Bart has a minion!

Bounty the Suspicioid

I'm not sure why he called himself Bounty. Hell, I don't think anyone did. Some say his career choices caused him to repress a lot. To get drunk and just forget.
I heard that he forgot his real name, and saw a poster with the title "Bounty" above a sketch of himself and just took it as his name.
Others claim he's purely insane.
I believe both.

Mom claimed she owed Bounty; that's the reason I had to help him out. She was barely bringing in enough for us to buy bread with, so my employment was inevitable. I could have had a worse job at thirteen. In a way, you could consider me lucky. At least that's what Bounty told me.
Then again, he never really told me what exactly I would be helping him with.

---

Our first dig was... unpleasant. I was dirty, hungry and exhausted. The woman we were exhuming was named Doris something-or-other. She was wealthy, and portly. Bounty said she had been buried for only three days, but she had been dead for five.
The smell alone was enough to make my stomach churn, but the sight? I didn't have the stomach for that. The pathetic dinner I had scarfed down beforehand made its way up my throat and out of my body.
Bounty gave a wry laugh before falling into a harsh coughing fit.

"Boy, get over here and help me move this bloody corpse." I turned, slowly, wiping my mouth.
"What?"
"Did I stutter? Come here. Get the legs. We're hauling it out." I remember staring at him, silence as thick as the oozes flowing from the body.
"But... why?"
"For science!" He threw his hands high and gave a wide grin. I didn't budge.
"Boy... if you don't get over here right now, I will close you in the coffin with it, do you understand me?" I stumbled over and tried breathing through my mouth so I wouldn't have to smell the stench. Unfortunately, I could taste it. I retched again, this time onto Bounty. He angrily shoved me back, away from the hole.
"Dammit, boy! Just bring me the damn cart, would ya?" Weak-kneed, I wheeled the cart to him. With enough hefting and grunting, Bounty managed to balance the body atop the flimsy cart.
"Should fetch a pretty penny, don't cha think?" I nodded, numb, not sure what to think of anything. I had never known this Doris, but she had still been a person.

We hauled her to the wagon, where the horses were anxiously awaiting. Bounty dragged a sheet from under his seat and draped it over the body.
"Grab the legs, I can't push it up this high by myself." Disgusted, but still numb from shock, I assisted loading the bloated corpse into the back. Bounty motioned for me to climb on in after it as he gathered shovels and supplies.
"You... want me to sit next to her?" Bounty's head snapped to my direction.
"IT. That is an it. It's not a man; not a woman. Just a thing."
"But... she-"
"It, boy. We don't call those things people anymore. They're empty. Think of it like a shell. You keep thinking they're people and you won't get far in this business."


Profile template by Lea.