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<v Speaker 1>Dinosaurs by Tom Franklin. On the day he saw the rhinoceros,

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<v Speaker 1>Steadman woke in an hour before dawn in the living

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<v Speaker 1>room and in the dark, he stared at the fish

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<v Speaker 1>tank for so long as coffee grew cold. Something the

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<v Speaker 1>end of a dream. Maybe it nagged him and left

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<v Speaker 1>him uncertain and pensive. The house seemed too small, so

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<v Speaker 1>he loaded his equipment and he left early. Soon, the

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<v Speaker 1>knobby buckshot tires of his truck were humming comfortably along.

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<v Speaker 1>The Interstate mobile was behind him, Montgomery far ahead, the

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<v Speaker 1>gas station signs at every exit, colorful smudges in the fog.

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<v Speaker 1>He drove a company pickup, a big silver Ford F

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<v Speaker 1>two point fifty with four old wheel drive he rarely

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<v Speaker 1>had to use. On the back glass, he'd attached green

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<v Speaker 1>peace decal. He knew the gas guzzling truck and the

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<v Speaker 1>sticker contradicted each other, but Steedman had been at odds

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<v Speaker 1>with himself lately, a bit distracted. He nearly missed his exit,

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<v Speaker 1>for example, and had to jab his brakes and swerve,

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<v Speaker 1>And soon he found himself on a quiet, unfamiliar two lane,

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<v Speaker 1>with the eight o'clock sun hazy over the trees. Where

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<v Speaker 1>had the miles gone. Lines of barbed wire and redtail

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<v Speaker 1>hawks on fence posts, cattle licking dark salt blocks. Occasionally

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<v Speaker 1>he'd pass a rusty harrow kudzu climbing its spikes, and

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<v Speaker 1>think of his father, a retired geologist who lived refurbishing

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<v Speaker 1>antique tractors, now in a nursing home. He called Stedman

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<v Speaker 1>more and more, but he remembered him less and less.

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<v Speaker 1>Kilpatrick Claire Station was a flat, gray cinder block lump

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<v Speaker 1>with a shed against the back and a faded green sign.

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<v Speaker 1>Beside two antique gas pumps stood the rhinoceros, giant head

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<v Speaker 1>lowered right, foot lifted as if it were pawing the ground.

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<v Speaker 1>Its purpose, Stedman guest, was to attract customers. But from

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<v Speaker 1>the looks of this dump, the rhino might soon be

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<v Speaker 1>out of a job, like you, pal Stedman thought, watching

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<v Speaker 1>old Kilpatrick suck on his unfiltered camel and glower through

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<v Speaker 1>the drug store reading glasses at the paperwork Stedman had

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<v Speaker 1>spread across the office desk. Above them, also glowering was

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<v Speaker 1>a dusty crow nailed to a piece of driftwood. We'll

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<v Speaker 1>get to it, the old man said, I ain't got

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<v Speaker 1>all day. Even his breath smelled like gasoline. Your underground tanks,

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<v Speaker 1>Stedman began, Where you store your fuel? I know what

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<v Speaker 1>they are. Steadman unfolded a pamphlet that explained corrosion in

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<v Speaker 1>simple turns. Did you know they've probably been leaking for years?

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<v Speaker 1>Kilpatrick stubbed out a cigarette and a clamshell ashtray. He

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<v Speaker 1>lit another and smoked while Steedman gave his usual pitch.

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<v Speaker 1>How the storage tanks needed a leak detection system, or,

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<v Speaker 1>according to federal regulations, there'd be no choice but to

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<v Speaker 1>shut down the station. At best, if the tanks were secure,

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<v Speaker 1>leaked detection wells could be installed for around a grand net. Worst,

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<v Speaker 1>Kilpatrick's tanks would have to be excavated and replaced with

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<v Speaker 1>the new EPA approved above ground units, a cost of

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<v Speaker 1>several thousand dollars. When Steedman finished, there was a long silence,

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<v Speaker 1>which he finally broke with his usual remark about doing

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<v Speaker 1>good for the environment. The environment. Kilpatrick snatched off his

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<v Speaker 1>class take you a good look out the window yonder

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<v Speaker 1>at the environment. Steadman gathered his papers politely and closed

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<v Speaker 1>his briefcase. Outside the hot white sky and the two

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<v Speaker 1>lane black top, the distant pine trees, no house or

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<v Speaker 1>building in sight, just the rhinoceros baking in the sun.

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<v Speaker 1>When Studman returned two days later, he always gave customers

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<v Speaker 1>time to check his background. Kilpatrick was smoking and leaning

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<v Speaker 1>against the rhinoceros with his arms folded. He wore baggy

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<v Speaker 1>coveralls black with oil. What he would do first, Steadman explained,

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<v Speaker 1>unloading his hand auger, was dig holes around the underground

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<v Speaker 1>tanks for soil samples. I'll go down a few feet,

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<v Speaker 1>he said, and that's where we'll find your contamination. The Augur,

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<v Speaker 1>stainless steel extendable to twelve feet, was warm from the sunlight.

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<v Speaker 1>Kilpatrick squinted at the corks screw blades. You planned to

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<v Speaker 1>dig with that thing by hand? Steadman shouldered the auger.

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<v Speaker 1>You want to show me where your tanks are buried?

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<v Speaker 1>Kilpatrick nodded toward the right side yard of the station

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<v Speaker 1>and then limped over the concrete and went into the

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<v Speaker 1>glass office and eased himself into a folding chair. Steedman

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<v Speaker 1>watched him open the coke machine and fanned the cool

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<v Speaker 1>air into his collar, and then draw a budweiser from

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<v Speaker 1>the rack and prow off the lid with a bottle

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<v Speaker 1>opener from his coveralls pocket. Round the building was a

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<v Speaker 1>jungle of grass, bitter weed, and briars, out of which

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<v Speaker 1>stuck two four inch dimeter pipes with padlock caps. The

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<v Speaker 1>porch used for measuring and filling the underground tanks. Steedman

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<v Speaker 1>leaned the auger against the wall, walked over and gave

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<v Speaker 1>each pipe a solid kick. He knelt and he sniffed him,

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<v Speaker 1>and then took hold of the left one and started

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<v Speaker 1>working it back and forth. After a minute he had

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<v Speaker 1>the pipe wiggling, and soon it came out of the

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<v Speaker 1>dirt in his hands, a foot long length, not connected

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<v Speaker 1>to anything. He tossed it in the air and caught it.

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<v Speaker 1>Kilpatrick wasn't the first station owner to pull something like this.

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<v Speaker 1>They do anything to knock him off. The scent and

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<v Speaker 1>their bullshit usually helps subdue his guilt at closing them down.

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman dropped the pipe and collected the auger and walked

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<v Speaker 1>behind the building, past the rusty trailer in the rickety shed.

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<v Speaker 1>The dirt back here was stained with oil. Kilpatrick could

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<v Speaker 1>be fined if Steedman chose to report him. Greasy shapes

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<v Speaker 1>lay scattered about transmission housings caked with grime, torque converters,

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<v Speaker 1>leaky oil filters, and stacks of cracked car batteries. There

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<v Speaker 1>was an old bathtob full of greenish water, and an

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<v Speaker 1>anvil with a dog skull on it on the other

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<v Speaker 1>side of the station. Steedman kicked away way a milk

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<v Speaker 1>crake to reveal two rusty ports, the real ones locked

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<v Speaker 1>with combination locks. He chose a spot a few feet

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<v Speaker 1>east and took hold of the auger's T shaped handle,

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<v Speaker 1>and he began twisting. The ground was hard and rocky,

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<v Speaker 1>but Stedman's arms were hard, his skin browned from digging

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<v Speaker 1>hundreds of holes through the miles of gravel in the

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<v Speaker 1>hot sun hell. With the gas powered jackhammer in his toolbox,

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<v Speaker 1>not even concrete would stop him. His smart ass coworkers

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<v Speaker 1>called him the lust leaky underground storage tanks Man. Steadman

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<v Speaker 1>couldn't imagine a less suited acronym. He found nothing lusty

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<v Speaker 1>about gasoline contaminating the groundwater, and he hadn't lusted for

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<v Speaker 1>anybody or anything in a long long time. He'd been

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<v Speaker 1>given this nomadic grunt work as punishment for his behavior

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<v Speaker 1>on his last project at the Civil Engineering firm, which

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<v Speaker 1>specialized in hazardous waist clean up. He'd been he geologist

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<v Speaker 1>in the remediation of a large chemical plant. On his

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<v Speaker 1>first day, he learned that for years the plant had

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<v Speaker 1>been dumping blood red chemical byproducts into the Alabama River.

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<v Speaker 1>Now this was no surprise, but what pissed him off

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<v Speaker 1>was that each morning, two clueless black workers without safety

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<v Speaker 1>gear had been sent out in a motor boat to

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<v Speaker 1>net the dead fish floating on the surface. Steedman, before

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<v Speaker 1>several laborers restrained him, had nearly shoved the plant engineer

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<v Speaker 1>into the river. He was three feet into his fourth hole,

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<v Speaker 1>the dry dirt growing softer farther down, when the cellular

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<v Speaker 1>phone in his truck chirp, Happy birthday to me. His

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<v Speaker 1>father's dry voice sang off key. After two choruses, Steedman

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<v Speaker 1>interrupted him, It's not your birthday yet. Hell, I know that, boy,

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<v Speaker 1>It's tomorrow. Tried December, Steedman said, five more months. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>knock off the bull crap and give me a hint squirt.

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman sat on the tailgate, remembering that two days ago

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<v Speaker 1>had been his mother's birthday. She'd been dead six years,

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<v Speaker 1>and this wasn't the first year he'd forgot Dad. He said,

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<v Speaker 1>are you okay? Do the nurses know you're on the phone?

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<v Speaker 1>A to hell with them? It's not their fiftieth, it's

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<v Speaker 1>not yours either. Steeddman thought his father was seventy eight.

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<v Speaker 1>This was the first year in the home. Bigger than

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<v Speaker 1>a shoebox. I hope his father said, what is my present?

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<v Speaker 1>That goddamn dog you gave me last year must have

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<v Speaker 1>run off. The dog was a black lab, a gift

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<v Speaker 1>from Steedman's mother had died of old age a decade ago.

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman moved the phone to his other ear. He recalled

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<v Speaker 1>that on trips into the country, his father had always

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<v Speaker 1>picked up hitchhikers, but made them right in the back

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<v Speaker 1>of the truck with the dog. Dad. Steedman said, now listen,

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<v Speaker 1>I've got one for you. Crows easy a murder. This

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<v Speaker 1>was a childhood road game. His father used to name

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<v Speaker 1>an animal, and Stedman was supposed to give its group's

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<v Speaker 1>title an army of frogs, a parliament of owls, like

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<v Speaker 1>that turtles. Steedman said, Let's see, his father would do

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<v Speaker 1>this all day, like a dog who never tired of

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<v Speaker 1>fetching a bell. How about Stedman looked over by the

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<v Speaker 1>gas pumps rhinoceroses a pause, and Steedman pictured his father,

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<v Speaker 1>who still wore the safety glasses required by his last job.

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<v Speaker 1>He'd be standing at the payphone in his blue jump suit,

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<v Speaker 1>right hand tapping his ample belly, probably wearing his steel

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<v Speaker 1>toe work shoes too. A pride, he said, pride of rhinos.

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<v Speaker 1>Behind Stedman. The door slammed, and kill Patrick came limping

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<v Speaker 1>around the building, carrying his folding chair in a six pack.

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<v Speaker 1>He suddenly looked smaller. Stedman stood up, Dad, I'm gonna

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<v Speaker 1>call you later. Kill Patrick opened the chair and sat

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<v Speaker 1>in a narrow strip of shade the building offered and

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<v Speaker 1>watched and drank as Steedman resumed digging, twisting the augur

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<v Speaker 1>deeper into the ground. He thought he could smell gas already,

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<v Speaker 1>regular divining ride. Ain't you, kill Patrick said, crossing his legs.

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<v Speaker 1>He didn't have socks, which bothered Steedman, like the smelly

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<v Speaker 1>bastard was on vacation. I do declare, he said, You

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<v Speaker 1>plumb determined to shut me down, ain't you? Stedman wiped

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<v Speaker 1>the sweat from his eyes. You know what, if you

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<v Speaker 1>want the truth, I'd rather not the hell, kilk Patrick said,

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<v Speaker 1>you so goddamn eager to rearin a fellow's living. You'll

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<v Speaker 1>find some gas in the ground. If you have to

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<v Speaker 1>pump it in their young damn self, that'll be my

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<v Speaker 1>last sale, he said to the sky. Three gallons for

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<v Speaker 1>this here, smart alect to pour in the dirt. You

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<v Speaker 1>try it on over here, Steedman said, Stick your snout

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<v Speaker 1>in this hole and see what you smell. Kil Patrick

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<v Speaker 1>stubbed out his half smoked cigarette and put it behind

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<v Speaker 1>his ear. Stedman stepped aside and rubbed his biceps. As

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<v Speaker 1>the old man came over and squatted. He steadied himself

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<v Speaker 1>on the auger handle, which stood upright like a detonator.

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<v Speaker 1>He made a loud sniffing noise. What do you smell there,

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman asked, not a thing? How about that? Steedman stooped

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<v Speaker 1>beside Killpatrick. I declare, if I don't smell gas, well shit,

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<v Speaker 1>Kilpatrick said, and he belched. You smell what you want

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<v Speaker 1>to smell. If you were lonely enough, you'd smell a

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<v Speaker 1>girl down in that hole. I don't guess you'd strike

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<v Speaker 1>your lighter and hold it there, Steedman said, taking the

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<v Speaker 1>old man's to help him up. Kilpatrick yanked his arm away.

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<v Speaker 1>Got me a boy, he said, played ball for Auburn.

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<v Speaker 1>If he was here today, he'd knock your dick in

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<v Speaker 1>the dirt and we'd let that goddamn handle there be

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<v Speaker 1>your grave marker, he stalked off, stopping to collect his

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<v Speaker 1>chair and his beer. The whole Stedman had been digging

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<v Speaker 1>was four inches across in three feet deep. The goods,

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<v Speaker 1>that's what his father had called, the petroleum deposits that

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<v Speaker 1>he'd found. Steedman knelt and took a handful of soil

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<v Speaker 1>and let it fall through his fingers. He longed to

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<v Speaker 1>touch something undeveloped and uncontaminated. His father used to come

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<v Speaker 1>home excited about a pocket of crude they'd hit. He

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<v Speaker 1>would kiss Mom on the lips, and then Scooper and

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman into his lap and tell them how the dinosaurs

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<v Speaker 1>had died mysteriously, how after millions of years fermenting in

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<v Speaker 1>the earth, they had become oil. As he fell asleep

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<v Speaker 1>those night, Stedman imagined himself a famous archaeologist in a

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<v Speaker 1>field jacket and a miner's light on his pith helmet

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<v Speaker 1>and a brush in his hand. Whisking away old dust

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<v Speaker 1>to uncover the prehistoric bones of an unknown species, a

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<v Speaker 1>rib cage the size of a ship's skull, a skull

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<v Speaker 1>big enough to sleep in. He got to his feet,

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<v Speaker 1>went to the truck after soil sample jars. Soon he

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<v Speaker 1>had them filled and neatly labeled. He brushed himself off,

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<v Speaker 1>and then got in the truck and pulled to the

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<v Speaker 1>pumps to buy a gas. If it hadn't all leaked out,

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<v Speaker 1>the phone rang. It was his father again, with the

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<v Speaker 1>right answer. A crash, God, damn it, a crash of rhinos.

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman said he'd called him back later. The unleaded pump

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<v Speaker 1>was slower than kilpatrick four cents, six cents, eight cents.

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman thought he'd been staring at the rhinoceros all day.

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<v Speaker 1>He's seen such thing as a kid on tractory excursions,

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<v Speaker 1>when he and his father stopped for gas each station

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<v Speaker 1>as they drove deeper and deeper into the country, stranger

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<v Speaker 1>than the one before. In those days, owners often tried

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<v Speaker 1>to attract customers with gimmicks. A two headed pig preserved

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<v Speaker 1>in a vat of alcohol, an albine old rattlesnake that

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<v Speaker 1>swallowed live possums, free choke taw airheads. Kilpatrick's rhino, though,

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<v Speaker 1>seemed more impressive, stretching past the regular gas pump on

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<v Speaker 1>one end and the unleted on the other. It was

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<v Speaker 1>almost as long as Steadman's truck, and nearly its breadth

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<v Speaker 1>with the pump running. He approached the rhino and touched

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<v Speaker 1>its flank, as gray and dry and rough as the

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<v Speaker 1>side of a mountain. He brought his fingers to his nose.

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<v Speaker 1>They smelled musty and leathery, a little oily, like an

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<v Speaker 1>old saddle. Clumps of stiff hair stuck out of the

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<v Speaker 1>rhinoceros leg joints and hung from its slung belly. Its

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<v Speaker 1>eyes were marble and sad and bovine, and Stedman imagined

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<v Speaker 1>it chewing grass in an African field. Egrets and wrens

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<v Speaker 1>across its broad shoulders and back. The lion or water

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<v Speaker 1>buffalo wandered too close, the rhino would toss its great

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<v Speaker 1>tank of a head, horns slicing through the air like

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<v Speaker 1>a scimitar. He slid his fingers down the slope of

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<v Speaker 1>its neck and along its stiff ears and the bony

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<v Speaker 1>eye ridges and the snout. The smaller lump like horn

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<v Speaker 1>and the larger, more formidable, curved horn. Something rose in

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<v Speaker 1>Stedman's chest and his fingertips tingled. It felt like he

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<v Speaker 1>was touching his own past. My boy done that, Kilpatrick said.

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<v Speaker 1>He stood in the office door with his hands in

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<v Speaker 1>his pockets. Got him a job in a carnival after

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<v Speaker 1>he tore up his knee playing ball at rhino died

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<v Speaker 1>in him and some of his friends clowns and midgets

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<v Speaker 1>and shit. They tied it on a trailer and stole

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<v Speaker 1>it before anybody could burn it, or whatever the hell

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<v Speaker 1>you do with a dead rhino. Kil Patrick chuckled that

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<v Speaker 1>crazy boy skinned it and mounted it. He weren't too smart,

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<v Speaker 1>but he was a swift running back and held on

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<v Speaker 1>wheels and taxidermy. Stedman pressed his shoulder against the rhinoceros's flank.

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<v Speaker 1>He could barely move it. It had small, delicate legs

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<v Speaker 1>in its feet except for the one lifted, were nailed

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<v Speaker 1>to wooden planks with inlets for a fork lift. What

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<v Speaker 1>is the way? Steedman asked, she the old man said,

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<v Speaker 1>joining him three point fifty. I reckon. My boy was

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00:17:42.920 --> 00:17:47.440
<v Speaker 1>a strong one. He could lift half of anything. Stedman whistled,

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<v Speaker 1>a wolf spider had laced a web between the rhino's horns.

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<v Speaker 1>He flicked the spotter off and pulled away the web.

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<v Speaker 1>Would you sell her, he asked, Kilpatrick snorted, reckon, I'm fixing.

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<v Speaker 1>I have to sell everything. He wiped his lips with

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<v Speaker 1>a black rag. Well, these folks pay a heap for

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00:18:08.079 --> 00:18:11.759
<v Speaker 1>that big horn by itself. Then poachers overseas said, if

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<v Speaker 1>you grind it up with powder, it's like giving a

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<v Speaker 1>woman a bucket of damn oysters. What if Steedman said,

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<v Speaker 1>I could let you keep your station, Kilpatrick regarded him,

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<v Speaker 1>I could rig something. Steedman said, you got to have

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<v Speaker 1>a leak detection. That's all there is to it. If

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<v Speaker 1>you don't, we'll both get caught. He studied the ground

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<v Speaker 1>at his feet, dirt he knew deep down was contaminated.

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<v Speaker 1>You couldn't guess what might happen below the top soil

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<v Speaker 1>when you mix things up. He'd work one project where

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<v Speaker 1>several tons of buried in secticide ways had been accidentally

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<v Speaker 1>discovered by a baiko. The sludge had eaten through the

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<v Speaker 1>metal barrels it had been stored in and mixed with

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<v Speaker 1>each other, and the minerals and the and they formed

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00:19:01.359 --> 00:19:06.400
<v Speaker 1>a strange new chemical combination. The unlucky backo driver had

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<v Speaker 1>died instantly from the murky green cloud that belched out

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00:19:10.079 --> 00:19:14.720
<v Speaker 1>of the ground. Stedman walked into the road, hazy with

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<v Speaker 1>heat as far as he could see, and for a

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<v Speaker 1>moment he thought a truck was coming, an eighteen wheeler,

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<v Speaker 1>but it was only a mirage. Shading his eyes dizzy

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<v Speaker 1>with heat, he barely heard the gas pump click off.

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<v Speaker 1>I guess you were right the first time, he told Killpatrick.

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<v Speaker 1>On the clean side of the station, where the tanks

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<v Speaker 1>weren't buried, Stedman placed the fake pipe he'd pulled out

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<v Speaker 1>of the ground. He used a sledge hammer to drive

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00:19:42.720 --> 00:19:45.559
<v Speaker 1>it deep, and then tamped the dirt tight with the handle.

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<v Speaker 1>He resumed with the augur and began digging the first

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<v Speaker 1>of four holes around the fake ports and then the

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00:19:52.400 --> 00:19:56.039
<v Speaker 1>widening strip of shade. Kill Patrick watched and drank beer

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<v Speaker 1>and smoked, and crossed and uncrossed his legs. His shirt off,

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman augured into the night. At about six feet down

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<v Speaker 1>groundwater started seeping into the holes. He saw it with

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<v Speaker 1>his flashlight, clear uncontaminated the goods. He kept digging. Kill

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<v Speaker 1>Patrick rose once and leaped toward him and handed him

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<v Speaker 1>a beer. The old man turned and walked several feet

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<v Speaker 1>away and took a leak while Stedman drank. Then he

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<v Speaker 1>came back for the empty bottle and returned to his chair.

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<v Speaker 1>In the distance, a coode began to howl, and kill

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<v Speaker 1>Patrick yelled shut up, and the howling stopped. Stedman finished

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<v Speaker 1>digging just after nine thirty in the bright moonlight. A

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00:20:44.319 --> 00:20:47.119
<v Speaker 1>car had passed a few minutes earlier, and only now

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00:20:47.160 --> 00:20:51.559
<v Speaker 1>did he comprehend it. It had slowed, and a black

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00:20:51.640 --> 00:20:55.079
<v Speaker 1>face peered out the open passenger window, and a black

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00:20:55.160 --> 00:21:00.920
<v Speaker 1>hand had waved. Had Stedman waved back at his truck,

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<v Speaker 1>He slid four eight foot long PVC pipes from the

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<v Speaker 1>side rack. Kilpatrick, who'd been napping, woke and said, what

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<v Speaker 1>are you up to now? These are your monitoring wells.

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00:21:13.400 --> 00:21:17.519
<v Speaker 1>Stedman grunted, twisting the pipe into the first hole. The

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<v Speaker 1>way they work is when I stick them in the ground,

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00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:23.880
<v Speaker 1>they fill up with water, and if the water is contaminated,

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00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:26.759
<v Speaker 1>like it probably is on the other side, it have

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<v Speaker 1>an oly sheen on the top. But over here, you

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<v Speaker 1>shine your flashlight in there, you'll just see clean water.

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<v Speaker 1>And if the EPA comes to check on you, these

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00:21:36.839 --> 00:21:41.279
<v Speaker 1>ones will be clear. Stedman forced the last pipe in

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<v Speaker 1>the ground until all but eight inches showed there, he said,

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<v Speaker 1>strewing on the cap. Now tomorrow I'll come pour seamen

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00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:52.960
<v Speaker 1>around here so nobody will be inclined to check your authenticity.

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<v Speaker 1>Kilpatrick's camel glowed. A strange sound came from the darkness.

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<v Speaker 1>It's a fart maybe, or a grunt of approval. One

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<v Speaker 1>more thing, Stedman said, disassembling the auger. Tomorrow that rhino

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<v Speaker 1>comes with me clean her up tonight. Kill Patrick said,

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<v Speaker 1>you can borrow my trailer. After a moment, the two

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<v Speaker 1>men shook hands. The next morning at the office, Steedman

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00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:25.480
<v Speaker 1>fed ex the jars of soil from a jar to

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<v Speaker 1>the lab in Savannah. The results would be back in

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<v Speaker 1>a week. He popped his head into his secretary's office

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<v Speaker 1>and told her that kill Patrick Sinclair's station had been

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<v Speaker 1>a bust, that the old man already had a leak detection.

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<v Speaker 1>Then he told her it was his father's birthday and

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<v Speaker 1>he was taking the day off. Ignoring her raised eyebrows,

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<v Speaker 1>Steadman walked down the hall and went outside to his

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00:22:50.359 --> 00:22:53.480
<v Speaker 1>truck and with eight bags of quick dry cement. He

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00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:58.160
<v Speaker 1>drove to kill Patrick's. The old man sat smoking in

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<v Speaker 1>his office beside an open coke machine. The unleaded gas

340
00:23:02.279 --> 00:23:06.880
<v Speaker 1>pump still showed the eighteen dollars Stedman had bought yesterday.

341
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<v Speaker 1>Kill Patrick jerked his thumb toward the back of the station.

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<v Speaker 1>The rhinoceros stood on the trailer, held tight by chains,

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<v Speaker 1>and come along. Kill Patrick walked out from under the shed,

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<v Speaker 1>hands in his pockets. He directed Stedman in backing the

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00:23:22.799 --> 00:23:26.400
<v Speaker 1>truck to the trailer. The rhino's skin was clean, its

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00:23:26.440 --> 00:23:29.960
<v Speaker 1>eyes polished and smelled of lice on. It looked ready

347
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:33.279
<v Speaker 1>to stalk those feet and break loose from the puny chains,

348
00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:38.000
<v Speaker 1>and come along and charge. Well, you say, kill Patrick said.

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<v Speaker 1>Steedman paused the bag of seaman on each shoulder. It's

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<v Speaker 1>cooler today, the old man squinted at the sky. Yeah, Mike, rain, Mike,

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<v Speaker 1>said Steedman. Steedman poured seamen around the wells, adding water

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<v Speaker 1>from a leaky garden hose, while Kilpatrick hitched the trailer.

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<v Speaker 1>Cigarette dangle from his lips now and again. He coughed.

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<v Speaker 1>When he'd finished, Steadman walked to the trailer. Kil Patrick

355
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<v Speaker 1>was wiring the trailer lights. How come your son gave

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00:24:11.519 --> 00:24:15.960
<v Speaker 1>you that rhino, Stedman asked. Kil Patrick didn't look up.

357
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<v Speaker 1>I don't remember, he said. Together they threw a tarp

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<v Speaker 1>across the rhinoceros, and then stepped back to inspect the job.

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<v Speaker 1>It seemed illegal and transporting something so large and so threatening,

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<v Speaker 1>But that worry was soon shrieking in Steedman's mirror as

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00:24:34.400 --> 00:24:37.119
<v Speaker 1>the truck kicked up dust enough to blot out kill

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<v Speaker 1>Patrick from sight. Hell of a lot bigger than a

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<v Speaker 1>shoe box, Steedman thought, picturing the rhino beside the azaleahs,

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<v Speaker 1>surrounded by old people at the nursing home, his father

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<v Speaker 1>among them, touching and stroking the dangerous beast with lust

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<v Speaker 1>in their fingertips. A birthday gift, ancient, faithful and unforgettable

367
00:24:59.480 --> 00:25:02.880
<v Speaker 1>birds to collect on the rhino's back, and Stedman knew

368
00:25:02.920 --> 00:25:08.039
<v Speaker 1>his father would impress everyone by identifying the birds. As

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<v Speaker 1>he drove away from Kilpatrick's Steedman pretended the rhino chased him, and,

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<v Speaker 1>like a child running at night, he went faster and faster,

371
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<v Speaker 1>but the rhinoceros stayed close behind, its eyes tiny and clear,

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<v Speaker 1>and its nose low, and its horn inches away from

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<v Speaker 1>Stedman's gas tank,