sometimes that I wasn’t one of them.
“It was right after that when his old lady had the curse put on him,” Rufus said. “ ’Course he tried to have it took off. He wore a gris-gris around his neck twenty-four/seven, but he was still afraid to drink.”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “A man can’t do without his guts.”
This was a sobering thought. As sober as a thought could be after the thinker had downed a few Buds, anyway. “That’s a fact,” Rufus agreed solemnly.
“What are you gonna do with him?” Rennie asked.
“I thought we’d take the backhoe and bury him out back in his Corsica like he wanted.”
“He loved that car,” agreed Rennie.
“Seems a waste of a perfectly good Chevy,” Jerry said.
“It’s a Corsica, ” I said, thinking perhaps he hadn’t understood.
“The transmission’s on its last legs,” said Rennie.
“Oh, well, then,” Jerry acquiesced, and cracked another beer.
The shop is several blocks away from the nearest residential area, so nobody was annoyed by the sound of a backhoe digging a car-size hole out back. After we’d finally gotten the car situated in the hole, I positioned Huey behind the wheel, his head at a jaunty angle, his left hand on the steering wheel, and, at Otis’s insistence, a cold Bud in his right. I guess it was the least we could do.
“Maybe we shoulda bought him some new clothes,” Rufus said. “You know, a suit or somethin’. That’s how they do it down at the funeral home.”
Jerry looked at Rufus like he was a black cloud just waitin’ to rain on our funeral parade. “Well, Rufus, you dufus, just where exactly do you think Huey is goin’ that he can’t go in his coveralls?”
Rufus scratched the back of his neck like something had bit him. “I told you not to call me that,” he mumbled, then fell silent.
As we stood looking down at Huey, Rennie said, “I guess somebody should say a few words.” Then everybody looked up at me.
On the one hand, it seemed kind of inappropriate for a creature damned for all eternity to preach a graveside funeral service for a human. But, on the other, I was Huey’s employer and friend, so I guessed I should rise to the occasion.
“Here lies Huey.” I glanced around at the four of them, all sad-eyed and getting soggy around the sinuses. Rennie’s eyes swam, magnified behind the thick lenses. “Please, er, Lord, receive him into heaven and take good care of him because he was a good ol’ boy and never hurt a fly that I know of.”
“Amen,” the others muttered.
Afterward, as I watched the boys sitting around the card table finishing off the rest of the second twelve-pack, I cursed myself for what I had to do. Humans, and even semi-humans, seem so frail to me. Their lives, which are short enough to begin with, can flicker out like a candle flame in a stiff wind when you add a little danger into their day-to-day routines. I couldn’t let what happened to Huey happen to them.
“Boys, I’m going to have to close the shop for a few days. Just until me and William can find the thing that killed Huey and deal with it.”
They began to protest, as I knew they would. Rennie especially had good reason. He was my partner in the business, which was his livelihood. “What about the customers? We’ve got four cars in there we’re working on.”
“Three. I’ve finished with the mayor’s car and I’ll take it to him tonight. You call the other three customers and tell ’em it’ll be a few days longer on the repairs. Tell ’em you’ll tow the cars elsewhere if it’s a problem.”
Rennie, having worked with me for years, knew me well enough not to push the matter. The others didn’t. Jerry stood up. “Jack, we can take care of ourselves. We’ll keep an eye on Rennie, make sure nobody bothers him. It’s not fair to close the shop.”
Jerry thought he was tough, and maybe he was by mortal standards, but in the nonhuman world he was way out of his league. Through the years I’d
“It was right after that when his old lady had the curse put on him,” Rufus said. “ ’Course he tried to have it took off. He wore a gris-gris around his neck twenty-four/seven, but he was still afraid to drink.”
“Yeah,” Jerry said. “A man can’t do without his guts.”
This was a sobering thought. As sober as a thought could be after the thinker had downed a few Buds, anyway. “That’s a fact,” Rufus agreed solemnly.
“What are you gonna do with him?” Rennie asked.
“I thought we’d take the backhoe and bury him out back in his Corsica like he wanted.”
“He loved that car,” agreed Rennie.
“Seems a waste of a perfectly good Chevy,” Jerry said.
“It’s a Corsica, ” I said, thinking perhaps he hadn’t understood.
“The transmission’s on its last legs,” said Rennie.
“Oh, well, then,” Jerry acquiesced, and cracked another beer.
The shop is several blocks away from the nearest residential area, so nobody was annoyed by the sound of a backhoe digging a car-size hole out back. After we’d finally gotten the car situated in the hole, I positioned Huey behind the wheel, his head at a jaunty angle, his left hand on the steering wheel, and, at Otis’s insistence, a cold Bud in his right. I guess it was the least we could do.
“Maybe we shoulda bought him some new clothes,” Rufus said. “You know, a suit or somethin’. That’s how they do it down at the funeral home.”
Jerry looked at Rufus like he was a black cloud just waitin’ to rain on our funeral parade. “Well, Rufus, you dufus, just where exactly do you think Huey is goin’ that he can’t go in his coveralls?”
Rufus scratched the back of his neck like something had bit him. “I told you not to call me that,” he mumbled, then fell silent.
As we stood looking down at Huey, Rennie said, “I guess somebody should say a few words.” Then everybody looked up at me.
On the one hand, it seemed kind of inappropriate for a creature damned for all eternity to preach a graveside funeral service for a human. But, on the other, I was Huey’s employer and friend, so I guessed I should rise to the occasion.
“Here lies Huey.” I glanced around at the four of them, all sad-eyed and getting soggy around the sinuses. Rennie’s eyes swam, magnified behind the thick lenses. “Please, er, Lord, receive him into heaven and take good care of him because he was a good ol’ boy and never hurt a fly that I know of.”
“Amen,” the others muttered.
Afterward, as I watched the boys sitting around the card table finishing off the rest of the second twelve-pack, I cursed myself for what I had to do. Humans, and even semi-humans, seem so frail to me. Their lives, which are short enough to begin with, can flicker out like a candle flame in a stiff wind when you add a little danger into their day-to-day routines. I couldn’t let what happened to Huey happen to them.
“Boys, I’m going to have to close the shop for a few days. Just until me and William can find the thing that killed Huey and deal with it.”
They began to protest, as I knew they would. Rennie especially had good reason. He was my partner in the business, which was his livelihood. “What about the customers? We’ve got four cars in there we’re working on.”
“Three. I’ve finished with the mayor’s car and I’ll take it to him tonight. You call the other three customers and tell ’em it’ll be a few days longer on the repairs. Tell ’em you’ll tow the cars elsewhere if it’s a problem.”
Rennie, having worked with me for years, knew me well enough not to push the matter. The others didn’t. Jerry stood up. “Jack, we can take care of ourselves. We’ll keep an eye on Rennie, make sure nobody bothers him. It’s not fair to close the shop.”
Jerry thought he was tough, and maybe he was by mortal standards, but in the nonhuman world he was way out of his league. Through the years I’d
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