Apocalypsis 01 - Kahayatle

piece of paper from the nearby counter.  
    “Read it.”
    “To whom it may concern … my name is William.   My sister’s name is Rachel.   Dis business used to be ownedt by our parents before dey died.   Rachel is really sick.   She has leukemia and is dying a very painful death.   She asked me to end it for her and I finally agkreed.   But I know dat once I do it, I won’t want to be here alone, so I’m going to go with her.”   Bodo paused a moment to clear his throat.   I could tell it was starting to constrict on him, choking him with the emotions he was trying to hold back.   I was suffering the same problem.   “She doesn’t know it, and I didn’t tell her, because if she knew I planned to shoot myself too, she would change her mind and refuse to let me end her suffering.   And I know she really wants to go, so I don’t want to stop her.   But I wanted someone to know what happened so dey wouldn’t think I was just some crazy murderer.   I love my sister.   She’s all I have left.   So thanks for reading dis.   Take whatever you want.   The keys for da boats are in da cash register.   Sincerely, William.”
    Halfway through the letter, my throat was hurting with the ache of unshed tears.   By the time Bodo was done - his own voice having gone scratchy and heavy with sadness - I had begun to cry.  
    Bodo came from behind the counter and around the back of the shelves to join me by the window again.  
    He stood there in front of me for a few seconds before I said, “I’ve changed my mind about that hug.”
    He reached out and pulled me to him tightly, dropping his face down to rest his chin on the top of my head.  
    I put my arms around his back, grabbing his shirt and squeezing it in my fists as I cried.   “Why does everything have to suck so much?” I asked through my tears.
    “It’s not all bad, Bryn.   Dey have peace now.   Dey’re togedder now and with no more pain or suffering.   It’s better dat way for dem, I think.”
    “Maybe we should just do it, too.   Suicide pact.   End all the bullshit.”
    He squeezed me harder.   “No, don’t say dat.   We stick togedder, we make a new life.   It will be good, I promise.   I take care of you, you take care of me, and togedder we take care of Peter.   Okay?”   He pulled away and took my head in his hands, forcing me to look at him.
    I reached up quickly to wipe the snot off my face, trying to look down, but he wouldn’t let me.   He was earnestly staring in my eyes, forcing me to respond.
    “Fine,” I said sullenly, not ready to agree to a new life with so much hope in it.
    “I don’t belief you.   You’re chust trying to make me go away.”
    I smiled in spite of myself.   “Yeah.   I am.   Go away, would you?”
    “No way,” he said, pulling me in for another hug.   “I finally got you to hug me.   Now I’m going to be like a litch.”
    “What’s a litch?” I said into his smelly shirt.
    “You know, a litch.   Dat thing like a snail dat sucks your blood and doesn’t come off.   From da water.”
    “Oh, a leech.”
    “Dat’s what I said.   A litch.”
    I laughed, pushing him away from me.   “You smell.   Go away.”
    “To smell me is to luff me.”
    “I’m pretty sure that’s not how the saying goes, Bodo.”
    He moved to go back around the shelves.   “New world, new sayingks.”
    I kept smiling, avoiding looking over at William and Rachel on the floor.   Instead I focused on the piles of canned goods that lined the shelves, grabbing them and throwing them out the window.  
    “Here you go, Peter!” I said.   “Get as many on the trailer as you can.”
    “Okay!”
    I could hear him moving around out there so I put the rest of the cans and other things on the windowsill instead, attempting to avoid clunking him on the head by accident.
    His face appeared in the opening as he grabbed two cans of green beans.   “Wow, this is cool.   We can load an entire canoe just with canned goods.”
    “Yeah, this stuff can hold us over until we figure out how to kill animals to eat or fish or whatever,” I said, not exactly relishing the idea of doing that but knowing it was going to be necessary.  
    “Maybe we can get Bodo to do that part,” whispered Peter conspiratorially.
    “I hope so,” I said, winking at him.  
    “So what’s the deal with the dead people?” he asked.
    “I’ll tell you later.   It’s sad.”
    Peter studied my face a little closer.