Chop the Pig

"You understand why I have to?" Leo asked. I nodded my ascent as I finally got the cap twisted off my Coke. Leo buckled his belt a little too high; it cut into his belly fat. He adjusted things and said, "I heard them talking in the break room. They're really gonna do it. I mean, I thought it was just a movie, but I guess it's about them. Or do you think they saw the movie and got the idea?"

Instead of answering him, I looked out at the driveway. An SUV passed. I think it was Leo's neighbor, Mr. Johnson. I waved just in case. "Guess it doesn't matter," Leo said. "They're doing it one way or the other, and I have to stop them. Gotta be me. Couldn't be you, Jordy, could it?" I shook my head and took a sip. Nope, couldn't be me. Never could be me. For anything. I didn't like doing stuff.

Leo picked the pistol off his dad's worktable. The top was pulled back to show it was empty. Leo's dad was all about safety."I've thought about this," Leo said, as he used the butt of the pistol to snap the flimsy lock that held the ammunition. "I think I was called. Like, you know how Reverend Garret says he was called to be a reverend? I think that's what this was. Had to've been. I didn't just decide to do it, you know? I have to, like you have to breathe."

Leo's father even kept the bullets out of the clips. Leo slowly popped them in, one at a time. "It sucks about my parents," he said, his words punctuated by sharp snaps as the bullets clicked home. "And the other people that are there, too--the kids and shit. Not all of

them are bad. And, I mean, not all of them are in on it. I think it's just Miss Violet and a couple others, really. Maybe one of the janitors, like that bald guy. He's always looking at Miss Violet, like he's expecting her to say something. Yeah, he's probably in on it. But a lot of them aren't."

I chugged the rest of the Coke. I love the sugary sweet part at the very bottom. Glass bottles are the best. "But I didn't choose this," Leo said, "and I can't choose who's there. You know? It's not their fault, but it's not mine either. At least they won't die the way Miss Violet wants them to. I'd do anything to keep them from that. To keep you from it too, Jordy." He turned to me. "Especially you."

I belched and grinned at him. "Got another?" I asked. He grabbed me one from the cooler. "Here. You can have all of them now. I leave them to you. Dad left them to me and now I leave them to you. That's how it works, Jordy." He turned back to the worktable. "They're gonna say a lot of things about me. Don't believe any of them. I know you like to believe things, but you're smart enough to know better. I know you are. They're gonna ask you questions--cops are gonna ask you questions. Don't worry about it, just tell them everything. No one will be able to hurt me anymore, and the people who would want to hurt you will be gone. Okay?" I nodded and twisted off the cap, wincing as the metal pinched my skin.

Leo finished with the first pistol and slipped it into his right holster. Then he pulled out the second gun and began sliding bullets into its clip. He said, "I just hope they don't stop me first. That's the only thing

I'm scared about. If I don't stop them, no one will. It's my job; if I don't do it, it's all over, for you, for everyone."

He snapped the second clip into place and slid the gun into his left holster. Then he grabbed his ball cap and tugged it down tight on his head, mushing his bangs over his eyes. For a moment, he looked like a shaggy dog from a movie poster I once saw, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah," he said, grinning at me. Then he shook his head. "Man, sixth grade sucks."