American Mole
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Chapter
25
Revelation
Revelation
The Vespers, about 2am
Just routine, Hector and Longray were on patrol. They pulled up to Pius One's workshop, and, keying in the right combination, the overhead door opened and they drove in. "It's just like him, leaving us here to do all the dirty work, while he heads off to the Keys fishing and doesn't take us along." Hector was having his usual bout of disappointment and regret for the work he was destined to do.
"You might as well shut up and get busy. There are no cameras or bugs here to see you diss him. I know you want to be boss of the world, but you won't get there by pissing and moaning. I seen enough Godfather movies to know that if you stay loyal and do enough of the dirty stuff for him you will rise high in the organization. It's all about fear. If you can rise above your own fear and do it -- like he does -- then everyone will fear you. Once they fear you, they're powerless to do anything to you. I love it. Don't you?"
The door closed behind them and the overhead lights revealed many machines and materials neatly lined up and stacked as though they had never been used. The air inside the shop was as cold as outside although it could be heated and quite comfortable to work in during the winter. "Yeah, I guess I do, that's why I bought into this whole thing. It's just that He gets to me sometimes. You know, all this shit we have to do while He takes off and has fun and doesn't even take us along."
"Quit griping. You're getting on my nerves. Hell, you're his top security man and you got enough cash stashed away for three lifetimes anytime you wish to split. So what are you griping about?"
They walked over to a vault door at one side of the workshop and Hector punched the keys of a electronic combination lock. A green light appeared on the panel and the door silently opened on its heavy hinges and the lights came on inside. They rushed inside and Hector pushed an almost invisible button on the door frame. Just as smoothly as it opened, the door closed behind them. This room resembled a workout gym with beautiful wood flooring and bright lighting. However, the equipment was considerably different. In the corner was a bar with no visible liquor or glasses. All that seemed to be hidden behind cabinet doors without handles. There were lounges and beds of various sizes and shapes strategically placed. There were also strange looking metal, wood, leather, and cloth contraptions of various sizes and shapes spread around the room. On one of them, in the center of the room, perched a body. It was that of a young man that was no longer recognizable as such.
The body was draped over something similar to a Stryker bed with a frame supporting its outspread arms and legs, tied with leather to the frame. Even in death, the boy's penis was engorged and blue and hung down like a stud horse. A tight rubber ring at its base explained its oversized engorged condition. His naked body was white as snow and appeared to be frozen. At the lowest points of the body the white, almost transparent, skin had turned to a deep dark ink like blue. There was a garotte around the young man's neck and his head had been pulled back as if to break his neck or asphyxiate him. His anus was distended as though it had been violated by a large object and the puddle of dried blood on the floor below bore evidence to that. It was routine for the two undertakers.
"Would you look at the shlong on that one! I knew he was big when I saw him didling himself on the videos. He must of had one fun time before he got snuffed. Enough to last a lifetime, I'd say. But, as you can see, these days life is short." Longray had a way of being philosophical about his work. Hector didn't care for it, but he couldn't get ahead without a stone cold freak like Longray to help him.
"Longray, it's a body. Just another body. I wish you would refrain from the bullshit when we are trying to get a job done. One ain't any better than the rest. They're all just so much garbage that we've got to get rid of. Okay?"
"Just enjoying the moment. Pretty soon we'll have him in the bag and there won't be anything to talk about. Like I said. I enjoy this work. There ain't nothing better in this life is one getting close to death. I can see what a thrill he might get killing them. I get a hard on just thinking about it. Hell, I've done it myself. Even helped him sometimes."
"Yeah, I know. That's why I love you so much." They both laughed and started untying the body from the frame. Stiff as a board, it came off in one piece, penis still dominating the scene. It took quite an effort to get it into a body bag, but they did. Hector went to the bathroom in the corner of the room and ran some water. He found some bleach and a white towel and was soon scrubbing up the dried blood spot from the floor. There must've been some kind of plastic protection for the wood floor because the blood came up easily and after it was all cleaned from the frame, the room had an appearance of never being used. Grabbing the body bag by its two large handles, Hector and Longray dragged the body out of the room and into the workshop. Powering up a circular saw, they sawed off the arms and legs so that the body would fit in the bag easier, cleaned up the saw, and placed the body parts back in the bag. They stashed the bag on the floor between the front and rear seats of the Jeep and policed the shop to make sure they hadn't forgotten anything. It'd taken less than an hour.
They drove out of the shop and into the cold night. Two miles later, they arrived at the animal waste biomass plant. It was basically an old barn, attached to a large fermenting pond that was covered and produced tremendous heat even in winter, and various chemical processing units and catalyzers, feeding tanks for various chemicals and one big tank for the methane. Hector and Longray didn't know much about the operation. Pius One had some engineering company install it six years earlier and then come out every month or so to provide maintenance. Apparently, it was a really good deal because electricity costs and fuel costs were so high that the biomass plants took a big chunk out of the electric bill. Hector and Longray, like other security officers, had access to the barn.
Another flick of a switch and the barn door opened so they could drive in. "Whew, I 'll never get used to the stink in here." Longray wasn't exaggerating. All day long, pions brought manuer and waste products from the slaughtering of animals, birds and fish to the barn as feed for the pond. There was a continuous augur that fed the pond day and night. There was a machine they called the crusher that would take a whole cow or horse leg, hooves and all, and crush it into a valuable paste that would be fed into the pond with other waste. Tonight, they had to use the crusher. Dragging the body bag out of the Jeep, they dragged it over to the crusher, unzipped the bag, and began throwing the victim's body parts, one by one, into the hopper. After each body part was in the hopper, they would lock the hopper cover down and then listen to the popping and grating as bones and sinew were crushed under the massive teeth of the rollers that tore the tissue apart and crushed it. It was hard not to think that a human being was being torn apart like that. Hector tried to put it out of his mind but never quite could. Maybe that's why he slept so badly -- always blamed it on working the night shift. It didn't seem to bother Longray. He slept like a baby. He was stone cold and perfect for the job. Too bad he couldn't schmooze the boss like Hector. That was why he was here, undergoing this torture. A go-between between stone cold and the devil. He sold his soul and he'd better get paid.
In a half hour it was all over. With the body conveniently crushed and mixed with the other animal parts, the augur inexorably moving them into the pond where they would never be found. They had to drain the pond once every summer and remove the layers of solids that were used throughout Vespers for fertilizer. There was a rich layer of bone material that was especially prized for growing flowers. The only drawback was that the power source was temporarily interrupted and the stench from the newly opened pond lingered for more than a week while it dried out. Only a dead skunk smelled worse.
The smell of the place lingered in Hector's nostrils as they drove away. It was too late to hit the bars in town, so they called it a night. As usual, he couldn't sleep, and had to take a pill to knock himself out.