Ingredients

• Bones: carpals, tibia, femurs, radials, as many as you can gather

• Water del Rio de la Muerta

• Carrots, garlic and onions, freshly grown from his grave

• Salt for the wounds

Directions

1. Don’t be afraid to get dirty. Elmér is already dead and you didn’t kill him, so why feel guilty? You were a devoted and loving wife and he cheated on you, remember? With some twink half your age and an ass like bouncing gum. And you’re alone in the morgue. All the years you hated him, resisted his abuse. It was your right to watch him die. It was your release.

   Go ahead, do the spell, never let him rest.

2. Take the knife, slice along the natural folds of his body, and pluck out the bones. It’s a closed casket, no one will notice. Take what you can, the femur may be too long and the ribs aren’t worth the trouble. One by one and be sure to clean each in the water. It won’t work without La Muerta’s blessing. Very good! We’ll have to wait a bit for the next step, but it’ll be worth it.

3. Good job with the vegetables. They grew beautifully. No one ever came to visit the grave. They grew undisturbed. Dig them out, take them home, and pull the bones from the freezer.

4. Dice the onions and carrots, crush the garlic, and soak them in boiling water with the bones—no you aren’t going to eat anything, are you crazy? Don’t forget the salt.

5. Watch the steam rise, remember the years of tending to his needs, preparing his home while he was at work, and loving him through his raging fits. Yes, you deserved better than him. You deserved to watch death take him. The twink certainly hadn’t earned anything. Well, let Elmér rot now.

6. When the marrow and blood are that’s left, and the bones are frail, ladle the butterscotch-colored broth into an urn and take it to the grave.

   As you pour it over the black earth, let the waters take your hatred. Don’t take it with you. Let it go. Let him keep it. He’s earned it.

7. Leave that place and never return. Leave knowing you are free.