1978

Mouse stood back still holding the burning branch in his left hand. The tent had collapsed onto the bodies, and he was panting heavily when Skinny approached cigarette in hand and went up to the tent to have a look. He wanted to make sure CJ and the assholes were dead. Mouse looked proudly at his Boss ready to take praise for a job well done.

Skinny lifted the tent off the bodies and immediately threw it back down. He turned and flicked his cigarette at Mouse. "You stupid moron," he said. "That ain't them for Christ's sake. He glared at Mouse and lit another cigarette.

"I only did what you wanted me to, Boss."

"Shut up." Skinny paced around the campsite kicking at loose snow and stones. "Did you even think to take a look at them first?"

"Aw Boss. I-I didn't even think it weren't them. Honest I didn't."

"Shut the hell up. Let me think." He went to the edge of the firelight and looked up at the starless sky. The snow had stopped. "You know we can't go leaving a trail of bodies all over the countryside."

It wasn't the bodies that bothered him so much as the thought of having to deal with the cops. He only wanted to catch up with CJ and her two friends. He tried thinking of their names, but it didn't matter. He knew them by sight and that's all that counted.

"Double crossing bitch," he said quietly.

Then he looked at Mouse who was mumbling something unintelligible, wringing his hands together.

Fucking moron, he thought, and he considered the kind of people he surrounded himself with. On occasion, Skinny wondered what his life would be like had he never gotten mixed up with smuggling and prostitution. But all things put together, things had gone well for him regardless.

He suddenly felt hungry, and he sat down on a log and took out another cigarette and smoked it slowly and thought about what he had to eat that morning. Then he thought about when CJ and her friends drove away from the hotel, it wouldn't be too hard to find them and instead of running straight out after them he went back into the hotel and had one of the girls cook him some ham and a slice of toast and a coffee. That was it. By the time he and Mouse left the hotel, it was nearly lunchtime and he let that meal go thinking he'd find them in an hour -- tops. Now he was starving.

"Drag them bodies into the trees and hide them good." He searched the backpacks and other things lying around for anything of any use, or value. "Then hide the rest of this shit." When Mouse had done away with the bodies, he came back for the packs. "Give me that pack," Skinny said, pointing to the smaller one. He figured it must be the girl's and if he knew women, he knew she'd be carrying food just in case the boyfriend forgot to pack food. "I'm starving."

Mouse picked it up and gently handed it to his boss, who promptly ripped into it. He found a hunk of cheese and a can of sardines. There was a canteen filled with water next to him and he decided it was enough. The can of sardines had a little key glued to the lid. He struggled a bit with it, dropping the key in the dirt a few times. He used his switchblade to slice the cheese and dig out the fish. The can slipped out of his hands and spilled sardine oil on his pants, "Fuck me mother fuck."

When he looked up to drink from the canteen, he saw Mouse sitting across from him with the bigger backpack next to him, and he was eating an elaborate sandwich on a roll that dripped with cheese, onions, lunchmeat and what looked like sprouts of some sort. He seemed to be enjoying himself. He had also found a bottle of wine, the kind with the wicker basket woven around the bottle. He paused as he was about to take another bite and noticed Skinny staring at him. He held the sandwich out to his boss.

"Where'd you get that Poor boy, numb nuts?"

"Uh, um. It's a, a, a, sandwich Boss."

"I know it's a sandwich moron. That's what we call them where I come from."

Mouse repeated the word, "Poorboy." He smiled.

Skinny threw the empty can of sardines into the fire and wiped his hands on his pants. Then he snatched the food from Mouse's hands, tore it in two, and gave half back to him. He took the wine and sat back down with his share of the food. Mouse finished his half in two bites and remained where he was, quietly looking at Skinny, a guilty look on his face. His hand was in his pocket.

"What you got there?"

"Nothin'."

"Come on. What you got?"

Mouse knew when he could lie to his boss and guilt had gotten the better of him. Skinny held his gaze until Mouse finally pulled it out of his pocket and unfurled his huge paw. In it was a half-melted chocolate bar already unwrapped.

"Goddamnit Mouse, that's disgusting." He took another swig from the bottle. Then he stood and looked around. "Finish up there and bring that bottle along," he said. "Then make sure those bodies are hid." He stood over Mouse and pointed his finger at him and reiterated, "There ain't nothin' connecting us with these two. Get it?" He turned and walked back to the car and said, "Let's get the hell outta here."

He stopped quickly when he thought he heard a noise coming from near the cars.

"Wait. You hear that?" Mouse started to say something, but Skinny raised his hand to hush him. The darkness lay thick, but the snow covering provided some reflection of the ambient light and it was there that they saw them coming. Up by the car, two people were walking toward them, or was it just one? "Shh, do you hear that?"

"Sounds like someone Boss."