Piranhas, “The Boss”

Nelson said, “Hey, where’s my brother, Bill? You saved him, right?”

“No, I am afraid not. The Mountain Gorillas still have Bill, of course.” The Boss spits on the little bag of weed he tore from Nelson’s trembling hands after he sat in the passenger seat of his car. “Here I am in this melting desert township. He smirked at the “Welcome to Utah” highway sign on his right. My business clients are made up of boring, skinny rabbits. Shit. Are you hoarding the prime marijuana?”

Nelson gave him a firm nod and replied, “Bill and I were desperate. We nearly smoked it all in our thirst and solitude; nothing else was left of what we robbed from Smokies,” Nelson said as he looked behind him at the back windshield, expecting Bill to show up, and then in the direction of the cigarette shop. “They’ve repaired and restocked the shop, though. Nelson watched The Boss intently. “Maybe we should try again, huh?”

“I’m not crazy. Now, do you have the Great Horned Owl ring?”

“No. I imagine the Gray Wolf took it along with Bill’s finger. Nelson tried hard to conceal his deceit and not burst out laughing himself. He started the car’s engine. “Gave Silverback and Ivory an idea of what to do with the other nine fingers that remained after the mauling.”

“What? You don’t know precisely where The Scarlet Owl ring is?” The Boss turned down the dark velvet visor of Nelson’s vintage sports car.

“No. Bill’s most likely dead, too.”

The Boss rolled his bald head backward like a bowling ball loose on a short runway. As Nelson turned and looked to face the front, he caught the boss staring into the afternoon sky as if he had never seen the damn thing daily, and then said, “I need Bill back. You’re wondering why, aren’t you? He’s the only devil on earth with the talent to disarm The Scarlet Owl ring defenses and the Surreal Forces. Unlock the GPs that lead to its elite treasure and power.”

“Boss, I warned him endless times about Silverback and the heinous Mountain Gorillas. Nelson lightened the pressure on the gas pedal and slowed his black Dodge Charger to pull off the two-lane highway right after entering it. “Well Fuck, Silverback’s girlfriend, Ivory, warned him also.”

“So, Bill isn’t a good listener, nor a gentleman, but he’s uncommonly smart.” The Boss opened the glove compartment and got out a matchbox. “We all doubted Silverback was The Beast, the maniac of the Utah canyons.”

“Silverback, The Utah Canyon Beast? The detectives in the task force have identified and named him as a person of interest, close to naming him as their official suspect, and want to locate and question him. And all I want is to find my younger brother.”

The Boss shook the matchbox and took a cigar from his white, short-sleeve shirt pocket. “I don’t give a aardvark’s ass what happens to Bill once I get possession of The Scarlet Owl ring. Bill’s a cruel monster, a Sunday wrestling match short of those freakish piranhas. Bill was whining about them during all his calls to me.” He lit his cigar and rocked it sideways with his tongue. He held a long pause. “You’re his brother, so you understand it’s impossible without Bill to unlock the ring’s GPS and manage its powers safely.”

“I escaped the Mountain Gorillas two days ago, and I don’t think I will be that lucky again. Nelson turned his head and watched the cars, trucks, and vans exploding past them in both directions. The traffic didn’t seem any less stressful or straightforward. Nelson lowered his side window to vent the cigar smoke. The hot air awoke Nelson from his fantasy of feeling safe and content, especially since he didn’t know whether Bill was dead. Nelson assumed it, but there was no evidence to support it.

Nelson closed the window, slowed the car as he steered it off the highway, and said, “I am not going to last a month with Silverback’s Mountain Gorillas stalking me like komodo dragons, alright.” He opened his car door and stepped onto some gravel. “I am reporting my dear brother, Bill, as a recent missing person to the shift supervisor at the police headquarters after I drop you off. Nelson used caution and continued, saying, “This is a large township. Don’t worry. They aren’t aware of your crimes. Or your existence, for that matter. I won’t mess that up. Not my intention to piss you off, and there is a need for a funeral service.”

The Boss took an angry bite of his cigar and almost choked. He took out a shiny Glock from his black mini backpack, which was looped on his belt. “I’d kill you, Nelson,” The Boss pointed the gun to the sky. “Except for the remarkableness of the day and plain logic. But definitely, I may later. Before diabetes steals that honor from me.”

***

“I can’t return to that fucking burning desert that makes Death Valley like a Disney ride.” Nelson’s feet tinged with pain from the garlic bread and lasagna he had eaten earlier that morning. He held his right leg and looked at the proud face of the veteran emergency 911 clerk. The diabetes was stinging like a rose parade of red ants, then switched to his other leg.

The clerk pulled out an aspirin bottle from the desk drawer, empathizing with Nelson’s discomfort. He suddenly analyzed in his mind that Bill didn’t give him diabetes; it was his parents’ bad genes. Bill was an abusive brother, but he was his brother, which meant he would help him. Couldn’t I just let him stay missing? No local news reports headlined: A body was discovered, plucked with holes from vultures that patrolled the merciless desert.

The 911 clerk took the missing person’s report and instructed Nelson to go home immediately after he vomited breakfast. Then, he added, “The park rangers will make a camp and start a land search.” 

***

The next day, Nelson was busy in his morning routine and ate large, plush eggs sailing in a pond of churned butter in a square iron skillet with four strands of center-cut apple bacon. He finished it with a piece of French toast. He falsely believed it was courage rather than luck that he escaped the horrible fate of the Mountain Gorillas. They chased him until he left the park’s desert canyons. Nelson thought: A banana to celebrate would make him slip to the bottom of putrid hell, into a diabetic coma, besides gifting joy to Bill. 

Nelson envisioned the sparkling black and red-colored motorcycles sifting the dust on the stern, sandy roads that crossed the desert. Riders that looked like giant hornets with their striped yellow and black helmets. On them was a picture of a scary Mountain Gorilla swinging on the luxurious green branches of a tree, with one mighty hand beating its polarized chest. 

Nelson paced in his two-bedroom apartment, his anxiety high over having The Scarlet Owl ring. He twisted the ring several times as he walked back from the kitchen to the hallway. The Scarlet Owl ring around his left thumb was oozing brightness and seductiveness, like cool glowing water sliding on Pluto’s rings. 

Nelson had given the Boss nothing, as he now owned the Scarlet Owl ring. He gazed at it with a strange possessiveness and wanted what it would grant him: a gorgeous, red, marquee-style, rarest natural diamond. The thin yellow band with white dots of gold feathers warned of its deadly, poisonous defenses engineered by The Surreal Red Forces. 

The Boss would behead him if he knew he’d tricked him. A flock of desert birds would be much faster to kill him than a handsaw blade.

Although Nelson was most afraid of Silverback and what tortures the Mountain Gorillas would formally show him, they certainly wanted him to suffer. How he died truly mattered; his mind was split between a death while asleep. Or being damned by a Gray Wolf, Mountain Gorillas, or his brother Bill.

Nelson picked up his cell phone from the glass dining table when he received a call. “Boss, you think Silverback is supernatural?” Nelson asked, confused because Silverback’s strength appeared, on the surface, irrational. But other possibilities made no more or less equal sense. 

“I do not doubt that. Silverback, I just found out, cannot be The Beast of the blood-washed canyons. Why hadn’t the law enforcement claimed him as the primary suspect?” The Boss answered his own question. “Because of a lack of concrete details and any kind of connection that includes circumstantial evidence to the crimes. The reward is fast climbing, and no one has snitched on Silverback because just perhaps he’s innocent.” The Boss’s voice suddenly cut out.

The call was lost; cell service was terrible in Utah.

The Boss was confident about one fact, Nelson thought: Bill was the only person besides Silverback who knew the code of the Scarlet Owl ring. Bill is also skillful with unlocking 3D laser security and uncovering the GP’s target location and routes. No known current technology replicates human genius or unexplainable talent. Bill had a blazing fine gift. He only lacked a moral conscience. And the scales of fair temperance that avoid the suctions of war, which destroy allies and enemies alike. If Bill weren’t dead, he’d have to reckon with him for the sake of the Scarlet Owl ring and the survival of mankind.

Nelson had only days, maybe weeks, as The Scarlet Owl ring’s powers were vulnerable to fading out and changing to an ordinary ring for world sellers to take advantage of at the top private auction houses. Also, there were only days when the employed experts told the Boss it was a superb fake, the one that Silverback wore in the abandoned desert motel. 

On a visit to the police department, Nelson persuaded the detectives to go further into the black, dreary desert canyons. Then, at least the egocentric Nelson, worried agents, and park rangers who believed in Bigfoot and rumors rising about The Gray Wolf in their backyard of the desert Utah canyons would somewhat control the townspeople’s gossip. Well, none of them would be alone in that vast playground that belonged to The Beast, the Utah maniac. More searchers would be deployed from the air, including drones and larger helicopters, as well as trained military dogs. Additionally, scout hikers would also be carried in. Nelson’s mind was healthy, planning and calculating, except for one weak caveat of selling his narrative. He knew how to manipulate and, why not, hypnotize them to do his will.

***

The police department was continuing to investigate the missing person’s report and any connection to The Beast of the Utah canyons. Since Bill didn’t have a permanent residence. It would take a while. A cell phone number was all the information Nelson could provide until the present. “Bill’s girlfriend was gone, and she took his greyhound.” Nelson looked up at the 911 clerk. His round-framed bifocals caught the desk lamp and made his eyes bulge worse in harmony with his neck. He remained courteous, though, and seemed genuinely interested in helping solve the case of his missing brother Bill. 

After filling in the answers used for the sketch artist the other day, he returned the consent forms to the front counter for evidence searches to gain Bill’s whereabouts. The clock on the wall read 9:34 a.m. Nelson put his hands on the side of his jeans to keep them from trembling as the minutes changed gears to the 11 o’clock hour. He waited for the 911 dispatcher to call over the lead detective on Bill’s case.

A short man walked over. Another man of the same stature peeked over his office desk and then raised himself from the wrinkled leather chair. Behind him was a familiar dark shadow. Nelson quickly found out who it was: his brother, Bill, with a bandaged middle finger.

“Hell. Brother, it’s a relief to see you!” Nelson almost fell while standing up.

Bill embraced him. Nelson’s arms were stunned stiff at his side. “The jeep is outside. I told Chief Kirk I went for a run and got my finger severed by a sharp cactus, and it’s been a nightmare until they reattached my finger.” Bill tried bending it, but failed.

“Inquiry solved. You two swear to keep away from the Utah Canyons, and you are free to go. Like Big Foot, a dangerous killer doesn’t need extra provisions to live out there.” The higher-ranked detective said.

The shorter of the two sergeants said, “Bill was found wandering in the park very late yesterday. I don’t know how he knows the desert that well; a miracle.” He turned to his colleague briefly. “Ah, the maniac hasn’t left. He’s out there somewhere.”

The 911 clerk took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Our chiefs with the badges will hopefully slay that dragon.”

Nelson headed for the exit alongside Bill.

“Wait, Nelson, don’t you live near Smokies? There was a robbery a month ago. Do either of you know anything about that?” Sergeant Kirk asked.

“No. I’ve had trouble finding my juice for my vapors; it sucks.” Then Nelson added, “They have a gas station next to the shop. Of course, they have not caught anything. The store or street cameras are phonies or broken.”

“Well, it’s a shame. The owner is seventy, nearly blind, and deaf. Maybe one of his customers will remember something? We’re hoping,” Kirk said.

“Wish we helped,” Bill interrupted.

***

Silverback walked up to Ivory. “You’re going to the hospital; the stab wound appears to be infected.” Silverback wasn’t going to let her be stubborn anymore.

“You’ll be seen; you fit the description on the FBI’s most wanted poster. She pointed to the mirror. “You won’t be the one to take me; Ace is volunteering, and Spade also offered to go.”

“I would’ve loved to kill Bill for what he brought us. The Gray Wolf tells me he’ll lead us to the Scarlet Owl ring.”

“Their Boss will come for you, Silverback, and you will not have the Mountain Gorillas to rescue you again if they learn I lost The Scarlet Owl ring.” Ivory brushed her tangled blond hair back with her fingers and clipped it with a silver butterfly claw.

“They’re not going to find out; Nelson won’t tell them. Bill will lead us to Nelson. When Ace and Spade return, I will keep our room above Smokies. Your grandpa won’t mind us staying awhile with him.”

Silverback stared into Ivory’s concerned blue eyes. Ivory had been in the county jail several times, and the bitter taste of confinement and isolation was evident in her eyes, which had darkened to a deep brown. Silverback hugged her and kissed her lips gently.

Ivory turned away from looking at Silverback. Instead, she scratched her slim arms as she awkwardly and painfully folded them underneath her breasts when he let her go. “Nelson knows our secrets. They got into the lock-safe boxes and our file cabinets. They found the hidden drawer underneath the bookcase. They’ll send me straight to hell, these fucked brothers. I am not talking about prison, but the wrath of The Beast, the Utah maniac. I will be his prey, Silverback.”

Ivory picked up her travel bag. “The Mountain Gorillas are sonofabitches. Wicked as anything with human legs can get. But the Utah maniac of the Canyons is the fucking pilot of the desert’s graveyard. How long can the Mountain Gorillas keep protecting us, Silverback?” Ivory stumbled toward the front door with Ace and Spade close behind her.

“Ivory, as long as we have the Gray Wolf, well, it saved us with Bill. Also, with the terrible accident on my Harley, I tumbled into the dry canal and cracked my skull. You can’t deny its existence any more than I, and you saw what it did to Bill’s finger; it cut it cleanly, like a handsaw blade.

“Yes, I remember. The Gray Wolf also prevented me from getting lost in the desert. I was so thirsty that I collapsed in the fine dust. The scorpions crawling on my bare flesh, and I didn’t care. I was suffering from Bill’s knife stab. The Gray Wolf was my oasis. Unlike any wild animal, I followed its unique paw prints and the howls that echoed—its white fur was my salvation.”

Ace and Spade held her at the door.

“The Bastard, why didn’t you kill Bill? He almost raped me.” Ivory’s voice was shallow.

“The Boss has the Scarlet Owl ring. You lost it in the jeep while trying to fight off Bill. I am sure Nelson has already found it and offered it for his life.”

“I realize that. Our one way out of the Mountain Gorillas and this dreadful desert. We will go somewhere the Utah maniac can’t find us, perhaps Hawaii. You always wanted to return there, too.” Ivory retreated toward Silverback.

“So darling, concentrate on that and not your fears. I’ll come to your bedside once I get the ring. Until then, Ace will be with you and update me on your progress.” Silverback turned and looked at Spade. He wore a leather biker vest featuring skulls on the front and the American flag on the back. “Spade, come with me.”

“What about Mouse?” Ivory kissed Spade on the cheek. Silverback was jealous of their strengthening friendship. She wore a yellow lace blouse over a beige tank top. Her hiking boots laced up over her ankle jeans.

“You can’t trust him; he’s not loyal to the Mountain Gorillas or you. He’s more likely to hurt you than protect you. He’s your half-brother, yes. But who placed that red scar you hid with your bracelets on your wrist?” Silverback put a small pistol in his waistband. His eyelids were dark purple from Bill’s beating, with cuts on his forehead and chin that resembled twisted pyramids. The special bandages and antibiotic cream would relieve and remove the discoloration and swelling. Yet, in the mirror, Adam barely recognized himself.