David Wiltse - Bone Deep

Let's go sit on a rock, get bit by a snake, and talk about how beautiful it is. Damn fools couldn't even see thirty yards in front of them, there was so many trees. Well, shit, they wanted to pretend they was back in the jungle, let them. Just don't accuse him of that kind of shit. The city wasn't no jungle, the city was a city. This was a jungle, or a wannabe jungle, just wasn't big enough.

Kiwasee inched still closer, stopping just a few feet from the edge of the water, where he sat beside a tree trying to figure out just what was happening. It was a human being digging a hole, he could tell that much for sure, had on some kind of hood, gave him a pointy head, but he couldn't make out the features. And there was no way to see what he had in mind to put in the hole. He was hitting rock with every push of the shovel now and Kiwasee could hear growing exasperation in the sounds coming out of the man. Just his grunts sounded pissed off. The island figured to be wet, as close to the surface of the water as it was, which would make the digging easier, but it still had to be more stone than dirt. Only a damn fool want to dig a hole anywhere in this state, Kiwasee thought. A damn fool-or a desperate one. Middle of the night, middle of the woods, middle of a swamp, middle of a brier patch…

It occurred to Kiwasee what a man would bury in such a hole in such a place in such a way, and a chill of fear coursed up his back. Want no part of that, he said to himself Don't even want to know about it. The devil himself — suddenly stood erect and turned to look in Kiwasee's direction. He had a head like a cone and nothin but darkness where the face should be, and in his hand he held Satan's pitchfork. For a moment the devil was in the shadow of the tree, but he moved to one side and the moonlight struck him full in the face, but there was no face, only the glint of eyes, malevolent eyes shining out of the darkness. Kiwasee froze, not daring to move a muscle, fearing to even think. The devil's gaze shifted until he was looking directly at Kiwasee. His eyes locked into Kiwasee's own. Kiwasee sat, terrified, praying he was not seen.

The moon had shifted since he arrived at the tree and he was now bathed in its rays. Immobility was his only hope. Or flight. Like a small animal, he cowered, hoping to pass as part of the underbrush, even as the devil took a step toward him, lifting the shovel clear of the thicket, cocking his head to one side to determine if he saw what he thought he saw. He took another tentative step, lifting his knees high to clear them of the brambles. Kiwasee could see that his hands were milky white, not skin color at all.

The devil took one more step until he was almost to the edge of the tiny island. He cocked his head to the other side, seeking another angle to explain what he saw before him. He spoke in a half-whisper, full of menace. "Hello?"

Kiwasee told himself to run but he was too frightened to move. He don't see me, he thought. Please God, he don't see me, he thinks I'm a shadow, he thinks his eyes are playing tricks on him.

"Hello." This time the voice was not asking a question. He knows I'm here, Kiwasee thought, panic filling his mind.

"How are you?" the devil said reasonably. "It's a lovely night for a walk, isn't it? I couldn't sleep, I thought I'd take a walk."

The devil had one foot in the water. "You startled me, at first. I couldn't believe it was really a person, sitting there watching me. I said, why would he be doing that?"

His other foot was in the water. Kiwasee's mind screamed, Run! The milky hands were thin rubber gloves. The shovel was held now like a weapon.

"He must be wondering what I'm doing here," the voice continued reasonably. The eyes were wide and insane.

Kiwasee jumped up to run just as the shovel swung toward him. The metal caught him on the thigh, slicing into muscle. He ran a step up the slope, his feet slipping in the leaf cover, then crawled forward with his hands until he was on his feet again. He heard the shovel whistle past his head and kept running. His foot hit a rock and he stumbled, pitching forward, bouncing off a tree trunk with his shoulder, trying to turn abruptly so he could run toward his car, and suddenly he knew that something dreadfully serious was wrong with his leg. The muscle seemed to have collapsed within it and although he felt no pain he could no longer push off of it. The'shovel caught him in the small of the back and propelled him forward, staggering on one leg, his whole right side hanging back as if caught in the mud. He pulled himself against a tree, tried to slide behind it to avoid the next blow. The shovel smashed into his hand where it gripped the bark and Kiwasee knew instantly that it was broken and useless to him even as he staggered away.

The metal collided with the side of his head and bright lights sprang up before his eyes. Kiwasee fell, clutching himself, pulling into a ball with his arms shielding his head.

The devil stood over him, chest heaving. He held the shovel in both hands, gripping it in his gloved fingers. When Kiwasee could bring himself to look up at his attacker, the devil took on human form.

Kiwasee saw that the hood was part of a lightweight windbreaker, and there was a face within it, still partially obscured. The eyes now looked reasonable and aggrieved.

"This is crude," the devil said.

Kiwasee said nothing. His ears were filled with the sounds of his own panting breath.

"Now you've been hurt," the devil said. He shook his head sadly.

"That's terrible."

"Didn't see nothing," Kiwasee mumbled. His head still rang from the blow and his vision was not right. "Why were you here? You shouldn't have been here. No one would ever be here at this hour… Why were you here?"

"Taking a walk," Kiwasee said. "No, no. Were you stealing?"

"See, that the first thing you folks think, you see a brother," Kiwasee said indignantly. "I can't understand you."

"Taking a walk, visiting a friend. Didn't see nothing."

"I can't understand… There's something wrong with your speech." The devil bent closer in solicitude. "I believe you've hurt your jaw."

Kiwasee probed with his tongue, found teeth broken and loose. The jawbone itself pulsed but did not hurt. None of his injuries pained him yet. Shock was providing an analgesic. I 'My teeth," Kiwasee said, hearing his garbled voice for the first time as the devil must hear it.

"I'll tell you what," the devil said. "You better come back this way.

We can get you some help this way."

"Don't need help, just get to my car," said Kiwasee, unintelligibly.

"Just come this way. Come on, you can do it, back this way, it's not that far."

"Can't."

"Come on, you can do it." The devil's voice was calm, reasonable, encouraging. Kiwasee began to hope that it was over, that the devil's attack was just an aberration, a startled reaction to seeing a brother spying on him in the woods in the middle of the night.

Kiwasee tried to move but faltered. The devil prodded him with the shovel, turning him back toward the water. Kiwasee crawled in that direction.

"That's fine," the devil said. "That's fine, you're doing great. Just keep going."

"Can tell you things," Kiwasee said. Blood filled his mouth. He spit and felt the teeth move in his jaw.

"No need to talk."

"McNeil…" His tongue seemed to have swollen so much that it filled his whole mouth. He could not squeeze the words past it.

The devil prodded him with the shovel again.

"Keep going, you're doing great."

"McNeil…" His tongue felt so large he thought it might block off his throat.

They had reached the water's edge and Kiwasee stopped, waiting on all fours like a balky horse.

" Go on," said the devil. "It's not that deep. You can get right through it. We want to get on the island."