Diary of a Sociopath

Chapter 5

"Name the insects that arrive first to the corpse?" I repeat the question in my head about three times before I answer it. The exam is relatively easy which is allowing my thoughts to wander to last night's events. Rosie can be SO irritating. First, she tells me about this interesting note and gets me all excited, then she says she can't find it. And when I'm like tell me about it anyway, she says I have to see it to know it. Then, she tells me I was only inviting the bully to myself because locking dorm doors is so 'whacko'. I furiously scribble on the paper: Callophirodae commonly known as Blow flies.

"Easy on the paper, Amelia." The professor's voice echoes across the exam hall. A very nosy Rosie immediately turns around to look at me from her seat. She giggles to her self. I scowl at her.

"Care to share the joke, Rosandra Park?" Professor Arden says getting up from her chair.

"Oh! It's nothing, Prof" replies Rosie in a small voice.

...

Its 6:15pm. It's starting to get dark. We are waiting outside for Nana to come pick us up. I'm about to call her when a black Dodge Charger roars across the street. Here she comes. Making her grand entrance.

"Hello, ladies! Care for a ride?" Nana beams at us through the car window.

"Show off." I say as I sit in the passenger seat. Rosie makes herself comfortable in the back seat.

"Show off? Who? Me? Why I didn't even get to start yet! Buckle upp girls!" Nana steps on the engine and the car almost flies across the road.

After almost 20 minutes of chatting in the car, we stop at the Bowling Arcade. "It's been forever since I've been to this place!" Rosie squeals with joy.

"Me too!" I slam the door shut.

...

We take turns bowling. Rosie is leading the game. She is surprisingly good at bowling, considering she isn't the athletic type. Nana is fooling around, making us laugh. We pay up and go to buy ourselves food.

"Woah, I haven't had that much fun in so long!" I say as we find a good table for us to eat at.

"Riiightt?" Nana says. "Look this one seems cosy" she spots a place near the window.

"Here's your coke madame." The waiter puts the coke glass in front of me. "And your orange juice" he puts it in front of Nana.

"Sorry, but the coke is hers" I point towards Rosie with my eyes. "I'll just have plain bottled water"

"I apologize-" he hurriedly places the coke in front of Rosie instead and gets me a water bottle.

We are having our food when suddenly Rosie shrieks and jumps up from the table. "BUGG! B-BBBBBBUG!!!!!" she screams, pointing towards her glass.
I peek into her glass to find the most disgusting sight ever. Tiny insects floating in coke. Nana almost gags after she peeks in it. Rosie's scream gathered us a lot of attention. The waiter nervously cleans up our table, apologizing a million times, saying he had nothing to do with it. He calls for the manager as demanded by Rosie.

"I extremely apologize. I have no idea how this could have happened. I'll offer you a refund. Free coupons too."

"The refund please." Rosie says firmly. "And no thanks to the coupons, I'm never dining here again."

I've been quiet for a while now. I feel nauseated and my stomach feels heavy. But my mind won't stop thinking about those insects.

"Mel?" Nana waves at me.

"This is going to sound really absurd. But, I think there has been a murder in this restaurant." I say looking up to them.

Before the girls get to say anything, I find myself walking away from the sitting area.

"Mel!!!" I hear them run behind me. I keep walking until I can't hear them anymore. I turn back to find them talking to a man in an olive colored jacket and a cap covering his face. I look for the back door to the kitchen, but I can't find it. It's kinda crowded and the sitting area is huge. The waiters pick up orders from the front table, instead of going all the way to the kitchen. Just as I was about to give up, I recognize the manager as he is moving among the crowd looking puzzled. He exit through one of the doors located right beside the janitor's room. I give myself 3 minutes before I follow him.

I try the door expecting it to be locked behind him, but it was left open. I quietly tip toe inside. What am I even doing here and why am I tiptoe-ing ? I ask myself. I thought I'd land directly in the back of the kitchen but I found myself in a narrow hall. There were two other doors, one I was guessing was the janitor's room that could be opened from the other side and one at the very end of the hall. It said: STAFF ONLY. Bingo. I'm gathering confidence and at the same time coming up with ideas to confront them. When suddenly a man's voice fills the hall.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. " he says in a low tone.

I almost jump out of skin. I turn around to find a man peeking through the janitor's room. He comes into the light so I get a better look at him. He is wearing a dark olive jacket and a cap covering half of his tanned face. The same man the girls were talking to earlier! Before I could jump to any conclusions, he pulls out an ID and a badge.

"Detective Carter."

"Oh, I- I'm Amelia"

"I heard from your friends you said something about a murder in this restaurant. I believe that is the reason why you're here? What makes you think there was a murder"

"Well, I'm studying Foren-"

A loud scream comes from the kitchen cutting me off, followed by a thud. Detective Carter immediately pulls out his gun and barges in through the kitchen door. I follow him closely behind.

What a nightmare.

The pantry door was open and right there it lay. A pale blue body lying still on the ground. She stared ahead, lifeless and cold. I turn to my left to find another lady fallen outside, still breathing.

"Step back everyone. No one move. I need someone to call for medical help for the lady" Detective Carter gestures towards the chef who had fainted outside, probably after opening the pantry and seeing the dead body. He makes a call asking for help from his department. He enters the pantry carefully trying not to disturb any evidence. I walk closer to get a better look. He notices me, "Hey you forensic kiddo, come here. Careful!!"

A disgusting smell hits my nose just as I enter the pantry. "Oof, it's been here for a while" I say.

"You said about a murder and here is the murder. Now tell me what you saw." He questions me.

"Dead bodies attract some flies which lay their eggs in them. Few of those maggots were found in my friend's drink. Either those maggots got onto a person who's been here and contaminated the food. OR, the flies contaminated the food as they were here nearby."

"Hmmm" he nods as he looks for other clues on the body.

"She was a waitress" I exclaim, pointing to her uniform. He doesn't respond, probably noticed it since the beginning.

"You can leave now kiddo, my team will be here soon, forensic too."

"I'd like to stay and observe the forensic team work" I say.

"You got a letter of approval kid? No, I thought so, so leave." He motions me to get lost.

I'm taking slow reluctant steps walking myself outside, when I see my chance. The detective gets up and goes to the corner to take a call. I immediately run to the corpse and look for the maggots inside her nose. I pull out a tissue paper and wrap some maggots in it. Quick, Mel, run for your life. I race out without letting the detective see me.

I pull out my phone. 3 missed calls. 11 text messages. Damn, Rosie and Nana must be still waiting for me. I see the security guards emptying the place. I jog over to the parking lot and find the girls waiting for me.

"GIRL WHERE WERE YOU?" Nana yells.

"We were worried sick, sweetie!" Rosie says. "They kicked us out."

"Guys you won't believe what just happened!" I try to speak but loud sirens subdue my voice. Police cars, ambulances surround the Bowling Arcade. The girls look around disturbed.

"Let's go! I'll update you guys on the way" I say, hopping inside the car.