FROM FIRE IN THE CANES

“THIS TREE IS the kill-tree.  The leaves, the roots, the bark.  Every part of it is poisonous.  It does kill.”

“You mean I go die?”

“No, you have to eat it.”  He laughed.  “Nothin’s gonna happen to you.”

He began to crack the nuts, popping them into his mouth, chewing rapidly as he did so, eating noisily with his mouth open and chuckling to himself every now and then.