Marvin Lytle is a gravedigger at Riverview Cemetery. He’s worked here since The Troubles started and he has seen some wild shit over the years. “I’ve seen some wild shit over the years.” Marvin spoke with a smile that begged for dentistry. “People think that a graveyard is a place of peace. Sacrosanct. That’s some old bullshit. Just look at all these fools fighting each other.”

KL: Does this happen a lot?

ML: All the time, man. Always. You would think that it would be easy for people to remember a time when the world was simple and people went about their business, living and dying as they had for as long as there has been life and death. It’s like we’ve all forgotten, even the ones that hate them. It’s only been forty years and yet no one can really remember a simpler time. No one except for the dead and that’s the whole point. That’s why they here.
KL: How many groups are involved? It looks like there’s at least four.

ML: That group in grayscale is For Sale and the others are the family and friends probably a few Lifers too. They screaming at one another like a bunch of prize fools without an ounce of respect for that poor fucker there in the coffin. They all know they can do a damn thing till the court order get’s here. And they all know once it does they can do a damn thing about what it says.

KL: This is the first graveyard to do a seal.

ML: Yeah, that’s what all this yelling is about, today. For Sale is out here trying to keep that cement truck away from that grave. That man family wants the seal. No doubt it was in his will too. For a long time that was the end of it right there.

KL: The will.

ML: Yeah that was stare decisis. Let the decision stand. That was the policy. For Sale started busting folks out in the middle of the night with jackhammers and shit. They started bringing them into courtrooms saying what a living hell it was to be stuck in concrete, wishing you could die. Now each case is reviewed and mandatory waiting periods keep the greedy relatives from dropping the brick on their boxes.

KL: Greedy?

ML: Hell yeah. What do you think this is all about, morality, human decency? Hell no, man. It’s all about money. First successful re-living will contest, April 3, 2036. First time that fucking truck roll out here for a seal, April 23, 2036. Didn’t take them much time at all to put that together.

KL: Is that the courier?

ML: Yeah it is. Let’s get this show in the ground and get these fucking people out of here.

KL: Is there a side the judges usually lean to?

ML: Depends on the judge. Don’t make a bit of difference anyway. Soon as night falls somebody will step up, if need be, and do what needs to be done. Not me, cause I have a date tonight, but somebody will. You can count on it.