they come over last night after the longest time. he and he and he, my partners in crime. we sit down in quiet around the decanter and four glasses, one and two and three until someone talks: let's drink a last one to the one who just died. let the festivities begin.
he then produces a rather peculiar package out of the side pocket of his jacket, wrapped in newspaper, smothered in blood. he proceeds to unwrapping a slab of raw steaming meat out in the middle of the sushi table in front of him. fresh hot blood oozes out of its corners as he carefully slices it with sashimi precision and hands us each a few juicy crimson pieces, upon which we start chewing absentmindedly. once rinsed down with another pour the other presents some chopped liver lightly braised in bile and kidney broth followed by two racks of fresh raw ribs still withholding live breathing lungs in between. once garnished with sea salt and fresh red pepper flakes we take turns in poking our fangs into the lungs, tearing a couple of ribs apart and passing the rest to the next one around. more wine, and more wine. he says something without expecting a response, and he gets none.
though still pounding, the blackened heart reeks of rotten dried blood. he starts peeling off the dried crust as tears start to blur his eyes, the next peels another layer of somewhat softer tissues and we keep peeling and peeling until all that's left is a pink piece of muscle the size of a small toe with all our four faces soaked in tears flooding our of our swollen eyes. he sets the finger on fire and we stare at it burning slowly into a a black piece of char filling the air with its stinking odor. wine, more wine. noone says anything.
then they leave. the funeral is over and the remainder of the deceased is now part of our bones and flesh, his blood running inside our veins. it's a good thing we got rid of his rotten heart, we're all better without it, without him. i speculate about when they'll come back to me again, and who's next to die. until then, i keep drinking the rest of the wine in the world, one decanter at a time.
i hope i'm next.
