Page 66 of Mr. Calloway

His head swung side to side as he slowly lifted. “Fu-fuck is going on?” he muttered.

“It’s a family reunion, nigga! That’s what you wanted, right, grandpa?” I grumbled. “You know, I tried to decide if I wanted to allow you to speak before I killed you, but to be honest, Clark, anything you say means nothing to me, just as I mean nothing to you.”

His eyes fluttered. “You’re nothing but an animal. A stray Grace should have gotten rid of. Even in death, you would never be loved. Fucking Tyrant!”

I nodded. “Are you done? Is that it?” I asked as I pulled out my blade. “I have love, Clark. It’s a love that you’ve been searching for all your fucking life, and because you never had it, you never gave it.”

Jab!

“Ah! Wooo!” he shouted.

“That’s right, woo! Sing your tune. You know, that house nigga kind of tune.”

This time, when I jabbed him, the knife carved further into his thigh as I peeled a layer of skin off, tossing his flesh to the floor.

“I told you I was going to skin your ass alive, and I mean that shit. Just as I told you to do your homework on the very person you hate. Clark, I’m a fucking monster. I thought you knew,” I said as I inserted the knife into his side, filleting another piece of skin from his flesh.

His head fell backward. “Alright! You-you win! Goddamn! Just stop,” he begged.

I shook my head. “For thirty-eight years, that’s all I asked for was for the pain to stop, but no. You are the reason a nigga like me suffered, so cheers to the muhfuckin creator!” I barked, damn near seething.

Another layer peeled. Blood oozed from each chunk of skin. My mind began going down memory lane—Matthew, Ms. Vivian, the group home, the cancer, the shootings, the arrest. Before I knew it, I jabbed his ass for each memory.

Clark’s words were barely audible. “Sss-su-sorry! I’m?—”

Peel, jab, peel, jab, peel, jab.

“Fuck you! Fuck you, nigga!”

Peel, jab, peel, jab, peel, jab.

“You wanted an animal, and muhfucka, here I am!” I roared as. I walked around him. “Say it with me, nigga. Mr. Fucking Calloway! Say it!” I shouted.

“Mm... Mmm...”

Peel, jab, peel, jab, peel, jab.

“Say it!”

“Uh, Mr. Fu-Fucking—” He gasped. “Calloway!”

Clap! Clap! Clap!

“Yeah, that’s right! The man who’s going to get to play your God now, nigga. This isn’t for me but my muhfuckin kids, my niece, my sisters, and my fucking wife.”

I hopped on the table and cut his ass down. His body hit the ground so hard that I thought I heard his bones break. He lay there on his back, struggling to breathe. I jumped from the table and stood over him. I jabbed the knife into his chest and carved around, pulling the skin back until his heart was exposed. His heart pumped quickly.

“You know there are people who deserve this heart, and you’re not one of them.”

I saw tears rolling down the side of his face, and those same tears he was crying, praying I would change my mind and allow him to live, were the same tears I cried when he walked out that door, leaving me with Matthew. I stood over him, watching his encased heart pump erratically. My foot rose and stomped on his chest, cracking his ribs. The agonizing scream he belted just wasn’t good enough for me. I reached down and tugged at his loose ribcage until I was able to see his heart fully. My hand wrapped around his beating heart, and I tugged at that muhfucka until I ripped it out. There was no need to hold his heart in my hand because he had never done it for me.

I dropped that shit where I stood, leaving the Zoo for the last the muhfuckin time.

June’s Entry

Place: Greenhouse

Year: 2026