Morbid

Claire was very surprised when there was a loud knock on her front door, then the doorbell rang several times in a row. She turned off the stove top and set the half-cooked scrambled eggs aside and went to the front door. She was completely shocked when she opened the door and two police officers were there.

“Good morning, ma'am.” Officer Hallman said. “Would Heather Bradshaw be at home?”

“Y-yes, she is.” Claire said and composed herself. “What's going on?”

“We would like to talk to her about a crime that was committed last night.” Officer Hallman said.

“Crime? What crime?” Claire asked, surprised.

“We can't divulge the details, especially if she was involved in the planning.” Officer Hallman said. “Can you get her for us, please?”

“Oh, I'll get her all right.” Claire said as her shock was replaced by seething anger. “Please come in.” She said and turned around and then stomped up the stairs. “Heather!” She said loudly. “HEATHER!” She yelled and reached the top of the stairs and disappeared from the officer's sight. “GET UP RIGHT NOW!”

Officer Hallman and his partner stepped into the entryway and exchanged looks as they listened to the woman yell at her daughter.

“Mom!” Heather said. “God, it's too early! I don't have to be up for school!”

“Get your ass out of bed right now, young lady!” Claire spat at her daughter. “The POLICE are here to talk to you!”

“WHAT?!?” Heather yelled.

“Get dressed and get downstairs! NOW!” Claire yelled back. A moment later she appeared at the top of the stairs and walked down them calmly. “She'll be right down, officers.”

“Thank you.” Officer Hallman said and the three of them waited for a couple of minutes before a very red faced young woman appeared at the top of the stairs. She was dressed conservatively, as if she was attending a job interview and not meeting the police. She walked calmly down the stairs in an eerily similar walk like her mother's.

“Good morning, officers. What is this all about?” Heather asked.

“I'm sure you have some idea.” Officer Hallman said with a smile. “I have to assume that you know your ex-boyfriend Brad Willowby.”

Heather opened her mouth to deny knowing him that well, then heard what he said. “Yes, I know him.”

“Where were you last night between seven and eleven o'clock?”

“With my boyfriend, Eric.” Heather answered without pausing.

“Eric.” Officer Hallman nodded to his partner. “You don't happen to have anyone else to corroborate your alibi?”

“No, we were alone.” Heather said and gave her mother a glance. “We weren't having sex; but, we were making out at Johnson's Lookout.”

“Was that why he wasn't with Brad and his other friends?” Officer Hallman's partner asked.

“Eric doesn't hang out with them anymore.” Heather said. “He tried to keep them from doing stupid shi... stuff, and they treated him like a dog.”

“That's convenient.” He said. “The one time he wasn't with them, they commit a crime.”

“What crime was that?” Heather asked.

“That's what we were going to ask you.” Officer Hallman said. “Do you know where they were last night?”

Heather opened her mouth to answer that she didn't and Claire recognized her 'lying' face.

“Heather.” Claire said in a deadly tone of voice. “Tell them the truth, or so help me god, you're going to regret it.”

Heather knew not to piss her mother off, so she sighed. “I don't know for sure where they were...”

“Heather!” Claire spat.

“...but, Brad did text me and asked for Arnold's address.”

Claire took in a sharp breath and then her anger got the better of her. She took two steps forward and raised her hand, then gave her daughter one of the hardest slaps across the face that she had ever given anyone in her life.

Heather's head whipped to the side and her hair flipped over her face and covered it for a moment, then Heather turned back to look at her mother with utter shock on her face and a red hand print on her cheek. Claire had never hit her like that before. Never.

“Ma'am, please step back.” Officer Hallman warned her.

Claire was breathing heavily, as if she had exhausted herself, and she closed her eyes and pulled her anger back, somehow. “Heather.” She said in a calm voice and opened her eyes to look at her daughter. “If they hurt that boy because of you, I swear on your father's grave that you'll be out on the street.”

“M-m-mom!” Heather gasped. “No, they didn't! Arnold's working at the college! I knew they couldn't get him!” She explained. “Eric said that if I didn't tell Brad what he wanted to know, Brad would come to see me in person to get the address! I didn't want to see him again, and since Arnold wasn't home anyway, I told him.”

“Oh, Heather.” Claire shook her head. “Did you forget that Annie was still at home?”

“What would they want his mother for?” Heather asked. “They hate Arnold, not her!”

“We'll need to see those texts.” Officer Hallman said, and Heather nodded and went back up the stairs to get her cell phone.

*

A nice car pulled up to Annie's house and parked on the street, then woman in a business suit stepped out. “Well, this is quite the mess.” She said and walked over to Annie and Kelly. “Hi, I'm Sharon Hart.”

“I'm the policy holder, Annie Strickland.” Annie said and held a hand out for her to shake. “This is my son's girlfriend, Kelly Kendall.”

“Nice to meet you both.” Sharon said and shook Annie's hand, then shook Kelly's. “I hate to ask what that smell is.”

“Compost. Old and rotted compost.” Annie said. “They broke several windows that are now boarded up, and there's a pile of compost in the living room and some in the dining room.”

Sharon winced. “Oh, dear.”

“I only have one face mask.” Annie said and held it out to her. “Believe me, you are going to need it, especially since it's had all night to fester.”

Sharon was tempted to refuse and caught another whiff of it. “I assume I'm walking through by myself.” She said and put the cloth mask on over her nose and mouth.

“I went through it once.” Annie said, sadly. “I think losing the couch hurts the worst.”

“The couch!” Kelly gasped and took Annie into a hug. “I'm going to miss that couch, too. We all spent so much time on it.”

Annie let out a sigh. “Be careful where you step.” She said to Sharon and gave her the key to the front door. “It's all over the place once you leave the main hallway.”

Sharon nodded and took out her cell phone and started recording. She walked right up to the front door and went inside. Both Annie and Kelly heard her wretch and she stepped back outside for a moment. She took several breaths and then went back inside. It took her twenty minutes to record what she needed and she went back outside. She strode over to the street with purpose, pulled off the face mask, and emptied her stomach into the storm drain at the side of curb.

“That's... definitely not... livable.” Sharon said and threw up again. “The stench is prevalent... even in parts of the house not directly touched.” She said and stood up and turned her cell phone towards herself. “I'll finish recording the state of the outside of the house, however, just the inside is enough to justify the claim. I recommend emptying the main affected rooms, at minimum, and possibly stripping the walls. It's soaked in a few spots where it splattered in the living room, dining room, kitchen, and hallway.”

Annie was a little surprised about the extent of the damage and only thought she would need to have the place professionally cleaned.

“Any porous surface, like cloth, rugs, carpets, drapes, etcetera etcetera, need to be disposed of. If any bacteria or bugs have infested the house, it needs to be fumigated as well.”

“Oh, god.” Annie whispered. “That's going to take longer than four days.”

“By the sounds of it, probably a week or two at least.” Kelly whispered back. “I can't imagine what this is going to cost.”

“If my preliminary assessment is accepted, I would estimate about four thousand dollars, not counting the fumigation and the generic clean up, which could be anywhere from two thousand to thirty-five hundred dollars.”

Kelly's and Annie's mouths dropped open in shock.

“You said the police were here last night?” Sharon asked and Annie nodded. “I'll need the police report and I'll inform them of the cost of the damage.”

Annie took out Officer Hallman's card and handed it to her.

“Thank you.” Sharon said and used her cell phone to call him. “Officer Hallman? I'm Sharon Hart from Jackson Insurance. I'm here at Annie Strickland's house.” She was quiet for a moment. “Oh, definitely a higher charge. I estimate the cost from six thousand to seventy-five hundred dollars, minimum.” She smiled. “Yes, that will definitely make her happy. I'll send the report over as soon as I get back to the office. If you could send me a copy of the police report for the insurance company's records, I would appreciate it.” She paused for a second. “Thank you, officer. Goodbye.”

“What's going to make me happy?” Annie asked, curious.

“They can keep them until they finish processing the charges, which are significantly worse because of the amount of damage they did.” Sharon said and handed Officer Hallman's card back to her. “I'll finish recording the outside and I'll run back to the office and get your claim processed as soon as possible.”

“Thank you, Sharon.” Annie said, gratefully.

“I'm sure I'll have preliminary approval within half an hour and full approval by tonight.” Sharon said and gave her the front door key back. “I'll have the approved living expenses deposited into your account at the bank as soon as possible.”

“Thank you.” Kelly said, before Annie said that she didn't need it. “Here's my cell phone number. I'll be with Annie, so just call me when you hear anything.”

Sharon added the number to her phone, then she did a walk around the property. She recorded the boarded up windows, the toilet paper, the egg splatters, and the compost impacts on the walls of the house. She gave Annie and Kelly a wave, climbed into her nice car and drove away.

Kelly held her breath and walked over to the front door, locked and closed it, and went back over to Annie. “We should go.”

“We should call first.” Annie said.

“I don't want to ruin the surprise.” Kelly said with a grin.

“Kelly...” Annie started to say.

“You know they are expecting me, so it's okay.” Kelly said. “Actually, I'm probably really late and they might even be worried.”

Annie gave her a concerned look and Kelly laughed.

“At least they haven't popped over to check, right?”

Annie let out a sigh. “Just... get in the car.”

Kelly took Annie's hand for a moment. “Don't worry, okay? You've met my mom... my real mom... when we were prepping for graduation and prom. She will want to help you as much as she can.”

Annie nodded and the two of them climbed into the front seat of the car and Annie drove over to Kelly's house. She was looking forward to meeting Katheryn again and dreading it at the same time. They pulled into the long driveway and Annie parked off to the side to let the other two cars get by, then she followed Kelly to the front door. Kelly gave her a huge grin and rang the doorbell.

“What are you doing?” Annie whispered just before the door opened and Kelly's mother stood there.

“Kelly!” Katheryn exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

“Visiting my folks!” Kelly said and gave her mom a hug. “Hi, mom! Can we come in?”

“You're just as funny as your father.” Katheryn said with a frown. “Get your butt in here.”

Kelly laughed and stepped inside with Annie right behind her.

“Hi, Annie.” Kathryn said. “How are you?”

Annie opened her mouth to speak and Kelly touched her arm.

“Mom, that's a conversation best left for after we come in to sit down.” Kelly said. “It's also close to lunchtime. Maybe we can get something to eat and drink?”

“Of course.” Kathryn said in understanding and shut the front door. “Let's go to the kitchen and I'll whip something up.”

“Is dad home?” Kelly asked as they walked through the house.

“No, he's off playing golf today.”

“What?” Kelly looked at her mother like she was crazy. “Dad doesn't play golf!”

Katheryn chuckled. “When the boss invites you out to hit a few balls on the green, even on your day off, you can't say no.”

“That's the god's honest truth.” Annie said. “You don't bite the hand that feeds you.”

“You can't even nibble at it!” Kathryn said with a laugh and had Annie and Kelly sit at the table while she prepared something quick and simple for lunch, which was a salad with some fruit chunks mixed in for flavor and a sweet dressing. “Can you tell me why asking how Annie is doing, caused my daughter to be all serious?”

Annie and Kelly exchanged looks, then Annie sighed. “All right. It's like this...” She started and then told Katheryn all about what happened when she came home last night after she and Kelly had spent the weekend with Arnold.