A Crying Shame (118 page)

The men shuffled their booted feet in the dust and chewed and spat and silently reflected for a few moments.

Joe said,
Now I've showed you all pictures of Satan's beast,”—he opened another Manila envelope—
now I'm fixin' to show you what really happened over to Despair.” He passed around the pictures of what was left of Paul Breaux, then pictures of Guy What's-His-Name.

Several of the men puked immediately; almost all felt sick at their stomachs.

Damn, Joe,” Mule Whitney said.
What bent that there shotgun?”

The devil's beast,” Joe said flatly.
The mark of the beast is upon us. They are walkin' the earth. We—”

I warned you about that shit!” Luther said.
Jist stay with the program and save the sermon.”

Let's git 'em!” Clint Ralesfort shouted.

Damned right!” Noble Rousseau said.

The others hooted and hollered. They'd show the world how to handle a bad situation, by gawd! Bottles of booze were uncapped. One man swallowed his chewing tobacco and had to be excused.

Joe shouted them down.
Hold on a minute! Let's get organized here. First things first. You men get food and water to take with you and lots of ammo. Gas up your bass rigs and put in a spare can of gas.” He glanced at his watch.
We'll meet here at five o‘clock in the morning. Sharp! No point in goin' off half-cocked now; it'll be dark in two hours anyways. Nothing we can do this night but get ready to do the Lord's work. Don't tell your families nothing about it. But those of you got friends you can trust to keep they mouths shut, tell ‘em 'bout this; some of ‘em may want to join in this Christian crusade. Now what we don't want is a panic in the parish. So be careful who you talk to 'bout this.”

Loose lips sink ships,” Whacker said.