Page 122 of My Heart Still Beats
Jerry pulls the poor guy’s teeth out one by one, so deftly that I’m pretty sure this isn’t the first time he’s done such a thing.
Damn, he probably pulls teeth out of animals for sport or something.
Why the hell did I get involved with these idiots?
“We need a tarp or something,” Carlos says.
I scout out the warehouse once more, but I don’t find any tarps. I’ve got one in my truck, though, which I was stupid enough to drive here. “No tarps in here,” I say when I return, “but I’ve got one in my truck. I’ll be back.”
I sneak to my truck, grab the tarp quickly as I look around, and walk back into the warehouse.
Only to find the other three crawling on the floor.
“What the hell are you doing?”
“Dildo brain there”—Carlos points to Dirk—“dropped all the teeth when Jerry handed them to him.”
“Come on, Black,” Dirk says. “We’ve got to find all of them.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say under my breath.
I join the others on the concrete floor, searching for human teeth. Yeah, that’s what I’m fucking doing.
When we’ve grabbed them all, Carlos counts them. “Twenty-seven,” he says.
“A human being has thirty-two teeth,” I say dryly.
“No shit?” Dirk says.
“Uh…yeah. Basic human anatomy. Did you sleep through health class?”
Did I really just ask that question? Of course he did. If he was even there.
“Not if he had his wisdom teeth removed,” Carlos says. “Who doesn’t have their wisdom teeth removed?”
“I haven’t,” I say.
“My brother did when he was eighteen,” Dirk says. “Twenty-seven is probably all of them.”
“Even with his wisdom teeth gone, we’re missing one,” I say.
“We searched every fucking crevice,” Dirk says. “The dude only had twenty-seven teeth. Maybe one got knocked out.”
Dirk has a point. This lowlife could have easily lost a tooth in a fight. Or to a nasty-ass infection.
“All right,” I say. “We’ve got to get the fuck out of here.” I look around. “What the hell do you plan to do with this body anyway?”
“Throw it in the bay.”
I gulp down puke again. “Jesus Christ.”
“We need your truck to do this, Black,” Dirk reminds me.
I’m in too deep to bow out now. “Fine. We’re going to get rid of the body, and then the three of you are going to help me scrub my fucking truck. After that, I don’t want to see any of you ever again.”
“Fine by me,” Dirk says. “Once we divvy up this cash, we’ll all be set for a while.”
I’m not sure I even want my share, but I’ll take it. I’ll take it in case this thing blows up and I end up in prison. At least I’ll have something to leave for Dad and Bray.
