Henry Chang

Excerpt

He opened the brown paper bag, turned it upside down and shook the two crabs into the kitchen sink. As he juiced up the stun gun, the crabs danced around the drain hole, their agitated pincers up high...

Mak jabbed the gun at the first crab and it attacked immediately, clamping onto the gun's electric prong. The jolt blew the crab back across the sink, but one claw remained fused to the metal prong. The severed claw turned a lurid red. Mak tapped it against the side of the sink and it fell off, leaving a thin trail of smoke.

The second crab, sensing the electricity from above,backed away waving its ragged claws.
Mak thrust the gun tip at its mouth. The crab flipped up into the air and landed on its hard shell in the sink, joints arched backwards. Two crabs fully cooked. Mak stared for a moment, then turned off the gun and placed it into the black sack.

He cleared the crab carcasses from the sink and set the clock radio alarm to five p.m.. Staying off the alcohol, he lay in bed, imagining how he would do it. It occurred to him that it might be best to use the handcuffs...