12313131

The group of teenage boys stood with their mouths gaping an inaudible roar in front of the hanging body. They stood frozen, unable to move a single limb, as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped on their heads. The body hovered between the ceiling and the floor, at the center of a giant loft space that had been converted into a sausage plant. It is hanged with a rope made out of intertwined cow intestines attached at one end to a hook that had been drilled to the ceiling, while the opposite end had been wrapped around the corpse’s neck. They recognized Shlomi instantly, which only intensified their terror. His head was tilted to the side, his face had turned purple and blue, and his bloated tongue stuck out defiantly at them. There was a puddle at his feet, and the breeze coming in from the door that was left wide open when they arrived swayed his legs gently from side to side. The plant’s only chair was lying on its side and was the only sign of disarray in Shlomi’s otherwise meticulously kept plant. The boys erupted out of their last period mathematics class in a blaze of laughter and spent their lunch break escaping through a hole in the fence and running uphill towards Shlomi’s plant, on the banks of the ‘Musrara’ creek. Out of breath and avoiding any sudden movements, as Shlomi always instructed them, they quietly made their way into the building through the sliding door, which was not entirely open but not entirely closed neither. The blinds were drawn and kept the sun out, the dimness surrendering itself to the high voltage light bulb that hung from the ceiling. They stood transfixed for several minutes, unable to avert their eyes from the horror displayed in front of them. After what seemed like an eternity, they looked at each other and as if on command, leapt out and tumbled down the slope towards the school and into the principal’s office. The boys sat by themselves inside his office and tried to calm down while he alerted the police. Officers in uniform and detectives in civilian clothing interrogated them, wanting to know the ways how Shlomi managed his business with as much details as possible. They separated the boys and questioned them simultaneously. After the cross-examinations concluded and the detectives left, the boys all agreed that they did not understand the premise behind their questioning tactics. Their interrogation revolved around Shlomi’s truck, the way he unloaded the crates with the raw meat, what was left behind in the truck after he unloaded the crates, and other pointless questions whose answers were of no importance. They found it bizarre that they hadn’t even been asked about his death. Not a single question was asked about the cause of death of the sausage maker who was found dead and hanging like a sausage from the intestines he himself used to stuff. Following the interrogations, the school made an announcement forbidding students to leave school grounds while school is in session. Anyone who will be caught breaking the new rule would be expelled. The school’s threat was serious and severe enough that none of the students wanted to take such a big risk. The group of boys who were the direct cause for this new decree was harshly reprimanded and didn’t hear one kind word of encouragement or support. They were told they acted irresponsibly and no one even bothered to commend their heroic civil action. The school felt guilty that the students had found their way out through a hole in the fence. There was a rumor that one of the boys’ parents wanted to file a lawsuit, but nothing ever came of it. The hole in the fence was fixed and a security guard was hired to patrol the premises once a day. None of the boys ever forgot the intestine handler and his sausage factory, which they found both terrifying and intriguing even before his untimely death. Despite the fact that the police had ruled his death a suicide,