the simple trap: 4

“Lunch is ready, if you like canned pork and beans,” said Cory. He sat down at the table, and it shifted under his weight.
“That’s good. Karl, you like pork and beans?” asked Darryl.
“I’ve gotten to know them,” said Karl. He tried control his little frown.
Karl and Darryl followed Cory over to the little table. Karl shoved his 9mm gingerly into his pants. It fell out of his jeans as soon as he sat down at the table. It clattered across the floor, spinning a little before coming to a silent stop. Every fiber of interest in the room was suddenly fused to the black plastic and metal, still as a painting on the floor.
Suddenly Lena got up. She laughed a clipped “Hah!”
Karl watched her reach into the cupboard, while studying the wood lines in the table top. While her shirt pulled up over her belly, he removed the gun from the floor and placed in on the table.
Cory looked at it, shaking his head, smiling at Karl. Lena pulled two cans out of the cupboard. She prepared and served the two cans after heating them.
“Cory, I’ve got a little deal for you,” Darryl said, when Lena put a plate in front of him, and then one in front of Cory, “What if I said we can set you up with crops man, real crops.”
“Ain’t no crops gonna grow in West Virginia man, its way too cold. First frost, and most plants die, man.”
“That’s why we are going to grow all kinds of varieties underground, in a series of cellars. We’ve done it before. We know what we’re doing. We just have to get it started somewhere. What do you think about that?”
“Man, you are just full of ideas aren’t you. Thanks for that too. That’s what we needed, around here, exactly what will help us survive. Some more fuckin’ ideas. Well, what’s the risk, man? I mean besides you,” said Cory. He had an unpleasant look, like a carved mask.
Darryl shifted in his seat, preparing to smooth the discord Cory kept introducing, “There’s no real risk. Much less risk than if we were planting outside. We can control the climate easily underground.”
“I’m listening. There gotta be some downside. There’s always a downside,” Cory said, leaning forward intently.
“Well, if you, if you feed us up front. The deal would be that you feed us while we tend the crops, then you get a full third of the share, until we leave. After that, you get to keep what’s there. I’ll teach you how to keep this whole thing moving right along before we go, if you still want us to vacate after we get the ball rolling,” said Darryl.
“For what it’s worth, I think that sounds like a pretty good idea, I mean, somethin’ like that might actually have a chance of workin’.” Lena said.
“Well, I’ll take that into account, but I still gotta think this all through. We gotta do whatever’s the best for the family and all,” Cory said.
“Yeah, but this could mean you wouldn’t have to spend most of the fall sitting beside deer trail. You could even get to know the kids or something,” said Lena.
“I said I’d think about it.”
“You give us three months, the tools to excavate some cellars, and we get you sustainable crops.” Darryl paused to think for a split second. “Most plants take a long time to grow. Except tomatoes. In the right heating conditions, they are relatively fast. Do you like fresh tomatoes?”
“Hell yeah I do,” said Cory. The words came out clear despite a mouthful of the gooey hotdog.
Karl pondered Darryl’s rhetorical sleight of hand. They might be staying with Cory for a while after all. There was no better place Karl could think to go on the fallow planet. He noticed that his hand was resting on the gun on the table. And it was shaking a little. He withdrew it under the table, at a moment when everyone was paying attention to food.
“Okay then, imagine that. You feed us for two months, and then everyone feasts,” said Darryl.
“Two months?”
“We’ll help feed ourselves, but we gotta dig somewhere around here. You got a springhouse or something by the creek.”
“In fact, we do,” said Cory, with a small smile, “In fact, we do.”