talk about it.
tove chewed on his yellow fingernails as he watched the happy people from
the balcony, they were all on vacation enjoying their time at a posh resort.
The men walked with their hands on the small of the women�s backs, the
children ran around in bathing suits and flip flops. The smiles bothered him,
he hated to look at people smiling, it gave him a sick feeling in the pit of
his stomach. He wanted to reach out and choke the smiles off of them�and Gran
too. The ex med student was quickly getting on the bad side of Stove with his
damn fetish for corpses and his feminine ways. At first Gran was ok, he
appreciated Stove�s generosity and did everything Stove wanted him to, but
now�well, now Gran was becoming cocky and Stove didn�t like it at all.
h Joseph, I don�t think I�ve ever enjoyed a date like I have tonight, you
are wonderful," Gran said as he stroked Joseph�s arm.
They met in the sauna, and immediately hit it off. They set a date for that night and Joseph had lobster and champagne brought to his room for the two of them. They made love and as Joseph lay in Gran�s arm he wondered where Gran had been all his life, little did he know�.
ammit, where is he?" Stove paced back and forth as he waited to leave for
the airport, "If that asshole makes me miss this flight�,"He clenched his
fist closed.
As the key rattled in the door he grabbed the doorknob and flung it open, "Where the hell have you been?" He screamed.
"Out," Gran said as he walked in to get his suitcase packed.
"Out? OUT?" He yelled as he grabbed Gran�s arm.
"Get your hands off me," Gran said quickly.
"Oh, you want me to get my hands off of you? Oh forgive me, but if I�m not mistaken, YOU are the one makin us late for our flight, you coulda called you son of a bitch. But NO, you had to go out with another fag and not even think about the fact that we got appointments with them Chinese guys�if I miss this meeting it�s gonna screw up our funds and you will be out a job!"
"Oh chill out Stove! It doesn�t matter anyway, I�m getting out."
"Gettin out?" Gran couldn�t believe his ears, "This ain�t a public swimmin pool, you can�t just get out!"
"Yeah? Well, you been threatening me for as long as I can remember and since I�m no good and can�t do anything right�I�m getting out."
What Gran didn�t tell him was that he had fallen in love, Joseph had taken his heart and tugged at it with all the force he could muster and Gran couldn�t bare to tell him what he did for a living.
"You know, if Ching Yi gets wind of it, he�ll kill you�and you�ll be sold on the black market!"
"Yeah, well, I�ll take that chance."
"You are such a stupid fucker! Where the hell is your brain?"
"STOP calling me names�.I�m OUT and that�s it!"
Stove was beginning to panic, who would do the cutting? He could try but it would be obviously sloppy work. He could tell Ching Yi, he would force Gran to stay or kill him. Stove was sure a choice such as that would change the mind a coward like Gran..
Gran grabbed his overnight bag and never said two words between the hotel and their apartment in Miami. He began to clear his stuff out of the apartment while Stove was at his meeting.
Joseph lived in Nantucket Rhode Island and they had planned for Gran to go there to live. Joseph had never met a man who made him so happy, it was almost as if they had known each other forever. One night that would turn into hundreds, one man that touched his heart like it had never been touched and the feeling was mutual.
Gran had looked for the right person for years, he had suffered name calling and ridicule because of his homosexuality, he had in essence given up, but Joseph seemed gentle and loving just what he had needed.
hen Stove arrived back at the apartment he just ignored the fact that Gran
was collecting his stuff, Gran wasn�t going anywhere as far as he was
concerned, "We need to get to the warehouse, c�mon."
"I told you, I�m not doin it anymore."
"Well, you�re gonna have to cause Ching Yi wants parts and he ain�t a patient man!"
"No," Gran said softly.
"Whadya mean �no�? What the hell has got in you? Did you and that little boy you went out with fall for each other, did ya get some honey and think you�re better�n everybody else now?"
"Shut up Stove," Gran said as he walked toward the door to leave.
"How bout I have Ching Yi take his sissy ass out and make you watch huh? How bout you�ll have his death on your hands, how bout that? Huh? What if I tell him about your thing for dead people huh? You think he�d like you if he knew about that?"
Gran became furious, "Goddamn it Stove, you leave him outta this!" He yelled as he swung his fist at Stove.
Stove grabbed the wrist and twisted it, "Now you listen you homosexual, corpse lovin freak," He said as he pulled Grans face close to his, "I can break every bone in your hand one by one, I can make you scream in pain for hours and I guarantee you�ll NEVER use that hand for anything again, you got it?" He whispered maniacally in Gran�s face.
Gran broke out into a sweat as the pressure on his wrist and hand increased, Stoves breath smelled foul and made him feel sick.
"I got it," Gran whined softly.
"Good, now get your shit and get your ass to the warehouse and start lookin for a victim, I�ll be there in a while."
"You�ll be sorry, you asshole," Gran said under his breath.
"WHAT?" Stove yelled.
"Nothing," Gran said as he slammed the door.
uldoon and Worsham got a room in the sleazy hotel just above the alley so
they could watch every move made.
"Cap, you know you didn�t have to come, me and the boys coulda handled it," Johnny Worsham said as they sat in front of the window with the blinds cracked.
"Yeah right, and then the press woulda said I wasn�t doin my job, no�this is mine and I�m gonna see to it that that nut is caught." Muldoon said as he picked at his thumb nail and peeled off a big piece.
"Whatever ya say, Cap�but I think you�re taking those press people too seriously."
"Yeah too seriously, that�s why my good friend Benjamin Gaello got pulled from his job at the 118th�the damn press wouldn�t leave him alone and he ended up gettin relieved�no sir not me�them vultures ain�t gonna get me booted."
"Yeah, I can understand that."
n the warehouse, Gran got his instruments ready and set the table up, he
already had a victim picked out.
He grabbed a cooler but didn�t put the bag of ice he had picked up in it, Stove would be mad but he didn�t care.
Then he sat on one of the ripped up straight back chairs at the entrance of the warehouse. "I�ll be done soon, it ain�t gonna take me that long and I�ll just disappear when he isn�t looking, they�ll never find me or Jo," He thought.
He watched as his victim walked along the dirty sidewalk outside, he sat in the shadow of the door, his victim never even suspected when the crushing blow was delivered. Blood splattered as the hammer permeated his skull.
He dragged the victim inside and ripped his skin open on the floor, he was too heavy to put on the table alone. The sharp knife made a clean slice and Gran cracked the ribcage with pliers. The smell became exciting to him but he ignored the rise in his pants whispering under his breath as he cut the body apart. His work was not clean this time and he didn�t care. He threw the parts into the dry cooler as he savored the feeling of the blood between his fingers, "Nope, I�m gonna be gone�nobody�s gonna find me," He mumbled to himself.
He cut the victim apart piece by piece and put everything but the trunk into the styrofoam cooler, "Yep Stove ain�t gonna like this a bit," He smiled.
ee anything yet?" Muldoon asked Worsham.
"Nope, notta, check the others," He said.
"I did, just called them when I was havin a smoke, they ain�t seen nobody on their end either"
Muldoon chewed his fingernails as he looked out the cracked blind wondering how long they would have to wait.
ll done," Gran said to himself and I�m out of here, no more listening to
Stove scream, no more pick�ing�up heavy�bags and�carry�ing them�out�side," He
huffed as he pulled the cooler to the entrance of the warehouse, "No more
shit!" He said as he wiped his hands together.
The cut apart corpse lay in the open cooler and on the ground, it�s eyes glassy and wide open. A stream of blood painted the floor and Gran took straight bleach and poured it on his hands to clean them.
He walked out of the warehouse, leaving the entrance open with the corpse just inside the door and drove straight to the airport, using a wad of bills he found on the victim to pay his way. He bought some clean clothes and threw his away, he took a sink bath in the restroom of the airport and took flight 346 to Nantucket.
uldoon and Worsham stayed in the room through the day and when their relief
arrived, they walked downstairs to their cars. Worsham had to park on the
next street because all the meters were taken in front of the hotel.
As he walked to his car, he noticed a familiar smell that got stronger as he walked further. He ignored it, thinking it was garbage, but then noticed an open door. He called Muldoon and some back up on the radio.
They walked toward the door, trying not to notice the stench. Johnny Worsham was not at all prepared for what he saw when he shined his high power flashlight into the open door. There in an open cooler were hands, feet, legs and arms, the fingers were cut off at the joints, the rotting flesh had maggots crawling on it. As he walked closer, he saw the body, the head and trunk, glassy eyes stared right through him as he tried not to puke. Laying on the floor was an eelskin wallet with no money but a drivers license registered to one Stove Maril�
o more body parts were found in Miami. Six months later in Nantucket, Rhode
Island, the body of Joseph Antillo was discovered sliced to pieces with it�s
major organs missing. Laying beside it was another body, yet to be
identified��
