The Meat Shoppe

Here's a story a bit more odd than usual. Again, experimenting with different genres.

Tony tied his blood-splattered apron on as he walked out the restroom. The light flickered as he exited as if it was begging him to stay inside its tiled walls, but he quickly flipped the switch off and walked out of the room. He made his way, passing the boxes of new shipment that just arrived early that morning, whistling the same song he does every day for the last 30 years he has worked in his quaint abattoir. It was a special slaughterhouse, filled with exotic meats that only the elite class could afford, but that was what Tony enjoyed about his business. Through his specialty meats, Tony was able to meet hundreds of the wealthiest beings in the local county; sometimes if he was lucky, he would be treated to a foreigner who heard of his shop only through a friend of a friend.

            Just as he entered the front counter, away from the blood and carcasses, the bell on his door rang as a middle-aged suited man strolled into the building and went straight for the counter where Tony watched him carefully. He analyzed the man’s suit: approximately a twenty dollar suit he picked up from a currently out-of-business thrift store. He could tell from the way the pants didn’t match the jacket and how the sleeves frayed at the ends. Also, the man’s watch was fake and the shoes were unpolished. He was definitely not going to buy anything special, probably just a couple of rib-eyes or at best a ham leg.

            “How may I help you today, sir?” coaxed Tony in his most friendly face.

            “I will just have a couple of rib-eyes today” snapped the man. Tony paused, frozen for a few seconds.

            “Coming right up.” Chided Tony.

            Another customer paced into the room. Tony immediately recognized him as Raul. He was a regular to Tony’s shop, coming to his store about once a week. He slammed the two steaks on the scale, making the man jump slightly. Raul giggled.

            “How’s it going, my good friend?” he inquired in his usual raspy voice.

            “Ah, Raul, you are in for a good treat today” chuckled Tony as he handed the man his meats in exchange for a twenty. The man stared oddly at Tony.

            “Keep the change” he said slowly as he exited through the glass doors, the bell ringing once again.

            “Did he"“ started Raul.

            “No, no, no” interrupted Tony, “even if he wanted some. It’s not like he could’ve paid for it. But, you, my good man, I got something special for you.”

            “Oh yeah? ‘Cause the last slab you gave me was superb, man, absolutely superb.”

            “Thanks, but today’s is better. Just killed her this morning. She’s a beauty, this one. Your wife looking better yet?”

            “Yeah, the wrinkles are starting to go away.”

            “You know the drill, come this way.”

            Tony lead him behind the counter and into the backroom where he kept all his specialty meats.

            “I tell you,” Raul narrated, “ever since I first came here, I was a bit skeptical of your methods. But the results. The results are all that matters, and, by God, these results are undeniable. She’s never been the same ever since I fed her the first cut of thigh you handed me.”

            Tony smiled at his friend as they descended the dark staircase. “Say, what color hair is this one?” Raul inquired.

            “Red” replied Tony, “red like the blood that flows in you right now.”

            “No way. You managed to breed a red one?”

            “Took me a while to find one that would yield red hair, but I did”

            “How potent do you think she will be?”

            “The most potent I’ve ever sold”

            Raul paused as he reached the bottom of the staircase and pretended to muse to himself, “Hmm, maybe it will make me dump my side girl…”

            Tony glanced back with a toothy grin. “Likely story, Raul.”

            They finally arrived at a large freezer door with a lock around the handle. Tony lifted it with one of his black-gloved hands and with the other he placed the key into the hole delicately. A rusted metallic sound resonated in the damp hallway as the door edged open. A sudden waft of raw meat filled Tony’s nostrils as he greedily snorted the iron air. Beyond the silver gateway, past the threshold was a frozen wasteland of about 50 carcasses with ranging ages, genders and colors; however, in the center of the room, leaning against a pillar, was one particular slab. It had bright red hair that stood out in the white wintery room.

            “Is that her?” Raul asked in wonderment, although he already knew the answer.

            “Absolutely” Tony smiled, “want her?”

            Raul went in for an inspection of his potential dinner, sniffing in certain areas, poking at the breasts, feeling her hips. He knelt down next to her face and studied her body up close. He rubbed his nose on her neck, feeling the essence of her cold, dead body enter his lungs, diffuse through the walls of his alveoli, and become a part of his body forever. For a half second, he felt completely energized, as if he went back in time ten years and was thirty-one again.

            “How much?” Raul demanded.

            “A hundred-thousand,” Tony coldly replied.

            Raul reached into his back pocket and produced a black leather wallet. He hypnotically handed his credit card to Tony as his eyes stayed fixated on the young girl in front of him.

            “How would you like her prepared?” asked Tony.

            “A half of her ground. And the rest of her as is. Leave the head in the bag.” demanded Raul.

            “As you wish, my good friend, as you wish.” Tony lifted the dead body on his shoulders and carried it to the grinding room as Raul waited in the freezer. He watched the door that Tony entered as he heard all the lovely sounds of a table saw, cutting through frozen flesh. He closed his eyes and smiled as the bodies around him stared at the center of the room around him.

Author's Note

This is not edited yet, so if you could give some advise on what I can do to fix any errors, that would be great. How do you think I handled the subject?

Reviews

[Coyote Poetry]

A very interesting tale. The story got stronger and better with each line. A butcher can make anything into hamburger and into tasty meat. The story was short. But could be extended to a amazing story. Thank you for sharing the excellent story.
Coyote

[selkietales]

This is really neat :) I'd kind of guessed it might be people when he spoke of special meat, but now I'm not sure. She sounded human, but he bred her apparently and you don't become young from eating people, you get yellow skin. So now I really want to know what's going on exactly lol.
Editing side:
"Tony smiled at his friend as they descended the dark staircase. 'Say, what color hair is this one?'” That you used tony in the previous sentence and then don't specify Raul talking made it sound like Tony was the one speaking. When you have someone talk or change the subject like in this sentence it needs to be a new paragraph.
“'A hundred-thousand.' Tony coldly replied." Comma not period when transitioning from speaking to the tag or whatever it's called. Like this: "'A hundred-thousand,' Tony coldly replied."
“'As you wish, my good friend. As you wish.'” I think this would be better as just one sentence.
"The results are all that matters. And by God, these results are undeniable." Same with these, especially since you started the second sentence with "and" which is awkward.
There's some more minor stuff, but whatever.

[Skyy]

i liked it