Percival Everett - The Body of Martin Aguilera

Apparently, Maggie was alive. Lewis drove to town, thinking along the way of what he would do if Peabody pointed a gun at him. It had felt good to speak to the man that way, but he had not given the matter a thorough hashing out. Peabody might well just kill them or have his apes kill them on the plaza in front of everyone. The sun was bright and the sky showed no new rain. There would be many people out early. He thought of his friend Martin. Had he seen that body as Martin Aguilera, he never would have been able to dig it up. He shivered and fought an urge to brush himself off with his hands. His hands. He needed to wash them. Mud was dried under his nails and he imagined maggots on his palms. He stopped at a gas station, took off his raincoat and threw it in the back of the truck, then ran to the restroom where he tried to cleanse his hands with blue powdered soap from a dispenser. He rubbed at a spot on the back of his left hand that would not come off. It started to sting so he left it alone. The room was filthy, disgusting and Lewis belonged there. Someone else’s waste floated in the toilet.

He returned to the sunlight and pulled his sweater off over his head. He considered calling Manny, have him be there on the plaza. The sheriff had him confused. He looked down at how muddy his boots were. He stomped his feet.

Lewis didn’t have a plan when he turned onto the lane which circled the plaza. He parked in a diagonal space in front of a jewelry store. He stood out of the vehicle and looked across the square, starting at the stage. A hand waved to him. It was Maggie. Peabody sat beside her on the bench.

Lewis glanced about, continued to do so as he approached them. Maggie looked okay and he felt faint from happiness, he guessed, but probably from exhaustion. He had to hang on now. He sat by Maggie and she fell against him, tears flowing.

“Are you all right?” Lewis asked. He held her tight.

“She’s fine,” Peabody said.

“I didn’t ask you anything,” Lewis said to him. “Maggie?” He raised her face with his hands and looked at her eyes. “It’s going to be all right.”

Peabody looked straight ahead at the shops across the lane. “I’ve held up my end of the deal.”

Lewis looked around, turning to see behind him. He saw Ernesto trot down an alley.

“Where’s the body, Lewis?”

But Lewis was occupied with Maggie. “Did they hurt you?”

She managed to shake her head no.

Lewis looked at Peabody and realized that he was not very bright. Someone had given him a long leash, but he was not a smart man. He’d handled the matter badly. Lewis didn’t know what to do, but he could see that Peabody wasn’t all that clear on it either.

“We’ll be going now,” Lewis said and started to stand with Maggie.

“Sit down,” Peabody said with some authority. “I don’t want it to come down to this.”

Lewis considered Maggie and sat again.

“Tell me where the body is, Lewis,” the man said calmly.

“Why do you want it? I mean, I’ve seen the burns. If that’s what you’re worried about, you’re going to have to kill me.”

“You know, I could just shoot you and forget about it. You’re right.”

Lewis sighed. “The body is buried in a shallow grave in Lobos Canyon. There’s a road that goes up the canyon off the main highway. It crosses Arroyo Azul, then stops. Forty yards up the foot trail. You can’t miss it.”

“You’ve gone to a lot of trouble,” Peabody said.

“Come on, Maggie,” Lewis said.

The woman stood with him and they walked across the plaza. Lewis saw the two men step out of the van and approach them. He led Maggie on at a normal pace. “Relax, Maggie, this will be over soon.”

The men were twenty feet from them. Then there were bodies between them. Six, seven. Ernesto was in the middle of it all. The two apes stopped. Tourists standing outside of shops pointed and grew frightened. The Mexican men surrounded the two white men. Lewis got Maggie to the passenger side of his truck before she passed out. He put her in and closed the door. More Mexican men crossed the plaza to stand with Ernesto and the others. Lewis got in behind the wheel, backed out of the space and drove away.

At the intersection, he turned north. A couple of lights later, he began his circuitous route over the back roads of town so that he would be headed south toward Martin’s place. He stopped at a Giant Burger fast food restaurant, parked in the back by the dumpster.

He attended to Maggie. He shook her gently. “Maggie? Maggie?” Maybe she wasn’t all right. Perhaps they had poisoned her. He needed some water for her. He got out and ran into the Giant Burger.

A teenager met him at the counter.

“I’d like a large water.”

The kid turned around, scooped ice into a cup and poured the water. He came back and put it down. “I’ll have to charge you for the cup,” he said.

Lewis reached into his pockets and realized he’d spent his last money on gasoline. “I’ll owe you, okay?”

“A dime, sir. Company policy.”

Lewis leaned forward and grabbed the teenager by the front of his purple and gold uniform. “I’ll pay you later, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

Lewis took the water out to Maggie, opened her door and stood by her, helping her sip. She came around.

“Did I faint?” she asked.

Lewis nodded.

“Shit,” she said. “What a wimp. I’m sorry.”

Lewis just smiled. “It was just your turn. You okay?”

She nodded.

“What is going on?”

“I don’t really know. I had to dig up Martin’s body in order to get you back.” He looked at the sky. “Maybe I didn’t. Jesus. I should have just lied to them in the first place. I didn’t think they were stupid. But they are, Maggie.”

“You had to dig him up?”

“You don’t want to hear about it. Anyway, I know they still want us dead. At least, I think they do.”

“So, what now?”

Lewis shook his head. “We’ve got to show Martin to as many people as we can and tell them everything. There’s a chain-link fence, ten feet tall, in the canyon beyond Martin’s. I saw men looking for something with a metal detector.”

“You’re not making anything clearer to me,” Maggie said.

“You can understand my problem then.”

Lewis closed the door and went back to his side, got in. He drove them across the river and up to Martin’s He turned off the engine and looked at the cabin. He didn’t know if he could keep going. This was where it all started, he thought.

“Is this where you put Martin?” Maggie asked.

Lewis nodded. “I carried him from his grave, Maggie,” he said, his eyes forward. “Maggie, he wasn’t buried in a coffin. Can you smell it. Can you smell the death?”

“Yes.”

“I have to carry him again.”

“I’ll help you, Lewis.”

“No, no. You didn’t see him, Maggie. I can’t let you near him. I’ll do it.”

“I want to see,” Maggie said.

Lewis looked at her face. He realized that she didn’t want him to have to feel it alone. “I love you.”

“I want to see it.”

“He’s in the shed.”

Out of the truck, they walked, holding hands, to the back of the house and to the shed. When Lewis pulled open the door, the stench wafted out and made them back up.

“Come on, Maggie, go back to the truck.”

“Let’s do it,” she said.

Lewis was glad he had wrapped the body in the tarp. He went in and pushed the body over, the upper part falling out into the daylight. He took the shoulders and pulled him clear of the shed. Maggie grabbed the feet and they began the walk to the truck. The smell bothered them, made them turn their heads to take deep breaths to hold.