The Pipe Collector

A short story by Stephen J Stanner.

This story is set in a small village deep in a Columbian Forest. The village consisted of large huts, built from timber and mud gathered from the surrounding land. Many orphaned children were in the village due to encounters with other villages fighting for supremacy. My story focuses on two individuals: a small boy named Gomez, aged sixteen, nicknamed "The Fire Builder" by the villagers, and Rodriguez, the village leader.

Gomez was a tiny boy and extremely underweight. He was of thin build, and his legs looked like they could snap anytime. His face was potholed with a very dark complexion and scruffy features, and he wore a dirty white tee shirt, rag-tailed shorts, and strapless brown sandals. His hair was long, greasy and black and always tired in a ponytail hung over his left shoulder. He was generally a happy boy and well-liked by the villagers.

His stepfather Rodriguez was very different as he was a man who controlled the village through fear and intimidation. Rodriguez was in the business of producing tobacco and cocaine. Everyone called him "The Boss Man" by his request. He was a wealthy man. He stood six feet tall and always wore a clean white Shirt and Trousers with white socks and black sandals. He'd been attacked and shot several times. Each scar shown almost as a badge of honour when he bathed in the local stream which passed through the village,

His hair was neat, and he was always shaven. The woman in the village looked after all his every need, especially Gomez's mother. His voice sounded rough, like it came from deep inside his stomach. Rodriguez had a habit of smoking a pipe every evening. The elders made these pipes for the village.

Each evening, Gomez was to fetch a newly made pipe from the elders, pack it with tobacco, and have it lit for Rodriguez. He was keen to keep this habit quiet, as he thought it might make him look weak and told Gomez never to talk about his job to anyone. The tobacco he used was home-grown and had a distinctive smell of cocaine. Every evening, from age six, Gomez would make his way to the "The Boss Mans" hut at the head of the village. His hut was more significant than the other huts and well-kept. Gomez was to build and tend a fire before presenting Rodriguez with a newly made pipe every evening. Rodriguez never use the same pipe twice. Each night after being used the pipe would end up in the fire. Instead of letting them burn, unbeknownst to Rodriguez. Gomez had accumulated a large quantity of these pipes over the years. Each pipe was never the same design; they all had distinctive features, with long or short stems and distinct bowls to house the secret ingredients The Boss Man would smoke.

Gomez would spend the night at the "The Boss Mans Hut" until around three am in the morning, just sitting by the fire waiting to leave and listening to the sounds of Rodriguez blowing smoke and the odd coughing spell while waiting for permission to leave. Rodriguez was his stepfather, from the age of six; Gomez hated Rodriguez because of the beatings and abuse his mother used to get regularly for no reason at all.

Rodriguez was a dominating and demanding man and demanded his mother to do things she never wanted do. Rumour around the village was, that Rodriguez had arranged and killed Gomaz's father in a rage one drunken night. He would then clean out the fire and remove the ashes from an early age Gomez had started collecting the pipes his boss had used and which had been thrown in the fire; they were made from local clay which stopped them from being wrecked.

Thoughts ran through Gomez's mind on the odd occasion how he would plan revenge for his mother's suffering thinking long and hard how to kill Rodriguez. If his plans went wrong, he too would be killed like his father was. Gomez finally hatched a plan.

He was to use the pipe as a weapon. Knowing the surrounding area, he searched for a frog that he had used once before whilst hunting, the harlequin poison-dart frog a poisonous frog native to Columbia. A ground dwelling frog toxic and dangerous to manage. He knew poison can be obtained by stroking the frogs back, Gomez began collecting the poison and saved them on small lengths of twigs.

That evening he began wiping the new pipe with the poison. The poison has no odour and was tasteless. Before taking the deadly pipe to Rodriguez, Gomez packed what he owned along with over a thousand pipes into a dusty suitcase Most of the pipes were in tip-top condition because Gomez would spend hours cleaning them the best he could.

By accident, Gomez's mother found evidence of what he planned to do and pleaded with him not to do it. Gomez refused to listen to his mother and continued to carry out what he had planned.

He carried the poisoned pipe gently, which he had wrapped in cloth so as not to touch the pipe on his arriving to Rodriguez's hut. He lit the fire as usual and placed the pipe on the table. Rodriguez was in another room at the time.

Beads of sweat ran down Gomez's face, his heart thumping, his hands shaking. He tried to remain calm. Rodriguez entered the room and picked up the pipe as normal. He picked up a stick, and lit it from the fire, and began sucking on the contents from the pipe.

Gomez watched in anticipation. Suddenly, Rodriguez started coughing and choking. His face became blistered, with dark red boil-like sours covering his mouth. He leaned back in his chair, clutching his throat. Tears rolled down his face; “What's wrong?” Gomez asked feigning concern. “Quick, get the medicine man! Quick! he shouted.

Rodriguez fell to the floor, his mouth foaming and had a gooey white and red substance pouring out from his eyes, ears and nose. One final sizeable rattling cough, a horrible gurgling sound from his stomach like a burping sound. Suddenly it was all over. Rodriguez was dead.

Gomez knew he had to get rid of the body, he began dismembering Rodriguez to make it easy to carry. He loaded the body parts into a small wheelbarrow and headed to a place on the river that was full of piranha fish.

He didn’t notice, but he had left a blood trail from the cart to the river. At the riverbank Gomez crossed himself and whispered sorry. He then tipped the body parts into the river and pushed them under the water with a tree branch, Gomez sat down and watched as the fish devoured the parts of Rodriguez dismembered body.

The next morning his mother confronted him wanting to know what happened. ‘He’s gone now mother’ Gomez, murmured.