Summary

The mountain lion listens to slaughter talk to someone on the phone about his wife, who is in the hospital having a baby. Slaughter has a teenage daughter, “little slaughter,” who the mountain lion watches in the backyard doing witchcraft with crystals and sage.

The next day, a possum walks by, and the mountain lion eats the possum. A door opens and little slaughter comes into the backyard with a cigarette and sees the mountain lion. He usually hates being seen by people, but he feels no fear coming from her. She announces that she summoned him, and they make eye contact that feels right to him. She tells him to stay, then brings him some raw meat and throws it to him. He sniffs it, eats it, and loves it. She calls him “heckit” and tells him that she is trying to...