.

... Pascal was loading bullets into his gun.
... “Flake and Norris are gonna get it and I’m gonna enjoy every minute of this.”
... Bruton nodded.
... “They’s pushed their luck too far this time. Couple of low lifes like them, they don’t know how it works.”
... “We gonna show ‘em,” Al said.
... “Sure as shit we will.”
... The house stood at the end of the road where the mountain fell away and turned to track.
... It was a crumbling shack with no doors inside and an old boarded up gate at the front that swung in the wind.
... Flake and Norris were sitting in the kitchen eating.
... Flake was a short fat man with spiky hair and Norris was tall and lanky and he spoke in a high-pitched voice.
... They had their hands in their plates and were licking gravy from their fingers.
... “Good steak,” Norris said. “Her poontang smelled of fish.”
... ‘Well we was gonna get some of it anyways’, Flake said.
... “Yeah, fuckin’ whore turnin’ us down like that.”
... “See the look on her face when we did her?”

...“Sure did,” Norris said.
... “And then we cut her up real good, stupid bitch.”
... Flake stood up and poured them both a whisky and they sat joking about their morning’s work.
... They didn’t hear the Jeep pull up outside nor see the door inch open.
... They were sitting with their backs to it when the action started.
... Norris was laughing in his high-pitched whine and Flake was slapping his thigh in amusement and they turned when Bruton said, “Something funny?”
... They both reached for their guns but Bruton fired off their fingertips with such precision he didn’t seem to move.
... There was just the merest stirring of a breeze as he stood there contemplating their pain.
... Norris didn’t know what had happened and was reaching for his gun which slid from him like a fish, landing on the floor dripping blood, his finger stuck through the trigger and coiled there in an image of redundancy.
... Flake stood and staggered around the room, reaching with his other hand for his piece which lay on the floor.
... As he did so Pascal stood on his hand.
... He was wearing hobnail boots and the impact was visible in Flake’s face.

...He turned his foot and twisted until the crack was heard and then he stamped again, lifting Flake’s hand with him as he began to walk away with the nails embedded in it.
... Behind him Norris was lifting the piece hidden beneath the table.
... He was about to steady it when Soda started firing and opened up his leg.
... “Put it down, pussy,” he said. “You never did know how to shoot.”
... Al walked over to Norris and kicked him so hard in the face he removed his nose.
... You think you can do what you did and get away with it?” he said.
... His voice was like ice and he seemed to be someone else to his partners.
... Norris slid away from him and lay there panting.
... There was a pan of hot oil on the stove and Al fetched it and he tipped half on Norris and then held Flake’s face and poured the rest into his eyes.
... “Like that?” he said.
... And the room grew very still before what happened next.
... Bruton lifted his gun and he shot Norris through the arm, fracturing his elbow before turning the weapon on Norris.
... He held it close to his leg and fired a bullet straight through his kneecap and stood back and listened to his wail.
... “You scream like a pussy,” he said. “This here’s a shoot up.”

...Then he kicked his knee so hard blood gushed and jetted from it in some dark pulse of misery.
... Soda walked over to Flake and kicked his elbow until it snapped in so many places his arm hung ragged from his side.
... “We’s gonna teach you,” Bruton said and there was something in his eyes they could not fathom or understand as he walked towards them and held his gun to Norris’s ear and blew it away. “Ever considered why shooting straight is a metaphor for honesty? No? I’ll tell you why. Because when you stand in front of a man like I am with you and you blow him away, it’s an honest kill, something you wouldn’t know about.”
... Flake was trying to get to his feet and Bruton walked over to him.
... He had an arm on the back of a chair and he was trying to stand up when Bruton kicked his legs out from under him and stamped on his face.
... Then he opened his mouth and placed his gun within it so that it rested against the inside of his cheek and he shot a hole through it.
... Flake lay there with his face turned inside out and tried to speak.
... Pascal kicked him and said, “Shut the fuck up,” while Bruton took down some vinegar and lifted off the cap and handed it to Al. He nodded in Flake’s direction.
... Al walked over to him and tipped the entire contents of the bottle into his wound and they listened to his screams fade in the still house.

...Under cover of the noise Norris was trying to get to the door when Soda grabbed him by the collar and heaved him back into the centre of the room. Bruton got hold of Norris and placed him side by side with Flake.
... They looked down at them and they seemed less than animal.
... Then they began firing.
... They pulled together and shot several rounds into Norris’s legs then Flake’s.
... Then they dragged them to their feet.
... The two men collapsed instantly.
... “Do you find that funny?” Bruton said, leaning into them.
... “Funny?” Norris said.
... “We do.”
... “You made your point.”
... “Shut up,” Bruton said.
... “Yeah, shut up,” Al said, kicking him hard in the chest.
... Then they opened fire again and shot them through the arms until they were like ragged bits of meat hanging from their shoulders.
... Bruton opened the kitchen drawers and removed their butchers’ knives.
... “You like carving up a steak, do you? Let’s see how you carve up.