Waste Read Free Page A

it for free? I only got like twenty-eight bucks on me right now, and I need some of that for tomorrow. How much you think taxidermy costs?” Moses asked.
    â€œWe aren’t telling anyone about this. We aren’t moving shit. We are dragging this fucker into the ditch before my back collapses in on itself and I end up paralyzed for life.”
    The car lurched as Jamie lay back on the hood.
    â€œMan, this is money though. This is a lion. You could just even sell the head or something,” Moses said. “Make cash. Pure cash.”
    â€œAnd how do you think it got here? Fucking flew over the Atlantic to land in the outskirts of Larkhill? This is someone’s pet, Moses.”
    â€œOr from a zoo.”
    â€œExactly. Or a zoo. Someone with money, someone who can afford a fucking lion.”
    A small pool was beginning to form under its head.
    â€œSo?”
    â€œSo you don’t think they’ll come looking for this…this thing?” Jamie said.
    â€œIf we get it out of here soon, we can like—well, do something.”
    â€œAnd don’t you think it’ll be all over the papers? Escaped lion in town? And I very much doubt there is going to be a fucking reward for killing it with a Cutlass. What there might be is a trial or a lawsuit, or even just a revoked license and then guess who walks home from work all by himself from now on, getting his skinny, skinhead ass jumped like it’s his day job?”
    â€œI get it, I get it. And you think we should just leave it?” Moses said.
    â€œI think Mr. Taxidermy-Up-On-Keewatin might watch the news and might look at your pimply ass and the state of my car and put two and two together with a phone call to the cops.”
    â€œShit. So what do we do?”
    They dragged the massive corpse across half a lane before giving up. The back legs and tail still lay on the shoulder. Jamie’s back finally collapsed, and Moses’s arms wobbled with the effort. The single headlight flicked on and off through their progress. The lion’s rib cage had cracked again when they’d pulled it free from the car. Its lungs and heart remained exposed to the cold night air. With no reverse, the car had to stay in place as they yanked the corpse out from under the wheels. Jamie checked the body for any imprint of his license plate. A faded nine was pressed deep into the animal’s flank.
    The night got colder. No cars passed as they shoved the furry mound a few inches at time. People rarely took the service road down to the motels. It was easier to get there on the highway.
    Moses’s windbreaker crackled against the cold air. His pants were still wet from the hose. He could feel the frost in his knuckles every time he yanked the lion another inch. After forty-five minutes of pushing and pulling, the two sat on the hood of the car. Their lungs ached from the cold air. Jamie slapped the hood and the headlight quit flickering. Their shadows urged them to head down the road. A long trail of blood stretched across one lane, ending in a furry pile.
    â€œSomeone is going to find him. We still have a lion on the side of the road. This is no big secret if you can still see him,” Moses said.
    â€œLooks like a slug, bleeding out its ass like that.”
    Jamie could feel his bones grinding against each other when he stood up.
    â€œLet’s go. We ain’t going to move it any further talking about it.”
    Moses no longer felt like talking. Every time he opened his mouth, the cold clenched his teeth. He climbed into the passenger side and listened to the car hiccup as Jamie turned the key again and again. The pile at the side of the road did not move. The one headlight only illuminated a small patch of darkness up ahead.
    After the fifth try, the car finally kicked to life. The grunt of the engine allowed Jamie to relax for a brief second before he looked out the window at the body. Moses was right.
    No one was going to just