Canines

To Mario’s annoyance, his teeth began to bother him. He didn’t have time to go to the dentist, things at work were really heating up. He had a co-worker, Ed, who was gunning for his job.

Mario had been the firm’s Brand Strategist for the last two years, and he was proud of what he was accomplishing. But Ed tried to undermine him at every turn, and once even tried to take credit for Mario’s work. While they were at a conference in Las Vegas on marketing strategies, and Ed had too much to drink, Mario heard him tell another associate that he was going “to have Mario’s job in a few months.” To hear Ed say it out loud triggered something in Mario, and he felt a feeling in the pit of his stomach – was it fear? No, it was an overwhelming urge to fight. Mario had a wife and three children to support, and his wife had grown used to his income. If he was demoted at this point in his life, she might leave him. His children could hate him. He would be a failure. That could not happen.

Mario talked to the bartender, who directed him to a large man sitting near the door of the lounge. Mario made sure no one was watching him and sat down at the man’s table.

“I’m looking for someone of the female persuasion who has certain skills and isn’t afraid to operate in an area of moral ambiguity,” he said to the man. The man looked at Mario for a minute.

“So you want a woman not afraid to break the law?” he asked. Mario nodded. The man scribbled a number on a card and handed it to Mario. “Tell her Ace sent you,” he added.

Mario went into the hallway and called the woman. She accepted the job.

Everyone in the hotel at the conference noticed a persistent barking that night. It sounded like a dog that had treed his prey. Once, they even heard a long, moaning howl, like the sound of a wolf.

The next morning, Mario met the woman and paid her. She transferred what she had to him. Mario went and sat next to Ed at breakfast, who was nursing a hangover.

“How is the wife and kids?” Mario asked Ed. Ed mumbled that they were fine. “I wonder how fine your wife would be if she saw these pictures?” he asked quietly and slid his phone over to Ed. Ed sat up straighter, and cupped his hands around the phone.

“Where did you get these?” he hissed, then moaned. “You set me up, you low life.”

“Yeah, well I didn’t force you to do anything, and you’re a pig. You’re the one who was unfaithful to your wife with that woman. I know you want my job, but you had better get that idea out of your head right now or these pictures will find their way to your wife. Am I understood?” Mario said, with menace in his voice, but then he cried out in pain.

Ed looked at Mario, but Mario just stood, putting his hand on Ed’s shoulder and bending down to whisper in his ear, “Remember what I said.”

Mario ran into the men’s room, an incredible pain in his mouth. He stood in front of the mirror and bared his teeth. To his horror, he had 2 new canine teeth that had come in on both sides of his mouth, long and sharp-looking. He was a monster, but somehow it didn’t bother him. He smiled.