Conversation · Empathy

It's not Cuno. It's Cunoesse.

(Act on it, try and separate them.) "Cuno! Psst..."

"Fuck you whispering about?" he whispers back.

He's whispering too. He's going with it. But watch what happens...

"Fuck you fts whispering about?!"

She puts extra stress onto that word. Expecting it will make you uncomfortable.

"If Cuno wants to whisper, he's gonna fucking whisper, okay?!" He turns back to you and hunkers down: "Let's whisper, pig!"

This is it, you've got him. But be careful -- you can still fuck this up. Don't make Cuno look bad in this.

"What's up with her? She's terrifying... Crazy scary."

"Crazy?" he whispers tensely. "You don't know the half of it. She's not crazy, she's insane. Dangerous. She smoked a man. She's done people in, probably even pigs..."

"Stop talking to him! Cuno, I'm fucking warning you! You're gonna get us into shit!"

She understands what you're trying to do.

"Yo, C?" He pops his head up. "Did Cuno not tell you?! Cuno told you -- CUNO TALKS TO WHOEVER HE WANTS."

"Talk, pig. Cuno's got it under control." He hunches down again.

You did it. They're separated. He's even turned his back to her so she can't read his lips.

Fuck, she can read lips? You should cup your mouth.

"What do you mean, she smoked someone?"

"Cuno means she killed someone. That's right, C's a killer." He stares at you intently. "Like, actually a killer."

His little green eyes are fixed on yours.

He's meant everything he said before; but right now he not only means it -- he is sincere.

"What if she has, Cuno? That would explain things..."

"Fuckin' yeah. Cuno knows you don't want to face this right now. This dark shit. Cuno faces this shit every day -- makes Cuno's skin crawl."

"She's probably killed a pig too. I mean, I'm pretty sure she has."

"C'mon. She hasn't killed police officers."

"I knew you pigs were too naive for this shit. Good thing Cuno's got her under control. Cuno keeps her calm." He feels eyes on the back of his head -- and stops.

There's something cold in the air. Like water lapping against cold stones. Or dripping. In a hallway nearby. Three years ago. There were shoes in the corner...

A cop would be too large for her to overpower. But a determined child of her size can still kill the vulnerable. The elderly. The homeless. Or other... other children.

The creature peers at you both from over the fence. There is something searching in her eyes.

Fear.

Fear of the truth.

"Okay. How many cops has she killed then?"

"Forget Cuno said that. Cuno was just shitting. Cuno was just running his mouth. Cuno's stupid like that." He feels eyes on the back of his head -- and stops.

"Really? Isn't she too small to overpower someone?

"Are you getting this? You think I'm fucking telling you a joke here? How hard do you think it is to kill a fat-ass?" He pokes you in the gut. "Sweet talk 'em, then knife 'em."

"You serious about this killing business?"

"Killing is serious shit. Cuno's always serious about the four-eighty-eight."

Four-eighty-eight? The criminal code doesn't go higher than 190.

"How are you dealing with all of this?" (Conclude.)

"How's Cuno dealing? Cuno's dealing just fine -- he doesn't need you fucking with any of it. C doesn't either."

"Cuno's got this shit under control." He spits through the gap in his front teeth.

"She needs professional help. You can't do this alone."

"Listen! Listen!" He points to his eyes, then yours. "C is Cuno's go-to, Cuno's protecting her. You fuck with C, you fuck with Cuno. You threaten her, you threaten to take her away..."

This is what it all comes down to -- he needs you to take him seriously now.

"I am going to kill you. I'll run when you put the cuffs on her, sneak up on you later and fuck you up. You understand?" The boy looks you in the eye, black pupils trying to focus…

He may not be able to do it, but he will try. Right now he believes he will.

"Understood, Cuno."

"Alright." He wipes the sweat off his brow. "Now we can do business."

He's breathing heavily. That took something out of him.

"Business?"

"Yeah, what do you want? Cuno can hook you up with --" he starts, no longer whispering.

"Don't hook him up with shit, Cuno!"

"C, relax, he respects the Cuno. Cuno made him respect the Cuno. You respect the Cuno..." He turns back to you. "You get all kinds of shit!"

"Remember when you tried to get Cuno to hook you up? We can get on that now, if you run a little errand for the Cuno. Me and you. Cuno's gonna hook you up with illegal narcotics."

"See, it's tension and release with Cuno. Now we releasin'." He pulls on his tracksuit trousers. "The pant buying shit. That's on now too. Ninety-percent discount for Cuno's pig. Cuno can flex."

"Cuno flexes for hobos. Cuno sees you're in need." He spreads his hands like a baker presenting the goods. A smile spreads across his flushed face.

"And, shit, you can even fuck back in Cuno's kingdom! Cuno saw you sniffin' around that fuckin' pile of eternite. It's a secret door, okay?! Just pull it off -- and fuck back in there." He concludes the invitation with a benevolent nod.

"And, shit, you can even fuck back in Cuno's kingdom! That fuckin' pile of eternite," he points to the back of the yard, "it's a secret door, okay?! Just pull it off and you can fuck into Cuno's shack." He concludes the invitation with a benevolent nod.

He means the shack to the right of the greenhouse, with snow melting on the roof.

"That's right. Cuno's a candy store for pigs now. Get ready to be rewarded," he concludes, spreading his hands like a baker presenting a selection of freshly baked pastries.

"Cuno's gonna get you hooked on illegal narcotics, if you run a little errand for the Cuno -- get you hooked, pig. Get his hook in you. Then Cuno gonna get you hookin' for more. Cash in big-style. Pig hooker."