Dirty Shallow Graves

By Jay Nystrom

Part I:
Long time Coming

    Raymond put the ear pieces of the stethoscope into his ears, he put the other end against the safe next to the dial. He closed his eyes and slowly turned the dial until he heard the first click, he began to twist the dial in the reverse direction. Then he heard the second click, as he started the other way he was interrupted by another click. Then another click, and another, click, click, click, click, click. The rhythm increased, click, click, click, click. Raymond wiped the sweat from his brow with a handkerchief, the clicking was now almost a steady sound in his brain threatening to consume his very mind. Raymond woke with a start, the dark room confused him at first. A steady thumping caused him to become frightened until he realized it was just his heart trying to escape the confines of his chest. He absent mindedly touched a long scar running from behind his left ear jaggedly down his jaw line and ending just before it reached his tracheae. It had been nearly three years since the injury occurred, he got it from the grounded to a point end of a cheap plastic toothbrush while he was eating in the prison cafeteria.
    He was lucky that his stretch was a short one, the prosecutor wasn’t able to pin theft charges on him. The rest of his group wasn’t so lucky, while he was trying to crack the safe in the upstairs room the other four men were down below raiding the rest of the rich man’s house. Raymond could see the flashing lights of the cop cars as they came down the street running silent, he packed up and climbed down from a large upstairs deck that jutted from the house. He was able to toss his tools into a fast running stream that ran at the edge of the property, the police caught him a little ways down the street and while his tight lips kept him from being connected to the burglary the cocaine in his pocket was enough to put him away. For some reason ditching the tools crossed his mind but the drugs didn’t, call it a slip in clear thinking, it wouldn’t be his last.
    Raymond took a quick shower and chugged down a half pot of black coffee and some plain wheat toast as he headed out to work. Very few companies would hire a convicted felon but he found some under the table work for a pick and pull junkyard. Raymond was underneath a green and rust colored ’77 Nova when a large pair of boots crunched the gravel near his upper body, they stopped near the front of the car and a face dipped down to look at his. Raymond hiccupped at the sight of his little brother’s beaming face, he slipped out from under the car.
   
“Ray Ray, it’s been too damn long big bro.” His brother hugged him tightly and kissed him affectionately on the cheek. He stepped back and gently slapped Raymond on the cheek, “Tim told me I might be able to find you in this sleepy little burg, didn’t think this was quite your scene my man.”
   
    Raymond gained a little distance from his brother, it had been six years since they had last seen each other and for Raymond if he had never seen him again it would be much too soon. His fists clenched ready for any action, his brother’s face started to lose it’s stupid grin. Soon the seriousness of the moment took hold of the both of them, Raymond turned away without a single word  and started across the car filled yard. His brother ran from behind and turned him with a strong hand.
“What’s your problem? After all these years we don’t see each other you treat me like shit Ray? That’s the way this is gonna be huh, you really want to do it this way then that’s how we’ll do it.”

    The knee caught Raymond right in the groin, he fell to one knee as his brother threw a looping right hook that caught Raymond on the temple. His vision blurred and he could feel his consciousness slipping away, he crawled and grabbed the pant leg of his brother who took a slow step back and let him fall face first to the ground. Raymond felt spit rain down from above and a kick of dust caked his hair, his brother walked away muttering to himself. 

Part II:
First Time, Last Time

    It had been two weeks since Raymond’s brother had beat the hell out of him, the bruises to his body were beginning to fade but the anger had only boiled over. After a few hours on the internet he was able to track down all four of the other thieves he had worked with. Two had been killed while in prison, it made his job easier sure but also robbed him of a little justice. The third moved across the country and was now happily married and according to his latest status update was “Clean, sober, and at peace with God.” The research was really unnecessary, Raymond knew that the reason he was targeted in the cafeteria was because his brother wanted to make sure that he kept his mouth shut. After all that his brother had done he still thought it was okay to hunt him down just to assault him in the junkyard where he worked. It was the first time in years they had seen each other, next time would be the last time.

Part III:
Dirty Shallow Graves

    Raymond’s brother was sitting in a lawn chair smoking a joint and sipping on cheap beers. Empty cans surrounded the chair like tiny aluminum alarms, an impromptu perimeter. Raymond swung his fist as hard as he could and his brother caught the full force of the blow in his neck, this produced a gurgling sound from his throat. The blow didn’t stop his brother like Raymond had hoped, he didn’t care for knives or guns but thought that he should have bent his own rules. His brother wrestled Raymond to the ground and began to wail away with a fury of fists and Raymond clawed at his face in defense. The two struggled for the upper hand with Raymond landing sharp elbows and his brother fracturing an orbital bone in Raymond’s face, that eye would never be the same again. An elbow found a nose and blood spurted uncontrollably from it, Raymond took the opportunity to roll on top and a few hammering fists ended the fight quickly.
    Raymond found an old shovel in a tool shed behind his brother’s broken down single wide trailer. He found a place a good distance away and started to dig. The shovel chipped away at the hard, arid ground. The summer had been harsh on this stretch of Earth. Fireflies began to fill the evening air twinkling like stars surrounding a black hole. A black hole built for one. Afterwards Raymond just walked away, leaving the last hanging thread left of his old life dead in the ground.

End