SHORT STORY | THE BUTCHER’S SON
A Prologue & A Short Story
“I’ve found god.”
I’d said these words in a moment of melancholy, my hands wrist deep in viscera. It was a statement that I’d heard plenty of times before as a boy. When my feet still swung from the church pews next to my mother. I’d always been a nervous lad and would often calm myself by rubbing bits of her yellow sunday dress between my fat little fingers. I hated the preacher’s voice more than anything in the world. Sometimes, I can even still hear his shrill voice yelling across the pulpit about how every single person in the room was a sinner.
I considered this a dirty lie even at that delicate age of five, for there was no way that my dear mother could be a sinner.
She was perfect.
She’d would always be perfect.
Even after father had shattered her.
My sweet porcelain mother.
“Miles.” I look up from my work, pulling my hands out from inside a pig’s stomach.”I’ve been calling your name for the last ten minutes. Is your hearing aid broken?”
I blink softly, my eyes sweeping over my co-worker’s lips, though for the most part I could hear them just fine. I flick blood onto the floor from my hands before making a twisting motion at my ear.
“You turned it down again?” I nod in response.”Why?”
Before I can answer the loud booming voice of my father shakes the floorboards above.
“Miles! You waste of space! Where the hell is my best dress shirt!?” I could see the face of my co worker warp as he looked up at the ceiling.
“Salem can you finish cleaning this out?” My voice is steady as I turn toward the door leading up to shop’s second floor apartment.
“I…” I could hear the hesitation in his soft voice, he wanted to say something, but I knew he wouldn’t. It wasn’t that he was a coward, simply that he was intimately aware that if he did something it would only make things worse.”Hey, Miles..”
Before I can walk up the first step, I twist my head to look at the younger male quietly. As it was really only my left side I couldn’t hear out of and on good days when I wasn’t distracted I could usually navigate life without much issue outside of doing things that required balance.
“After work. Let me take you out okay?” I bite my lower lip at the invitation. Salem was my best friend and I knew that he was only trying to help.”Don’t worry. I’ll have you home before he notices.” I give him a confirming nod before running up the steps to the apartment, the heavy door separating the two floors closing behind me.
As soon as I make it up the last step and pull the door open I’m forced to duck as a plate comes sailing over my head to shatter against the wall behind me. My father is tearing up the studio space again, taken over by one of his episodes.
“Where is it Miles!” He twists to look at me as I stand back up again, glancing behind me at the plate shards on the ground. The happy little sunflower pattern that once made up the porcelain dish jumbled up in a mockery of what it once was. I sigh softly knowing I’ll have to pick it up later.
“Which one.” I utter as I close the studio door behind me as the tall round man that was my father stopped dead in the middle of the small studio too look at me with narrowed eyes.
“You wore it didn’t you? I told you not to take my clothes.” He points an accusing finger at me and my lips twist. It would be obvious to anyone that my father’s clothes would not fit me. I was shorter and much smaller all the way around than he was. As if realizing this for himself my father lowers his finger and grunts continuing his trek around the studio through piles of unwashed clothes and stacks of paper plates.”I thought I told you to wash these damn clothes of yours?” He kicks at a particular pile of his shirts.
I say nothing as I move over to a toppled over wash basket of previously folded clothes. One by one I pick them up placing them back into the basket. The last one to be folded is an extra large black button up that I slowly smooth the wrinkles out of with my calloused palm.
“There! That one!” Before I can even blink my father has made it back across the small apartment to snatch the shirt from my hands. Despite his size he was an incredibly quick man when he wanted to be.”I should have known you hid it under all those feminine clothes of yours.” I raise an eyebrow at him as he critiques my ironic hawaiian shirts and wooly sweaters sitting in the basket. “You can get back to work now. I didn’t need your help.” He turns away from me tossing his greasy tank top onto the floor next to all the other junk sitting around.
I sigh gently and move to leave, but stop as he grunts. I don’t turn around as his words permeate through the room.
“Aren’t you going to say I love you?” Thankful he can’t see my expression, I lower my head muttering.
“I love you.”
“You better.”
I leave the studio apartment, yellow porcelain crunching under my galoshes as I head back down into the back of the butcher shop. Salem is still there, working on my pig as he turns to look at me, blood dripping from his long delicate fingers. His green eyes sweep over me as I exhale leaning against the door. We can only stare at each other.
“Why won’t you just let me kill the bastard?” Salem plops down next to me as he hands me a steaming hot pork bun. I can only chuckle as I look up at the light polluted sky for the north star, the only thing visible in the night sky besides planes and satellites.
“Because any smart detective would immediately suspect me.” This wasn’t the first time Salem had offered to off my dad and I always gave him the same excuse.
“Than run away with me.”
“You’ve been reading dollar bin romance novels again haven’t you?”
“Come on Miles, we both know I could pull it off.” He wasn’t wrong. I was certain that Salem would make good on his word to kill my father quite violently if I ever decided to take him up on it.
“That’s not the point.” I take a cautious nibble out of the food cupped between my hands. warmth spreading across my fingers and up my arms.
“What exactly is the point?” Salem mutters as he takes to staring down at the sidewalk below us, his night attuned eyes casting from pedestrian to pedestrian.
“I don’t want you to become a murderer for my sake.” It wasn’t that I didn’t want my father dead. He just wasn’t worth the trouble.
“If just I explained to the pack leader what I was doing…”
“I don’t want you involving the pack either” I glance sideways at the male beside me. The shock and awe of him being a werewolf had long worn off. It was just something that only added to his overall existence as my best friend.
“You know that if I said something to Jebidiah he would help you.” Salem smirked.”You’re an honorary part of the family.”
“This isn’t the Godfather, Salem.” I huff in frustration taking a large bite out of my bun, burning my tongue in the process. “Ow ow hot…” I wave a hand in front of my mouth frantically as Salem pulls my face toward him, his presenting talons scrapping my chin. I’m surprised when his lips envelope mine, cheekily stealing food from my mouth before pulling away. My face heats up as I wipe my lips in a panic with the sleeve of my sweater.”W-What the hell Salem?” I feel my heart seize up as I look around dumbly, somehow expecting my dad to pop out of the shadows.
“Oh come on.” Salem pouted in response as I slowly lowered my sleeve from my blushing face.
“Sorry…I don’t mean to react that way…” This was already the third time he’d kissed me and it still freaked me out. It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to, it was just the utter shock of someone being intimate with me tended to cause a visceral reaction.
“It’s fine…I should know better than to..” I could see the guilt warp his face and I shook my head back and forth wildly, my ginger bangs flying into my face.
“No! No! Don’t feel bad!” Without thinking I lean forward planting my quivering lips onto his forehead. “I’m getting use to it! I promise…just…it’s just…” It wasn’t just the intimacy that got me. It was the fact that Salem was just, just, not what I pictured whenever I use to dream of silly things like romance. He was to perfect. My visions of love had always been banal and completely fabricated from the sterile sitcoms my father watched on repeat.”I still….don’t know why you…” I pull back as he stares at me with eyes I constantly find myself bewitched by.
“I told you already. Us wolves got this whole life mate thing going on.”
“But me? Like…” There was nothing extraordinary about me. I was average height and gangly all around. I remember in highschool that a lot of people would call me Scarecrow after the one from Oz.
“Don’t. Don’t you dare say you’re not good enough or worthy…” He raised his hand ready to lightly flick my nose like he always did in moments like this.
“Sorry.” I lower my head again sighing. We still weren’t official in anything but our hearts. Which firmly laid on my shoulders. I still wasn’t at a point where I could say ‘boyfriend’ without flying into a panic. I was under the impression if I normalized it, I’d end up accidentally saying it in front of my father. Which would result in him beating me within an inch of my life if I was even that lucky. Salem perfectly understood this and never pressed the subject, which I was thankful for.
“So, why don’t you just run away then? You’re an adult….you don’t have to stay.” Anytime Salem asked this, I never had a good answer. There was absolutely nothing keeping me in my current situation. If my mother was still alive I was certain she’d have smuggled me out sooner or later. I think deep down I felt like I had some kind of duty to live out the rest of my mom’s sentence. She’d done so much for me in my first six years of life that I felt like I owed her. “Miles.” I sigh softly furrowing my unkempt eyebrows.
“Where am I supposed to go?” I had no income outside of what little money I made from helping my dad and had no real life skills outside of housework to speak of.
“With me of course! I wouldn’t want you on your own.”
“I can’t contribute to the pack though, I’m just a human and completely useless outside of housework.” I wasn’t very strong either.
“I’m pretty sure if you helped cook every so often no one would complain.”
“I just…” We’d had this conversation before, almost word for word. Everytime it would end with me shrugging it off. Salem never pushed very hard. In a way I wish he would. I almost hoped he’d force my hand because otherwise I was afraid I’d never get out. If my mother could be brave than so could I.
“Is there anyway to convince you?” Salem’s voice is kind and understanding as he puts a hand on my knee. I swallow the lump forming in my throat as I stubbornly refuse to look at him. I know if I do I’ll start crying.
“Make me into a werewolf?” It was a poor joke. It’s the one I always made to try and derail conversations. He squeezes my knee in response and I take a deeply staggered breath.”I want to be strong enough that I can leave and not feel like he’s going to come after me.”
“Even if he did…we…could..”
“That’s not the point Salem…” I knew that Salem and his pack was perfectly capable of keeping me safe, but that wasn’t the sort of security that I wanted.
“I know..” Salem’s voice was so calming even in times like this. He knew me better than I knew myself sometimes. I suspected he only asked the things he did in order to force me to consider my own motivations.
“If I could just get the upper hand..” I stretch out my hands grasping at nothing.”My mother was so strong. It was like she held the whole universe between her fingers.” I can feel Salem staring at me, listening to my words.”I guess that sounds really weird…” My hands drop back to my lap and I shiver as he leans close resting his chin on my shoulder to whisper into my ear.
“You’re special Miles. When I look at you, I see stars in your eyes and entire planets revolving around you.” I scoff softly under my breath. There was no way I had all that.
“I’m just a lumpy asteroid…”
“Asteroids are made of stardust..” I flush turning my head to look at him as he pulls his chin off my shoulder.”If your mother really was holding the universe between her fingers, than you were apart of that too.” My eyes flutter close as he kisses my eyelids, the one form of kiss that didn’t cause a negative reaction in me.
“I just need more time.” I mumble softly as he pulls back. I dare not open my eyes afraid to come under the spell of his.
“Okay.” He doesn’t argue and I let out a relieved sigh peeking an eye open to see him turn away to observe the night sky above us.”I’ll wait as long as I have to.” I don’t say anything as I turn my head up to join him, placing my hand over his in silent thanks.
