Chapter 4

The uncle said the meat delivery came a little after four in the morning, so I stayed and waited.

Around two, I was so tired I got up to splash water on my face.

On my way back, my foot caught the trash can, and a few empty medicine boxes rolled out.

I bent down and picked them up.

Painkillers, and something for sleep.

All along I'd suspected there was some addictive substance in the pies.

But to keep a late-stage cancer patient out of pain for a while, you didn't necessarily need anything banned.

Ordinary hospital painkillers would do the same.

And Aiden being able to sleep through till morning after eating one.

That lined up with these drugs too.

I carried the boxes into the back kitchen.

"Uncle, why are these in the trash can in your office?"

He glanced over.

"Your cousin's medicine. The doctor prescribed it."

"You know how it is. The cancer's in his bones now, and sometimes the pain gets bad."

He took the box from me and flipped it straight over.

There was a hospital prescription label on the back, and the patient's name really was the cousin's.

It struck me as almost funny. These drugs weren't cheap.

The uncle's pies sold for ten bucks each. No reason to be dosing them with medicine.

At four thirty, a small delivery truck pulled up at the back door.

The second the driver climbed out, I knew him.

It was Roy Dickerson, who'd sold pork at the farmers' market for over a decade.

I used to buy meat from him all the time.

Roy opened the cargo hold, and side after side of dressed pork came down.

I checked it over myself. Nothing wrong with any of it.

The uncle turned to look at me.

"You feel better now?"

I didn't answer.

The first batch of pies came out of the oven fast.

The uncle lifted one out, golden and crisp.

The smell of meat spread all at once.

"You dare eat it this time?"

I stared at the pie and didn't refuse right away.

I'd even reached out for it.

Just as my fingertips were about to touch the paper bag, the image of the younger brother lying on the couch, staring at the ceiling, flashed through my head.

And I stopped again.

"I won't."

The uncle wasn't the least bit surprised. He just took the pie back.

"Suit yourself. You'd think I was begging you to eat it."

"Ten a day, that's all. Plenty of people begging for them."

Then he went back to work.

I stood there, hit by a strange, unspeakable awkwardness.

These past few days, I'd looked for addictive substances, suspected human flesh, even climbed through a window in the middle of the night.

And every single thing turned out to be me overthinking.

Maybe... I really was too sensitive.

It was light out now, and people were starting to trickle in outside.

As I was getting ready to head home, I ran into Aiden.

He looked worse than he had the past few days.

One hand pressed against his stomach the whole time, and he walked bent over.

Once he had his pie, he sat down in a corner.

And ate it, bite by bite.

After a while, the crease in his brow slowly eased.

The hand that had been pressing his stomach dropped away too.

He even leaned back against the chair and let out a long breath.

"Better. I can finally go home and get some real sleep."

I didn't move for a long time.

Whatever this pie actually was, the effect was real.

And I'd looked into so much already and turned up nothing.

What this "better" everyone talked about actually felt like.

Just asking would never get me the answer.

I do biological research.

Feeling it once, myself, might be exactly what let me find the problem.

In the end I went back to the kitchen.

"Uncle, any pies left?"

He glanced at the counter.

"Gone. Today's ten are already sold out."

Hearing that, I felt a small stab of disappointment.

But the uncle stopped me.

He turned, went into the back, and came out with a paper bag.

"Made one extra today. Was going to keep it for myself."

"If you really want to try it, it's yours."

This time, I took it.

The first bite, and I paused.

Perfectly ordinary. Just a savory meat pie.

Not even as good as I'd imagined.

The words had barely formed in my head: this is it?

Then, the next second, a wondrous force swept through my whole body at once.

My gaze went hazy, and the words came out before I could stop them.

"Uncle, is there more? Please, just give me one more!"