Purgatory

15

C33 adored books. Everything about them, would mutter an

A-Z

Of terms

Like a mantra.

Thus:

Orihon: A book consisting of a sheet of paper with writing on one side pleated into a concertina fold. From the Japanese art of ori, meaning fold; and hon, meaning book. Considered a halfway point between a scroll and a codex (a set of interleaved folios sewn together).

Or

A favorite

Enallage: Meaning interchange in Greek. The substitution of a different word for another possibly incorrect one, often for emphasis or effect-like the editorial we instead of I.

That one in particular had led, indirectly, so to speak, to the adoption of the nom de plume C33.

The recent killing of the dog whimperer. Named Shaw, a former traveling salesman who bred dogs for the designer market and prided himself on being able to reduce any breed to a whimpering mess. C33 kept a special circle of hell for those who abused dogs. It brought out a biblical savagery that seemed appropriate for a beast who tortured canines, the only simply pure gift God had given.

Shaw had been lured to a warehouse off Grattan Road, believing he was buying six Pomeranians, stolen in Belfast.

C33 had chained Shaw as he’d chained dogs, then attached a spiked dog collar, the spikes turning inward, à la a necklace of thorns. Then taken a baseball bat and proceeded to slowly break every bone in the fucking bastard’s body.

Incanting

“Kenning. .”

Loud

To

Louder

Loudest

Exclaiming

In slow measured tones

“The meaning is, in Old English, a metaphorical phrase.”

Paused

To wipe sweat off and grab a bottle of-of course-Galway sparkling water, then continue

“. . to compound two words that makes a new one, in your case”

. . Laughed hysterically.

Finished with

“Bone-house.”

C33 wondered if maybe this one should be kept off the public radar. C’mon, they’d say,

“To beat someone to death because he mistreated a dog?”

Laughed again, watched the light go out of Shaw’s eyes, knew they were crazy, whoa, yeah.

The shrinks had laid out that psychopath path in so many ways.

1. Ruthless disregard for others.

C33 laid a hand gently on Shaw’s head, said in a Brit accent,

“Surely not?”

2. A truly almost superhuman talent for hiding this from others.

C33 bent down to look into the ruined face of Shaw, shouted,

“Easy? You think it’s fucking easy to act like you give a goddamn, good or otherwise?”

What C33 loved, yes, loved,

Was

You never saw a psychopath coming, as they were the most charismatic personalities on the planet.

Giggled.

Couldn’t help it, an actual giggle and titter.

“Not to mention their love of dogs.”

This did entirely for C33, who had to sit down, the laughter was so strong, leaning against the battered torso of Shaw, wiping the tears of mirth, for all the world like a couple of good ol’ boys whooping it up.

“Man and superman.”