Matt Bell - How They Were Found

The sound of an alarm ringing.

The sound of sirens, a Doppler effect of passing emergency.

The sound of testimony, of witnessing.

The sound of words left unsaid.

Things that never were, and things that never will.

Understanding, as in lack thereof.

Vengeance, but never enough. Always state-sanctioned, always unsatisfying.

Victim is a broad term, a generalization, an umbrella under which we are all gathered at one time or another.

Violations of the law symbolize violations of the person, of the family, of the community. This is why they must be punished.

We regret to inform you.

We regret to inform you.

We regret to inform you.

What it takes to cut yourself off.

What it takes to defend your family.

What it takes to hide forever.

What it takes to kill a man.

What it takes to see this through to the end.

What it takes to solve the crime.

What it takes to take back what is yours.

Why, as in, Why us?

Witness, general.

Witnesses, specific: The other men and women who were with my father that night, plus the other people who were walking down the street when the shots were fired. The bartender and two waitresses, plus the policemen who arrived on the scene. I have interviewed them all myself, months later, after the conviction of the killer. The crime already solved, but not yet understood.

Wound, as in bullet hole, as in burn, as in puncture, as in slashing, as in fatal.

X, as in, to solve for X, as in, to complete the equation.

X, tattooed on my chest, above my heart.

X, that calls out to he who will commit this deed, to she who might end all that I am.

X, that marks the spot.

X, that will come to be.

X, which could stand for absolutely anything.

Y, the shape of an autopsy scar zippering the chest of a loved one.

Y, the sound of the question I cannot answer.

Y, the sound of the only question worth asking.

You, reading this.

You. Yes, you.

You, you, and you. You may not know yet, or maybe you always have, have felt the fist of the deed clenched in your heart for years. Please, do not wait any longer. I am tired of the fear, tired of the anticipation, tired of the day after day after day.

Zero, as brother.

Zero, as father.

Zero, as identity.

Zero, as memory.

Zero, as mother.

Zero, as name.

Zero, as self.

Zero, as silence.

Zero, as sister.

Zero: What will remain.

Thank you to the editors who first published these stories, including Ken Baumann, Sean Bishop, Laurie Cedilnik, Scott Garson, Roxane Gay, Aja Gabel, Sam Ligon, Steven J. McDermott, Bradford Morrow, Otto Penzler, M. Bartley Spiegel, and Beth Staples. A special thanks to Amanda Raczkowski, Joseph Reed, and Molly Gaudry for publishing my first two chapbooks, both of which are represented here in some form.

Thank you to the members of my various writing groups who served as the first readers and editors for these stories, including Aaron Burch, Blake Butler, Ryan Call, Elizabeth Ellen, Barry Graham, Sean Kilpatrick, Josh Maday, and Jeff Vande Zande.

Thank you to the many other writers who inspired and encouraged me, including Gary Amdahl, Suzanne Burns, Kim Chinquee, Dennis Cooper, Matthew Derby, Kitty Dubin, Brian Evenson, Tod Goldberg, Amelia Gray, Lily Hoang, Dave Housley, Laird Hunt, Charles Jensen, Michael Kimball, Norman Lock, Kyle Minor, Benjamin Percy, Jim Ruland, J.A. Tyler, Deb Olin Unferth, and William Walsh.

Thank you to my professors at Bowling Green State University, especially Michael Czyzniejewski and Wendell Mayo. Thanks also to the talented and inspiring friends I shared my years there with, especially Callista Buchen, Joe Celizic, Nikkita Cohoon, Dustin Hoffman, Brandon Jennings, Stephanie Marker, Catherine Templeton, Anne Valente, and Jacqueline Vogtman.

Thank you to Steven Gillis and Dan Wickett, for letting me work beside them at Dzanc Books. Thanks also to Tyler Gobble, Liana Imam, Matthew Olzmann, Marie Schutt, Steven Seighman, and everyone else who works with me on The Collagist and Best of the Web .

Thank you to Peter Cole, for his long belief in these pages.

Thank you to my friends and family, especially my brothers Nick and Luke, my sisters Liz and Katie, and my parents Ken and Michele.

Thank you to everyone else I have neglected to thank in this too-small space: Your contributions and friendship have not gone forgotten or unappreciated.

Most importantly: Thank you to my wife Jessica, without whose constant love and support and friendship the making of these words would not have been possible.

Matt Bell’s fiction has appeared in Conjunctions, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Willow Springs, Unsaid, and American Short Fiction, and has been selected for inclusion in Best American Mystery Stories 2010 and Best American Fantasy 2 . He is also the editor of The Collagist and can be found online at http://www.mdbell.com.

Keyhole Press

www.keyholepress.com

Keyhole Press is an imprint of Dzanc Books.

How They Were Found © 2010 by Matt Bell. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be used or reproduced without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Portions of this book originally appeared in Caketrain, Conjunctions, Gulf Coast, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Keyhole, Meridian, No Colony, PANK, Storyglossia, Wigleaf, Willow Springs, and You Must Be This Tall to Ride.

“The Collectors” was originally published as a limited-edition chapbook by Caketrain Press.

Cover design by Steven Seighman.

Print ISBN: 978-0-9821512-5-9

eBook ISBN: 978-1-9368730-2-9

www.mdbell.com