Talented Failure: The Works of A.T. Prenger

We buried Wyatt the next day early in the morning. Beth wanted to get it done before it got too hot. We had to go into town later to see the Psycho Surgeon and get my nose fixed. Pete, the other ranch hand, was a fairly good medic with the supplies he had, but if I didn't get the work done I was going to look like a monster for the rest of my life. Because I was hopped up on painkillers and pretty loopy Beth did most of the digging. I sat on the truck bed and watched her sling piles of dirt out of the ground. There vultures lazily circling in the air overhead. Beth told me not to worry about it. They wouldn't come near Wyatt's body while I was sitting next to it. They still made me uneasy. While Pete wasn't the greatest at medicine, he and Jeremy were very good at body disposal. They wrapped Wyatt up tight in plastic sheeting. If there wasn't a well of crimson blood pooling at one end you would think you were only looking at a well trussed up pervert in a gimp s...

  Even with the air-conditioning on full blast it was still too hot in my car. The car still reeked of cheap scotch even though it had been weeks since Doc Lincoln was in my car. Every so often I would lean forward to pull my sweaty back off the dampened seat so a little cold air could get between them. It was a small relief. I picked up a water bottle from the passenger seat and squeezed it. Only a small spatter of water came out. The warm water did nothing to relieve any thirst; I came away feeling even less refreshed. Once I got to Beth's ranch I was going to go to the kitchen and drink water straight from the spout until I made myself sick. Thinking about ice cold water made my mouth feel even drier. I smacked my lips together. They felt brittle and ready to crack. I normally never drove out to her ranch myself because Beth usually drove. Her truck was always nice and cold. I needed a new car, which was another thing to add to the list of crap I needed. I had to be carefu...

Right as I was about to enter the room for my afternoon class my phone rang. "Luke," Beth said, "I need your help." "Now? I've got class. Can this wait?" "This can't wait. I really need your help. I'd call someone else, but they're all busy or outta' town or I'm not speaking to that stupid bitch Sarah anymore." The day after she returned from prison I told her what Sarah did to me. Beth put two fresh holes in my wall. Her anger at Sarah was frightening, it was much worse than how she reacted to Wyatt. With Wyatt she knew something was up. Sarah's betrayal was another wound she had to suffer through, a harsh betrayal from someone she only tried to help. I managed to talk Beth down from going over to Sarah's apartment and kicking her ass. Beth made me call Dana so she could tell Sarah that they were no longer friends and that she should watch her back. Dana told me later that she passed along a similar ...