Once I stepped into the backyard, I lifted my handkerchief over my mouth and nose and peeked inside the tub. It amazed me to see that three bodies had been reduced to a giant tub of chunky soup. Some of the chucks were large like sides of beef, but I doubted that any of these men could be identified by what was left of them. Did acid eat away the teeth and bones too? I wanted to ask Aaron, but I thought I’d hit my quota of weird shit to ask him.
I’d seen the two motorcycles Aaron kept inside his garage because that was where he had set up my treadmill, but I had no idea what he kept in the small shed behind his house that was always locked until tonight. It was where he kept the four-wheeler and his killing supplies. His man cave slash kill house, I supposed.
Aaron hooked the wheeled metal tub of chunky human soup to the back of his four-wheeler. He secured a large metal door over the tub to keep the toxic contents from splashing out. Once he’d accomplished that task, he climbed onto the four-wheeler and patted the area behind him on the seat. I hopped onto the back of the ATV with him.
Aaron drove us deep into the crowded, dark depths of wavy trees. I sat behind him on the humming motorized vehicle, hugging his waist like we were on some type of dark date that twisted minds like ours would enjoy. Occasionally, I’d glance back at the tub of sloshing flesh bouncing behind us. Although Aaron had covered it, I could still hear the slush of flesh inside the tub over the buzzing engine of the ATV.
Aaron instructed me to remain seated as I watched him dig a hole as deep as his shoulders and as wide as one of his outstretched arms. There was likely an easier way to do this, but I got the impression that Aaron liked the physical labor involved with doing it his way.
A large lantern that hung from the handlebar of the ATV provided more than enough light for Aaron to complete his task. It was obvious he had done this before. All the equipment he needed to get rid of a body was at his house, readily available. He also knew where to take the bodies and where to dig.
He removed the metal he’d covered the bodies with. The tub was affixed to some type of small carry trailer, built with a sliding mechanism that allowed the tub to lift so that he could dump the soupy contents into the hole with ease.
After everything was dumped and the tub was back in place, Aaron started the task of covering Chuck, Clint, and Dutch’s remains with dirt. Again, I waited to feel remorse, but it never came.