Star light, star bright. First star, I see tonight, Frank said, sharing a cigarette with Meg in the McDonald’s parking lot.

What do you wish for? Meg asked.

Not sure.

Gotta wish for something. Money. A joint. A hit. Maybe a bump. Or maybe just to be clean? You ever think of that?

For a brief second I did last night when I saw that body laying there.  Oozing blood. Silent. Eyes wide open. Staring at the ceiling. 

How do you think I felt?

Yeah. Did he die on top of you?

I think so. Off to the side. He was inside me. Let out a moan. Died.

Wow. Never had that happen.

They laughed. Frank pulled out a small bottle of poppers and dipped a clove cigarette into the liquid and lit it. The flame shot into the night air. He sucked on it and passed it to Meg. Their heads were soon spinning, staring at each other. Colors ran from the McDonald’s sign. Voices from the drive-through sounded foreign, slow tongued, the buzz lasted a while.

It’ll do, Frank said. This shit will do.

Yeah. It will.

They walked back to the house hand in hand. Knowing that Ben would be up. Waiting to get rid of the body. An old Palestinian man whose license said New Jersey on it. Frank began singing The Cure song Killing An Arab. They both smiled.

As they approached the house, the two looked at it as they never had before. This old abandoned, condemned house was their home. Silence. They looked on in silence before entering. Unlocked hands. And walked inside where Ben was waiting.

It’s 3:53 in the morning here in New York. You’re listening to WKCR. 89.9 on your FM dial. Now we’re going to play some Lonnie Smith. Lonnie Smith on the Hammond B3. Time is 3:56.

OK, Frank. We’ll move him out the back door. You want feet or shoulders?

Doesn’t matter.

Fine. I’ll grab the feet. Meg. Go see if anyone’s out there. We’ll lay him as far as we can drag him. OK. Ready? Let’s go.

Dead weight. The body sunk in the middle. His ass drug on the floor and then the pavement in the alley where rats roamed and opossum played. Smells of rotted food and feces. Spoiled lettuce.

They dropped the body down the way and never looked back. Leaving a man behind with a wife, children, a mortgage, a job, and a loss of faith.