Pine Bluff

6:00 a.m, 25th  of December, 1965. Jefferson County patrolmen got high with a quarter of rye waiting for the Man to finish his fucking dessert. “He's the Grand Master of Suck my Dick!” says Bobby grabbing and squeezing his balls. Randall, a tall black guy from Joplin, doesn't really care. He got a call from downtown two hours ago and he just wants to get done with it, even if it was a fucking KKK Dragon he wouldn't give a shit. “I don't give a shit”, that's what his Cap would say to him anyway.

A black sedan was parked right in front of the black&white. “Is that a driver Randy?, asked Bobby staring at the black windshield of the Lincoln. It was hard to prove but someone was in there, and the more he didn't move the more you could bet on it. Randy had bet a nice homemade Christmas lunch on it, and  Bobby a good excuse to stay away from his wife and maybe spend a spare hour or two at the nearby joyhouse. But it don't look good, “these people sure like to go for another cigar...” said Bobby throwing away his cigarette butt. The weather wasn't so cold and Randall imagined for a moment that Florida should have been quite the same now, but he hardly put together a thousand last year and had to buy them clothes for the kids, so he'd never know. Bobby tripped up twice before reaching the radio, then he turned it on. “Hey Bob?”, Cap was talking kind of strange for his usual, he liked to shout things in your hears, and “Yes sir...”

It was just his third week in Arkanso, Randall started to watch around and began to shake. All the white supremacy was there: a big colonial estate with thin white pillars, a white big shot with all sorts of fancy jewels on him ready to be escorted who knows where. It could have been the fucking woods for what he knew, but he tried to stay away from that thought. “Bob? Is your partner there with ya?” Bobby exercised his voice two times, “Oh yeah Chief... Randy is right here, catching a cold, you know how it is...”; “ok, listen to me now boys... I want you to be prepared for this, cause things like this only happen once in your lifetime, you got it? Mr. Burke is on his way out right now, listen to me carefully... This is not what you expected, all right? But I want you to act like everything's under control cause my ass is on the line this time, you hear?; “sure thing Chief! What can it be, c'mon... Me and Randy, you know... we did see a lot of strange stuff here in Pine Bluff sir... We collared a freak just yesterday...”;“don't crack wise with me boy, just do as I say, or swear to God I'll kick your fat polish ass till it's purple, understand? I'll hold on, I wanna hear what happens down there...”

A big crack and the marble gates started to move. The two officers kept staring at it. Bobby looked at his watch pretending not to be scared by the strange melody that was coming from out there, slow and pretty loud. Randall forgot all about the white man when he saw the real Beast, flash and bones, big gold and white apron hanging from his belly, black riding coat, black shiny shoes, tux trousers, white shirt and blue bolo. That was it, that was him, Mr. Burke with his two black twisted buffalo horns raised in the air of the night. A small dwarf, the chauffeur, stepped out of the car and opened the back door. Burke stopped on the red carpet, a choir of old men was singing “Silver Bells” inside the house. He brought a long cigarette to his mouth and lit it up, then he looked at Bobby and smiled, “take me to the joyhouse, ok?”

Bobby and Randall obeyed orders, crying all the way from Morris Street to Kendall Avenue. Mr. Burke was very polite and asked them both to join him. Their bodies were found on December 27th inside a big room, all naked and with no dick on 'em, their faces in a puddle of blood. The brothel had closed few weeks ago thanks to the Methodist Church in town, but Bobby didn't read the paper, or maybe it wasn't even that, cause incredible things like that only happen once in your lifetime.