Predatory Moon

Damn, that thing's heavy.

Think Karla put enough ice in here?

Well, you're the idiot that told her

we were takin' the boy fishin'.

Well, at least she packed some soda for him.

Nah, give one of those beers to Ronnie.

You sure about that, Dean?

Hell, I was about his age

when I had my first one.

Go ahead.

Go on, Ronnie, it's okay.

I won't tell your mom.

Um, thanks, Mr. Waters.

Don't worry about that.

You'll get used to it.

Just keep drinkin'.

So why did you bring your nephew?

I had to.

Ma's on that weekend trip with her church group,

and Kim won't be back for him until Tuesday.

Well, you better catch somethin' before I get back.

We will.

When you get back?

I'm headin' out now.

The bitch hates it when I'm late.

You're leavin' us out here?

Uh huh.

Didn't your Uncle Dean tell you

you'd be walkin' home?

He's just fuckin' with ya, Ronnie.

Frank here has got himself a sweet little lady friend

on the side that his wife don't know about.

So, why are we here?

Because Karla saw us leave with him,

and she'll see us with him when he gets back.

Oh, I get it.

You're a right smart boy, aren't ya?

Have fun babysittin'.

So how long will he be?

Few hours.

And we just sit here?

Yep.

Shouldn't we start fishing?

Have yourself another beer.

What the fuck?

Oh yeah?

Well bring it on, you crazy bitch.

I'm telling you, he's not here!

Now stop fucking calling me.

Hey there, sexy.

I know you're working the graveyard shift

but I thought we could get together

tomorrow at Mom's place.

I'll be waiting.

Still pretty good for your first time.

I feel really sick, Uncle Dean.

Frank will be here soon,

then we'll get you home and in bed.

My dad had a friend who used to make moonshine.

Fucking puked my guts everywhere

when I first had it.

But then he started mixing it with lemonade,

and I have never puked since.

Maybe we'll do that for you next time.

That sound good?

My stomach, it hurts real bad.

Aw, come on, you didn't have that much.

You had, what, maybe two?

Tell you what,

you stay here,

I'll go to the road and see if I can get us

a ride home, okay?

Dean?

Hey, buddy, you okay?

What?

It's me, Cob.

You get lost out here?

No, I,

I don't know what the heck I'm doin' out here.

You gotta ease up on that bottle.

It'll be liable to.

Oh my God.

What happened to you?

I ran into somethin'?

Yeah, you got caught on somethin' real bad.

Probably one of those sharp branches.

We better get ya to a doctor right away.

No, no,

we, uh, gotta go get Ronnie first.

You brought the boy with you?

Your sister's gonna have your hide

if she smells any liquor on him.

Where's he at?

Um,

down the road.

Oh boy, come on.

Let me get ya up here.

All right. Oh my God.

Ronnie?

Ronnie?

You can come out now.

We're gonna take you home to your grandma's.

And you're sure you left him around here?

Yeah, see, there's our cooler right here.

All right, well, sit here a second.

Oh, look, there's his shoe.

He's probably passed out over there somewhere.

Ah, Dean.

I'll go get him.

Oh.

Oh my God.

Oh, Ronnie.

Hello, Patty?

Yeah, I need to talk to the sheriff right away.

Yes, right away.

Ah, no you don't.

Damn, how can you have so much energy

comin' off the late shift?

I sleep in the car.

Bad guys don't mind.

I think you're the baddest guy in town.

Do you?

If the sheriff's calling before noon

then it's something important.

The sheriff?

But he's not even your boss.

Yeah, well if I wanna finalize this transfer

then he kinda is.

Don't worry, I'll be runnin' things soon here.

For now, I just gotta keep the old man happy.

Well then, maybe I should just call someone else.

I bet Robert's up, too.

You know I'm just playing with you.

I wouldn't.

I gotta take this.

Good morning, sir.

No, I'm not at my house, I'm at.

You're kiddin' me.

You weren't kiddin' about how nasty

this one is.

Where in the hell you been?

Patty's been tryin' to ring you at home all mornin'.

I was with someone, Sheriff.

You best get Patty that cell number of yours.

Took me over 40 minutes to get out here.

Would've taken you less than three.

Sorry, Sheriff.

Just get to it.

I'm sure you know the drill.

So what do you think?

Gator?

No.

Definitely a bear.

I've seen this kind of mess before

up in the Rockies.

A bear attack in broad daylight?

Hungry bear doesn't give a damn what time of day it is.

All right, when you finish up with this, just

call the wagon to come get this poor kid.

Yes, sir.

Looks like Sheriff McKenny's comin' back over now.

Just tell him everything you remember.

This ain't your fault, Dean.

Yeah, well fuckin' cops always find a way

to blame me for everything.

Is that exactly how you found him, Cob?

Yes, sir, Sheriff McKenny.

And Dean here

was a quarter mile down the path there.

All right.

So what were you and your nephew doin'

all the way out here?

We weren't doin' nothin' but drinkin'.

Well how'd you get out here?

'Cause I haven't seen your car anywhere.

We walked.

Cut the shit, Dean.

Now that's your nephew all torn up under there.

Least you can do is be straight with me

on how he got that way.

All right, Frank dropped us off, okay?

Frank Waters?

Yeah.

He just dropped you and Ronnie off

and then took off.

Yeah.

Well that's pretty funny

'cause Karla Waters has been callin' the station

all mornin' 'cause he didn't come home last night.

Where did Mr. Waters go?

I don't know.

He said he had somethin' to do

and then he'd be back for us later.

All right, come on.

Officer Ambrose.

Sir?

I need you to wait on the coroner

while I take Mr. Clout here to the hospital.

I'm not goin' to the hospital.

I gotta get home.