**Warning this story contains strong graphic language and strong violence, discretion is advised* This story is a work of fiction**
8 minutes. That’s all it took. He was almost 200 lbs, maybe 5’10”, 5’11” and 8 mins was all it took for the pigs to devour him. Bones, teeth, every last bit was gone. He only exists in pig shit now. I couldn’t believe it. I’m half his size, I thought, as a shiver went down my spine. Tom was a gambler, a gambler who owed Jerry money, but gambled it away, as greedy little pigs do. This is how Jerry does business. I was here to borrow money, he was just setting an example, but this should have been my first reason not to come here.
All my life, I ran with the wrong crew. Maybe I needed to feel like I belonged, maybe I needed the protection, maybe it was just easier than being on the straight and narrow. It never got me anywhere but hard time. When I went to jail, I had a baby girl on the way. When I came out, she was grown and fully aware of good and bad, and I was a bad guy, I was where I belonged. However, that guy is dead and gone, I’ve changed. I’ve been out of jail, working an honest job, no drugs, no scams, no plays, taking care of my family, paying my taxes, building my credit, contributing to society, etc. etc.
My daughter, Serenity, was my guiding light. She gave me hope in jail, she gave me strength to avoid drugs and bad behavior, she gave me a reason to go on and do what I do. She is nothing like me either. She is smart, sweet, quiet unless you know her, then she’s really fun and goofy. Although we were estranged, she warmed up to me fast when I got out. I kept every plan, remembered every birthday and holiday and through that I built a bond with her, a trust. She knew that I was out for good, that I was here for her and I was going nowhere. I was counting on her going anywhere.
Just after her 10th birthday, she had an accident in her gym class at school and hit her head hard. Upon checking her head at the hospital, they found a blood clot in her brain. A blood clot that would require a craniotomy to fix. A procedure that is not only scary, but will cost $30,000 WITH the insurance I got through my job at the warehouse. The only reason I didn’t relapse in that moment, was because I still had hope. I knew that my baby girl needed me. HOWEVER, the day she goes, all promises go out the window.
In case you haven’t read between the lines, now you know why I’m here to see Jerry. See, I tried loans, the most I could get was 10k, I need 30k. GoFundMe only got a few thousand, and working more than 60 hours a week was going to put me in the ground before her. I needed to do something, and I needed to do something fast. This is what I knew and what worked. I figured, I will borrow the 30k from Jerry, throw the child sympathy card to maybe waive interest fees and pay him back over time on time, no big deal. Serenity will be safe, nothing too illegal, life goes on.
“Earth to Steve, you still there? What the fuck is wrong with you?” jabbed Jerry “You show up here after 10 years?! You working with the feds?”
“No I’m not working with the fucking feds, I’m no snitch, you know that Jerry. Why would I wait til the end of my sentence to snitch? I’m here because I need help, I didn’t know where else to go”
“So I hear, sorry. How’s the mom?”
“Not good, hasn’t left the hospital. I haven’t slept either. This shit has me stressed and in a fog”
“What does she need”
“A craniotomy”
“Shit. How much?”
“30k”
“What the fuck do you have insurance and that measly job for?”
“Please don’t do this Jerry. I’ve been trying to do good, how the fuck was I suppose to know some crazy shit like this would come up? New glasses, no problem, matter of fact here's two pairs, need braces, got you baby girl. Broken arm? Here’s a cast, which color would you like? But there’s a fucking traffic jam in her head that apparently you can only cut out and it will cost the amount of a new fucking car!”
“You need to check yourself right now and remember who the fuck you’re talking to!”
“Sorry Jer, I’m just so fucking stressed, I don’t know what to do or who to go to, I have nothing”
“It’s okay kid, listen, I can’t just fork over the money, I need something from you”
“C’mon Jer, I’m not trying to go back to prison. Can’t I just borrow the money, can I pay you back with interest?”
“How can I be sure that you’ll pay me back? Or that you won’t roll on me? At least this way, you do something for me, I know where your loyalty is and if you try to screw me, I can screw you. Capeesh?”
“What’s the favor?”
I canvassed the neighborhood during the day and night in different vehicles and entered two different directions so as not to arise suspicion. It seemed relatively predictable. Families move and bustle during the day to and from school and or work. Peaceful and calm at night, light glowing of TVs or low lights, nothing remarkable. Everything Jerry said about the guy was right. Out by 6:15 am, in by 4 pm. Late nights with the guys on Thursdays and wild card weekends. Wednesday morning long after he left, I parked my truck, disguised as a landscape truck, in the driveway. I had on my neon green shirt and Carhart pants, but very generic and everything was covered. I got a blower out the back of the truck. I nonchalantly blew my way to the back of the house. I saw a camera pointing in the backyard, but not on the back door. I let myself into the back door, leaving my shoes. I made my way through the house til I found the bedroom. I took a few quick pics for reference, then removed everything from the mattress. I pulled out the plastic from pocket. I lined the mattress in plastic and precisely put back all the bedding. After referring to the pics several times, I left, careful not to trigger any cameras or attention. The following night was “late night with the guys”. I watched as he went out as predicted around 5 pm. He came back clearly buzzed around mid night. I waited in the darkness til I knew he was out cold. I crept through the house. From two doors down, I could hear the snoring, I knew I was clear. I crept into his room and in the swiftest move, I wrapped the blankets around him stunning him, making him unable to move, fight back or get any air. I started stabbing him through the blanket with my 10 inch knife. The stabs were quiet and clean. Every time I pulled the knife out of the blanket, it cleaned the knife off and the blanket prevented back spatter. The plastic protected the mattress and made for easy clean up. I just wrapped him up in the blankets and plastic like a murder burrito, ready to serve him to Jerry. Not a struggle or a spot of blood anywhere. I left stealthily and came back with a truck, with a covered bed and loaded him up. I swapped vehicles again mid way and loaded the body up one last time. I was exhausted for such an easy kill. I couldn’t wait to get the body to Jerry and see my baby girl tomorrow.
As I was pulling up to Jerry’s, I see sirens and shit. I think, oh fuck, how did they know? Did they finally catch up to him? I see the ambulance and think they found a body or something. I decide to act nonchalant and do a drive by. I realize it’s no crime scene. I see a small gathering of neighbors off to the side and pretend to be a nosy bystander myself.
“Is everything okay? What’s going on over here”
“Something happened to Jerry!”
“Someone thinks it was a heart attack”
“Oh, Fuck” the words slipped out like a wet fart. The realization that I had a dead body for him, and no money, just came crashing down. I started hyperventilating. What the fuck was I supposed to do now? Since this wasn’t a crime scene (yet) I was going to try and return later. I gathered my thoughts, apologized for my reaction and drove off.
Jerry was a plant connoisseur, one of the plants he had was an orchid called a “Lady Slipper”. This plant was an endangered plant, therefore it was “protected”. Protected from being dug up. I decided since the body was a favor for Jerry, it only seemed appropriate to bury it on Jerry’s farm, under the Lady Slipper plant, therefore it couldn’t be dug up. While I was digging a shallow hole I hit a bag. I cringed, as I thought I may have found a body already hidden there. To my surprise and delight, it was not. It was a fucking bag of money. One. Hundred. Thousand. Dollars. All this money, in this bag, in this very spot. I couldn’t believe it. It was a blessing. A gift. I buried the body and took the money. “Thank you Jerry” I whispered and headed off.
Not only was I able to pay for my daughter’s surgery and recovery, but I was able to put some away for her for college and get a place where she could have her own room the way she wanted it. I didn’t want to attract too much attention, so I invested the money wisely. Jerry’s pig farm has turned into a slaughterhouse (ironically) and the protected plants go unharmed. Nothing has ever turned up, maybe a tooth or two, but nothing worth investigating. Still no one knows what happened to the missing men other than getting mixed up with the wrong people. I still wonder sometimes, how “protected” are those plants? Could there ever be a scenario that would break that protection?
