"What did you do with the body?"
     I was standing in a line at the bank, the day's deposit in a bag in my hand. The voice had come from behind me and though I wished to see the source of this strange question I didn't dare turn around. They weren't talking to me anyway but someone else in the line, maybe a companion beside them.
     "I left it there to decay," A voice answered. This one was deep and had a northern accent. I imagined a gangster from Chicago or a hit man from New York.
     "You shouldn't have done it. You should have gotten rid of her better." the first voice was trying to be soft, but I could tell a slight hint of panic there.
     "There wasn't time. The smell of her was getting to me."
     I didn't know how to react. A part of me was daring me to turn around, to see these two men talking these things. But I kept my eyes fixed on the line ahead. There were three people ahead of me and I found myself willing them to hurry up.
     "Did she have anything valuable?"
     "Maybe once she did. But to be honest one look at her and I knew she was all used up. I did her a favor really."
     "Did you cut her up?"
     I froze in place. My mind was screaming stop. I wanted to yell, can't anyone else hear this horrid conversation.
     "No there wasn't time. She was the third one this month anyway. The thrill is gone after a while."
     "I guess someone might miss her. She was a beauty."
     "Yes, once I suppose she was. Though I have seen better."
     "I saw the one you were doing last week."
     "Oh god man, she was hot. I could do things to that body like you wouldn't believe."
     They both laughed, and to me it sounded like demons cackling. This vile excuse for human beings had done something terrible to someone and yet they acted like it was nothing.
     "I sure wish this line would hurry up," one of them said.
     "Yeah like what do we have to do to get it moving? Kill somebody?"
     I swallowed hard. I was starting to sweat and I could feel it on the back on my neck. Even my palms had become sweaty and I felt the room was getting stifling as if the fires of hell had followed these two men into the bank.
     "So what are you going to do the rest of the day?" one of them asked the other.
     "Well the next one is getting to be a bitch. I may have to take her out."
     "That would suck."
     "Yeah. But I guess you got to do what you got to do. If they give you trouble you break them into pieces and start over."
     "That can get messy."
     "Yeah that last one was greased down but she still squealed when I started in on her."
     "I hate them screamers."
     "Me too. Even the radio couldn't cover up the noise she was making." He laughed. "I finally got frustrated and smashed her head in with a wrench."
     I couldn't take anymore. I spun around, my anger overriding my fear.
     "What's wrong with you!?" I growled with clenched fists. "I can't believe what I'm hearing, all this talk of murder as if it's nothing. You both disgust me!" I reached for my cell phone. I was going to call the cops since no one else in line seemed to care.
     The two guys looked at me as if I'd just lost my mind. "What?" One of them said. "I smashed her head in…her head gasket. She was pissing me off."
     I stopped and for the first time I noticed what they were wearing. Overalls and identical blue work shirts. Emblazoned on a patch on their front pockets were the words "Branson's Garage and Auto Salvage".
     "Oh hell," I muttered under my breath, my face becoming flush with embarrassment. "I thought you two were talking about killing girls.."
     They both burst out laughing. "You thought?.." one of them cackled with laughter.
     The other soon joined in. "oh man, that's a good one!" he clapped me on the back. "You should be a writer dude, because you have one hell of an imagination!"
     "We love girls man, why would we want to kill them? Cars are so much better to kill!"
     They both laughed at their joke, and I found myself wishing to melt into the carpet and escape the embarrassment of my error. They were laughing so hard I wanted to go crawl under a rock.
     "Hey man, what did you do with the body?" the one asked jokingly.
     "Nothing yet, but once I get back to her I will strip her down and cool her damn engines," the other howled. He was starting to hold his sides from laughing.
     I couldn't take the embarrassment anymore. People ahead of me were looking back and laughing at my mistake too. Even the bank teller had a smirk on her face. I ditched out of line and ran out of the bank, everyone's laughter following me.
     Out in the parking lot I paused to catch my breath. I had nearly hyperventilating in there, first from the assumption these had been two killers behind me engaged in conversation, second from my realization they were just garage mechanics talking about breaking down a car.
     I headed across the parking lot to my car. I would come back to the bank later after the embarrassment had left me. As I reached my car, I looked at the next space over. A big gray panel van with the words "Branson's Garage and Auto Salvage" was emblazoned on its side. I shook my head and tried to laugh under my breath at the notions I had had inside the bank about these guys.
     I was going for my keys when I heard a thump as if something inside the van had just hit the side. I looked back at the van. Thump! I heard it again. Thump! And again. Something was beating on the inside of the van.
     I put my keys back in my pocket and approached the van. I put my hand against the side of it. "Hello?" I said. "Anyone in there?"
     I heard something that sounded like a frustrated growl and then Thump! It hit the side of the van again. I jumped back a little. What the hell was in there? Thump! Harder this time, followed by a whimper. A dog, it has to be a dog. The guys left their dog in there while they went inside. I noticed they didn't have the windows cracked for air. No wonder the mutt was trying to get out of there. The heat was probably stifling.
     I started to walk away. Thump! I told myself to ignore it. No need to get embarrassed twice in one day. Thump! Thump! I hesitated. But what if it wasn't a dog in there, I asked myself. What if?… No, this was stupid. But I couldn't walk away. Embarrassment or not, the curiosity would eat at me all day. I turned back to the van and approached the driver's side window to peek in. I was half expecting to see a growling rottweiler throw itself over the seat, but I couldn't see back there in the van. It was all dark behind the seats. I tried looking through the front windshield but again I couldn't see far back in the van. I walked around the back but here the window was covered with a black curtain illustrated by moon and stars.
     Thump! The curtain moved a little. For a moment I thought I would see a dog muzzle nudge the curtain aside but nothing happened. "Oh to hell with this." I walked around to the double doors on the passenger's side. I out my hand on the handle and tried it. It turned and I felt it unlatch. All noise inside the van stopped, as if what lay behind this door knew someone was coming.
     I slowly opened the door, and the first thing I noticed was the van's interior had been painted black.The second thing I noticed was the girl. She was lying in the floor, her arms handcuffed behind her back. Her bare legs had been poised to strike the wall again. I don't know how her skirt got so muddy or why her blouse hung from her in tatters, but her face was streaked in tears. A cut above her eye had dried, but I could see she was freshly bleeding from the corners of her mouth. The gag between her teeth kept her quiet.
     I didn't know what to do. I was stunned. I had been right all along. They hadn't been talking about cars at all. By the time my brain kicked back in all I could say was "oh shit."
     I turned to go for help and that's when the monkey wrench came crashing down on my head. Everything went black and I tried to keep my consciousness but it was fading from me. I heard a voice.
     "Put him in there with her."
     I felt my body being pushed into the van and I heard the doors close. Before I passed out I heard one of the men say, "what are we going to do with the bodies afterwards?"
     The other guy laughed and replied jokingly. "What did you do with the body?'
     "Yeah, that was a good one wasn't it?"
     "Yep. Works every time."

~Fini~

Want to read more? Drop Paul a line at gnaghi99@yahoo.com and let him know what you thought of this story. Thanks!

Kmart.com Store