Tamales de Muerto

Carlos was drinking mezcal with his best friend Luis when Luis said something jokingly that Carlos in his drunken state took as a supreme insult to his person. Carlos picked up a knife and stabbed Luis in the heart. He then slumped over the table and passed out. He woke hours later and was shocked to see Luis dead with the knife stuck in his heart. Carlos' knife. He thought about how to get rid of Luis' body but he didn't have the strength to drag it downstairs, and anyway what was he to do afterward? His tamale vendor's cart was not big enough for Luis. He took the knife out of Luis' heart and stood there for a long time feeling that he would faint. Then he began to cut off parts of Luis and these parts he took to the kitchen and threw into the dented tin pot he used to boil meat for his tamales. Weeping, Carlos carved more and more of Luis' flesh and put it into the pot and boiled it. He began making tamales, rolling the meat into corn masa and corn husks. He was very tired and most of Luis was still sitting there. He sat down at the table and guzzled more mezcal, pouring it into his mouth direct from the bottle. He woke to a policeman slapping his face and asking what was in those tamales and in the tin pot. He spent that night in the police station, hanging by his feet, getting electro-shocked and doused with ice water. And the very next morning, all over Mexico, banner headlines screaming: TAMALES DE MUERTO.