Exit Kingdom

hisbrother – just as his brother was born an antidote to so many strains of goodness. These things converge. They must.
    Moses walks past his brother into the desert.
    Get in the car, he says as he passes.
    Where you goin?
    I’ll be back.
    He walks towards the two slugs ambling towards them. He seems as though he would greet them, except in his outstretched hand is the blade. He topplesone of them with a kick and drives the blade
deep into the eye socket of the other. He twists the blade in the eye and shoves it as deep as he can with no leverage. A clear jelly runs down the cheek like congealed tears, and the slug falls
backwards.
    They are weak, these. They might have been wandering the desert together for years, brothers too, bonded in twitchy recognition of the baresthumanity.
    With one down he toys with the other, kicking it in its stomach and chest. He can feel the fragile bones breaking with each blow.
    Without knowing what he means, he says under his breath: You ain’t one of me. You ain’t one of me. Then: I’m sorry. I’m sorry.
    He is soon out of breath, and the slug barely moves, opening and shutting its jaw with the hope that some meaty partof Moses Todd himself will find its way between those teeth.
    Finally, Moses kicks the slug to turn it over on its belly, puts the point of the blade at the base of the skull and drives it upwards into the brain.
    Then everything is still. And Moses can feel his own heart. And everything is still – as with waiting.
    Later in the afternoon, driving slow along the desert road, just aboutat the crest of a faint hill, Moses pulls the car over again and gets out.
    What are we doin now? Abraham asks. You gonna whip my ass again?
    But Moses just stands by the side of the car, his hand shading his eyes, looking down on over the road behind them.
    We’re bein followed, he says.
    Abraham gets out and follows his brother’s gaze.
    I don’t see anything.
    Your vision isof a different sort. Get in.
    So what are we gonna do?
    Moses shrugs.
    *
    They drive further, making headway through the cactus-lands, passing quiet and slow through the rusted-out ghost towns, looking for aught of interest.
    That night, they set up camp out in the open where they will be able to see trouble coming from a distance. They will sleep in shifts, so one canhold vigil while the other rests. But not long
after dark, they see the headlights of a car approaching from the direction they came.
    The car slows and stops on the road near their campfire. A lone figure emerges and walks towards them.
    You best announce yourself, Abraham says and reaches for a pistol.
    I’m not carrying any weapons, the man says. He gets closer, and his face resolvesitself in the firelight. He is a tall man, gaunt but still strong, the fortitude of a steamroller
succumbing to rust and waste. A fortitude that
will
succumb but has not
yet
succumbed.
    Evenin, Moses says.
    Which one of you defiled that girl? the man says.
    You’re from them? Abraham asks. It was bought and paid for.
    The tall man looks at Abraham. He has his answer. Moses can seehis jaw clamp down, as though all his muscle were behind those teeth and he would gnaw his way through the world. Then the man
reaches into his pocket and pulls something out – a small brown cylinder. Moses can see it by the firelight, a prescription-medication bottle.
    You did us a service, the man says, and you have the right to compensation.
    He tosses the bottle to Moses, who catchesit. It is full to the top with pills.
    Amoxicillin, the man goes on. It’s the one thing we have more of than we need. It should be of some value wherever you’re going.
    Who are you, Abraham asks, her daddy?
    I’m a concerned citizen, he says to Abraham. They shouldn’t have offered her in the first place. You took her, that’s on us. But you didn’t have to defile her.
    Abraham looks athis brother and chuckles, as though to share in the quaint pedantry of this character before them. Moses says nothing and keeps his eyes on the man.
    That’s to pay you, the man says and points to the bottle in Moses’ hand.
    We already been paid, Moses says.
    No, the man says. It’s to compensate you for the renege of our deal.
    What renege? Abraham says. What’s he talkin about?
    This renege, the man says and strikes suddenly, punching Abraham hard on the jaw. Abraham goes down with an expression of stunned disbelief that quickly turns to animal fury. Then he’s
back up and flailing his arms at