It was still dark, it was cold. The weather was starting to turn, I could feel it. I was shivering. Shivering and scratching, the feeling was raw, pure muscle aches as I tried to scratch the itch. I was trying to scratch away the images. I looked out the windshield. I was at Felipe’s house. I couldn’t sleep. But this was urgent. Felipe had been a cop once. He would know what I should do.
“What’s up, man?” Felipe asked, he looked awake and alert for it being early in the morning.
“Hey, I…uh. I can’t sleep. I was wondering if we could talk?” I asked.
“Yeah, man. Of course, you look like shit, bro.” He said, opening the door. I walked in and walked to the kitchen. I opened his fridge.
“There’s beer in there if you need it. And you look like you need it.” Felipe said.
“Yeah, I…uh…I.” I grabbed a beer, grabbed a glass, and started pouring it.
“Hey, man. Let me help you. What did I tell you about that rash man, stop scratching it.” He said. I looked down and saw blood oozing, my skin was red-hot. The cream wasn’t working.
“Shit, man. I got ointment for this.” I said. Felipe grabbed the beer from my hand. He could tell I needed help pouring it.
“I, need to talk to someone. I’m breaking. I’m breaking down hard.” I said.
“Talk.”
“When we went fishing when we were at the river…” I said.
“Here. Drink up.” He said, handing me the beer. I was already sitting down on the couch. The light was on in the corner, at the end table. I started drinking. My shakes were bad, I felt cold.
“I, I discovered something…”
“What? What did you discover?”
“I uh…” My stomach was in knots, and I drank again.
“It’s alright, what’s up man?” He asked.
“I found a body. A girl. She…she was screaming.” I said.
“Wait, you found a dead body?” He said, looking surprised.
“Yeah, she. Uh, her body was mostly set into the mud. It was thick, her head stuck out of the mud, caked around her body. The skin on her face was covered in bugs, and maggots, her skin was falling off. Bro, I need to know what to do. You were a cop, right?”
“Yeah.”
“What do I do?” I asked. My arm was on fire, it hurt so bad. My skin was pulsing with pain. I could feel the skin wanting to melt off like butter to the floor. I drank more of my beer.
“What did you think of doing? You’ve got to go to the station and tell them.” He said. His eyes looked sad, but distant.
“I was going to go tell them, yeah. But I’m scared, I don’t know. I need help.”
“Oh, yeah. For sure.”
My arm was starting to feel better. The skin wasn’t hurting anymore, I could feel it getting numb. The beer was relaxing me. In fact, my whole body was feeling numb. I could relax.
“Damn, I’m a lightweight,” I said, laughing a little.
“No, bro. You actually drink a lot. I just drugged you.” Felipe said, his eyes moving directly inside mine with a glance and the sad eyes stayed distant but turned happy as he smiled at me. A cold, dark smile.