Born with Crack Spoons in their Mouths

Illy ran as fast as he could to where Rad said to meet him. Underneath the Dearson’s pass overhang there was a dead body! Rad was ready with two long sticks when Illy got there and they commenced poking the body. Its’ flesh moved turgidly, as if there were a time delay between impact, contact, and motion. Annoyed flies scattered from its’ open, bloody wounds along with the increasingly thick stank.
Rad coughed and covered his mouth with his shirt.
“That’s rank!”
Illy nodded and changed the subject.
“We should try to find out whodunit!”
The boys dropped their sticks beside the corpse and ran to Illy’s home for a magnifying glass. They almost bumped into Tracey so she bitched at them,
“watch it you little shits!” in passing. Illy collected his magnifying glass, bubble pipe, and placed his toy hardhat on Rad’s head. They sprinted back out to the stiff. Tracey was at work on the corner she’d had employ since her period.
They looked all around the body but found nothing. There were broken bottles, spent cigarettes, junkfood bags roaches and ants collected crumbs from, rocks and shells. With a heave and a ho they turned the body over.
“Eww there’s something on my hands!”
Rad wiped his palms on Illy’s shirt and they engaged in a slap fight. Once the giggling settled down they returned to work. The dead man clutched flowers to his stomach.
“To Marie’s Potpourri!” announced Illy.
The boys raced each other to Marie’s Potpourri, the local flower shop.
“Hey Marie!”
“MARIEEEE!”
The boys called to the woman at the counter, an arms-length away.
“What is it boys?”
“You see a guy come in and buy some flowers?”
…
“Well, did you -huh!?”
“Are you boys looking for someone?”
“No we found someone ou-” Rad covered Illy’s mouth “that’s official investigator’s business ma’m. We just need you to answer the question”.
“Yes a guy came into my flower store and bought flowers.”
”I knew it! I knew it!” Rad was jumping up and down.
“Did he have any enemies?” Illy probed.
“Illy, I was just kidding. I sell flowers to gentlemen all the time; I don’t know who you boys are talking about. Now will you please go play, you’re holding up the line.”
The best friends forever turned to see three customers had patiently and silently qued behind them. They ran out of the store.
“Hey waitaminute!”
“You forget something?”-Illy
“You keep an eye on anyone coming out of here, they might be in on it. I’ll check our victim’s pockets.”
Rad ran back to the John Doe he’d found when stone-skipping. There was a wallet, chapstick, pocket knife, and ring in his pockets. Rad checked those cold clammy hands and found no ring on them.
Screech!
A black van nearly hit him turning the corner by the flower shop. Tracey ran over.
“Rad! That van just took Illy!”
Rad turned around and ran after it. His lungs burned, his clothes clung to him from sweat, his feet slapped the ground and he took the hat off because it was giving him a headache. The van pulled into the alley by Entenberry and Rad caught his breath on a wall.
A large-framed nerdy-looking man opened the back of his van.
“WHAT’D YA PUT ME IN THERE FOR?! I WANTED TO RIDE UP FRONT! YA AIN’T TOLD ME ANY ANSWERS WHAT’S, what is pertinent to my investigation!”
“I will kid, I will. Just quiet down. I can only tell you inside where it’s safe.”
“Nah, screws to you. You don’t know nothin. Get –HANDS OFF ME! I SAID-” the head of an axe passed through the man’s foot and lodged into the ground with some sparks.
“Rad!”
“Let’s go buddy!”
The man hobbled after them, screaming incoherently as he stumbled on a bright gushing stump. His red face went white as he leaned on his van for support, downcast.
“Hey you!” Illy addressed a corner-boy. “There’s someone after us! You gotta help!”
“Psh. I don’t have time to play right now: I’m on the clock.”
“Ya gotta help us!”
“Who would be after you?”
“Some jerk who told me he’d help with the investigation if I got in his van.”
The boss of that corner told his fellow teen to tell those kids to leave. The teen was pushing them back towards the alley when he saw the man laying down by his van, a trail of dark seeped into the gravel leading back to the axe and his toes.
“Shit!” The teen turned back to his boss. “We got a problem we have to clean up!”
“What the fuck you talking about?”
“Some guy’s bleeding out right dere.”
The boss took a look.
“Alright, I’ll take him to the graveyard. You watch the corner.”
The boss drove away with an axe, the foot-filled front of a shoe, and a man gaining his second wind in the back of a stolen van.
“Where’re you taking me?” asked Rad.
“We should celebrate solving the mystery!”
“How did we solve it?”
“Stupid! That guy you chopped’s obviously the killer.”
“You think so?”
“I know so!”
They went to Chen’s Dollar store and Illy used his allowance to buy some gum for the both of them. It was getting dark and firecrackers were already going off so they both went home.