The metal collided with the side of his head and bright lights sprang up before his eyes. Kiwasee fell, clutching himself, pulling into a ball with his arms shielding his head.
The devil stood over him, chest heaving. He held the shovel in both hands, gripping it in his gloved fingers. When Kiwasee could bring himself to look up at his attacker, the devil took on human form.
Kiwasee saw that the hood was part of a lightweight windbreaker, and there was a face within it, still partially obscured. The eyes now looked reasonable and aggrieved.
"This is crude," the devil said.
Kiwasee said nothing. His ears were filled with the sounds of his own panting breath.
"Now you've been hurt," the devil said. He shook his head sadly.
"That's terrible."
"Didn't see nothing," Kiwasee mumbled. His head still rang from the blow and his vision was not right. "Why were you here? You shouldn't have been here. No one would ever be here at this hour… Why were you here?"
"Taking a walk," Kiwasee said. "No, no. Were you stealing?"
"See, that the first thing you folks think, you see a brother," Kiwasee said indignantly. "I can't understand you."
"Taking a walk, visiting a friend. Didn't see nothing."
"I can't understand… There's something wrong with your speech." The devil bent closer in solicitude. "I believe you've hurt your jaw."
Kiwasee probed with his tongue, found teeth broken and loose. The jawbone itself pulsed but did not hurt. None of his injuries pained him yet. Shock was providing an analgesic. I 'My teeth," Kiwasee said, hearing his garbled voice for the first time as the devil must hear it.
"I'll tell you what," the devil said. "You better come back this way.
We can get you some help this way."
"Don't need help, just get to my car," said Kiwasee, unintelligibly.
"Just come this way. Come on, you can do it, back this way, it's not that far."
"Can't."
"Come on, you can do it." The devil's voice was calm, reasonable, encouraging. Kiwasee began to hope that it was over, that the devil's attack was just an aberration, a startled reaction to seeing a brother spying on him in the woods in the middle of the night.
Kiwasee tried to move but faltered. The devil prodded him with the shovel, turning him back toward the water. Kiwasee crawled in that direction.
"That's fine," the devil said. "That's fine, you're doing great. Just keep going."
"Can tell you things," Kiwasee said. Blood filled his mouth. He spit and felt the teeth move in his jaw.
"No need to talk."
"McNeil…" His tongue seemed to have swollen so much that it filled his whole mouth. He could not squeeze the words past it.
The devil prodded him with the shovel again.
"Keep going, you're doing great."
"McNeil…" His tongue felt so large he thought it might block off his throat.
They had reached the water's edge and Kiwasee stopped, waiting on all fours like a balky horse.
" Go on," said the devil. "It's not that deep. You can get right through it. We want to get on the island."
Kiwasee felt himself gagging as his tongue sealed off his throat. He tried to say McNeil's name again but only a strangling gargle came out.
He sat on his haunches, grabbing his throat so the devil would understand.
"I know, I know, but I can't do anything for you here. Everything I need to help you is over there." He pointed to the island.
Nothing over there but a hole in the ground, thought Kiwasee. And you going to put me in it. He struggled for breath, but exaggerated the battle for the devil's sake. He put his good hand on the devil's pants leg, begging for help. "I can't carry you over there," the devil said.
"You've got to get there yourself Come on now, I'll take care of you when we get over there."
Kiwasee threw his hand straight up, catching the devil in the groin with all the force he could muster. The devil yelled and staggered back and Kiwasee yanked his foot out from under him. The devil toppled backward down the incline, his head landing in the water with a splash that sent droplets of shining diamonds into the moonlight. They formed a brief but brilliant halo around his head before falling back to water.
Kiwasee scrambled atop the devil, forcing his head under water with his good hand at the devil's throat. He tried to get his working leg onto the devil's stomach so he could bring all of his weight to bear, but the devil struggled frantically, twisted to one side and threw Kiwasee into the water.
As Kiwasee struggled up, the devil grabbed the shovel and swung. Kiwasee got his arm up in time to ward off the blow, but it drove him a step deeper into the water. The shovel came again, then again, and Kiwasee cowered within the shelter of his two arms, feeling the metal bang onto his shoulders, his elbows, his flesh and bones. Each blow sapped him, made it harder to protect himself. There was no art to the devil's attack, and no variation, he was simply pounding Kiwasee as if he were an obstacle that must eventually succumb to brute force. Kiwasee tried to lunge at the devil but his bad leg was useless and he sank to his knees in the black water, still holding his arms around his head. The devil could hit down at him now and the power of the blows was greater.
Some them defeated his arms and struck Kiwasee on the head of and shoulders and neck. "Ain't going to tell what I saw," Kiwasee tried to say, not even sure if the words made it out of his mouth or were trapped in his head. "Ain't going to tell. Didn't see nothing." But he had seen what he had seen and the devil knew it. It had started when he saw a man crawl from the window of the house where McNeil lied and insisted he had never been, and it continued when he saw the devil digging on the island, and now the devil was making him pay. This was no bluff like the gas in McNeil's garage, this time the devil would kill him sure. He never should have fucked with McNeil, he should have let it pass, be dissed and let it go. Never should have come back to his house. Never should have called the chief, never should have sought revenge. 'Cause now he was going to die for it, he knew it. His arms must be broken, he thought, although even then he was surprised how little anything actually hurt. He could feel the terrible pounding, but not the pain.
His arms weary from fending off the unending blows, Kiwasee fell at last to all fours. His exposed head drooped toward the surface of the water.
He waited like a man with his head on the block.
To his surprise no final blow came. The devil stood panting at the water's edge. For a moment, like two exhausted gladiators, they stayed in place eyeing each other.
The devil spoke first. "Love conquers all." He laughed a little. "Now you got to get up on that island," he said. "That's all I wanted you to do in the first place. I don't know why you're being so unreasonable about this."
"Gon' kill me," Kiwasee breathed.
"Love cures all ills, didn't you know that? You get on that island and Love is going to cure you." Kiwasee moved his head slowly from side to side. "Kill me."
"I don't want to have to hit you anymore," said Captain Luv. "But I will if you make me."
"Know you will. You the devil."
"What? What are you saying?"
"Devil."