Excerpt: The Extermination of Creatures, Beasts, and Bothers

There is a man sitting beneath the old aluminum awning of an abandoned grocery.

The feather-like rain is amplified by the metal, a rhythmic tick-tack-ticking pattering above. The man is inconsequential, his cracked leather skin and unkempt, curling white facial hair a common sight. His knuckles are a stark white contrast to the rest of his skin, clenching at the longneck bottle in his hand. The brown paper covering it crinkles as he shifts his hold, pulling the bottle closer to himself and curling around it. There is a tap-tap-tapping coming from down the road.

There is a puddle growing in a hole in the asphalt in front of the man. The rainwater pools down in thin rivulets from the awning, gathering in the fractured depression.

Though his eyes are on the cracked asphalt in front of him, the man has heard the strangers approaching for some time. He watches as regal shoes pass by, polished black leather with buckles that shine like the sun. The stride is long, and the passerby entirely passes over the puddle. A long black coat flutters around legs, a cane—unneeded, judging by the man’s gait—tapping against the ground. Whoever he is, the passerby does not stop.

The man sees it coming; he curls further around the bottle, pressing it into his too-thin frame. A heavy black boot comes down, slamming its way through the water. As water rushes up and around, a body follows the boot’s downward descent, and soon hands the color of milky coffee are scraping against the rough pavement.

“Fuck,” the body’s mouth lets out. The body quickly stands up, removing its boot from the puddle. Calloused hands brush at each other, removing bits of stone and rubble.

“Dani, dear?” comes a lilting voice from ahead.

The girl whose hands have become acquainted with the rough surface of the asphalt grunts and, sparing a glance and grimace for the drenched old man, tromps off on her way.

The man uncurls himself, surveying the bottle. Satisfied that it’s safe, he readjusts his position and returns the longneck bottle back to a clutching hold in one hand.