Some Whole Wheat Words

A bit of a teaser from something new.

———-

The girl wasn’t struggling anymore. Her back was to Henry, and the muscles of her shoulders were knotted, the gloss of sweat giving her skin a frozen look. She hyperventilated quietly behind the duct tape. Henry’s mind lurched about. He turned to leave.

“Stay,” said Pecan. She grabbed him by the shoulder, sat him back in his chair.

“I… I really…” said Henry.

Jasper finished cinching the girl’s legs to the chair. He ran the fingernails of a tattooed hand along the back of the girl’s neck, affectionate, obscene.

“You wouldn’t refuse a pretty young lady her request, Henry, would you?” He said. A little pink ball of gum peeked out in the corner of his mouth when he talked. His jaw moved up and down noisily.

Henry Brickbat clenched his teeth, swallowed hard. Jasper winked at him.

“I’m glad,” said Jasper, placing a hand on the top of the girl’s head, which jerked slightly at his touch. “Don’t want anyone saying funny things about your sense of chivalry.”

“I’ll keep watch,” said Pecan as she stepped out the sliding glass doors onto the balcony.

“Pecan’s already seen how this goes,” said Jasper. “And just between you and me, I don’t think she likes it much. I s’pose I don’t blame her– it can get a little unsavoury.” He lingered on the word, smiling, putting things into what he assumed were terms that Henry could comprehend. Jasper paused a moment, then flicked his eyes over to Henry’s.

“Too late now!” He rolled up the sleeves of his suit. Tattoos crawled feverishly across his forearms. He blew a bubble. “I really hope you get that promotion, Detective. It’d be kind of a waste if you didn’t, wouldn’t it?”

Jasper gently moved a few locks of brown hair out of the way of the girl’s face, and removed his gum from his mouth. He pressed it into the girl’s forehead with a thumb, pushing her head back. She made a chuffing noise and continued breathing rapidly.

“In any case, this’ll make a hell of a story to tell to the fellas back at the precinct,” said Jasper. “This is how business is done in the Grace.”

Henry Brickbat’s stomach jumped and buzzed. Jasper withdrew a small aerosol can from the inner pockets of his suit jacket.

“Know what this is?”

“No.”

“Epoxy. It reacts to heat and air, expands and hardens. It’s sticky as all fuck when it’s wet. I like to shatter locks and door hinges with it, just spray it in, but,” he said, “It does have other uses.”

“Oh,” said Henry.

Jasper leaned down and looked the girl in the eyes.

“You brought this on yourself, you know. You let an immaculate conception with no fucking papers stay in your house. If you’d taken the time to think about it, that this guy was a fugitive would have been obvious. But sadly you are entirely, unequivocally retarded,” he said. The girl recoiled, looked away. She couldn’t have been more than 20, thought Henry. Brooke would be about 20, maybe a little older now.

“From nothing unto nothing,” said Jasper.

Jasper reached out and grabbed the girl by the hair, pulled it into a ponytail over her head, sprayed two rings of epoxy around her neck and stepped back.

The epoxy bloomed into a yellowish foam with shocking speed. A noise came from the girl which started as a yell, progressed to a wet cough, and ended in silence. Something creaked slowly, like a rope bridge.

The girl’s head jumped upwards with a hideous sound, vertebrae pulled from gristle, and snapped to the left, her ear making contact with her shoulder. The flower of epoxy and her hair obscured her neck, stained crimson and purple.

It was very, very quiet.

Henry ran outside and puked a rainbow of Salad King over the balcony into the street below. Then he did it again, and fell forwards. Pecan caught the back of his jacket, hauled him away from the railing. He steadied himself on the bannister, hacking and coughing.

Their eyes met, and an acknowledgment of mutual terror took place before Pecan’s eyes darkened.

“Your justice is served, Detective,” said Pecan.

“Oh God.”

Pecan leaned in close. Her breath was hot as she whispered into Henry Brickbat’s ear.

“Just remember– ICs, we’re not really people, so it’s okay. Right?”