would come in, get whatever work he had to do for the day, and leave early. She didn’t mind, though. If she needed his help, he always came when she called. She put her gloves on and headed back to finish with their most recent client.
The girl’s name was Carmen Medina. Maria had gotten her embalmed earlier, and the family agreed to a closed casket funeral due to the damage to her head and face. Maria soaked a cloth and gauze in embalming fluid and stuffed the gauze into the opening where Carmen’s face used to be. She then wrapped the cloth around the head, and then wrapped another layer of dry cloth around her. The chemicals smelled horrible, but since she had such large open wounds, the regular embalming process wouldn’t help her face. So the chemicals and gauze would slow down the decomposition and hopefully keep the bugs and maggots off of her until she was buried. Once she was wrapped up, Maria covered her with a sheet and wheeled her into the hallway behind the embalming room.
As she stepped into the hall, she was startled by a noise from the from behind her, near the garage. That was the darkest part of the hallway, even during the day. Maria didn’t spook easily, having grown up around a funeral home. She’d been around dead bodies since she was five years old, so it would take a more than a few noises to scare her. When she looked at the end of the hall, there appeared to be a person standing there.
“Hello?” she said. “Who are you? Can I help you?” She walked toward the end of the hall. By the time she reached the door, the figure was gone. She opened the door and looked around in the garage, but there was nothing around. She checked behind the van and hearse, but there was no one.
I must be tired, she thought. I’m too young to be losing my mind. Maria headed back inside and finished taking Carmen’s body into the hall, placing the gurney gently against the wall. There were two other bodies there. Both were cleaned and dressed. This back hall served as a staging area once bodies were ready for their funerals. It was out of the way and out of the sight of the public. The other two bodies’ funerals were in the next couple of days. It was unusual for there to not be a body back there. Bodies meant money for her and her family. It was kind of sad, but Maria saw her job as a calling. She was the final person to take care of her clients before they were laid to rest. Hers was a calling she was good at, and one she took great pride in. Once she had Carmen organized, Maria heard the banging again.
She walked further into the hallway and heard it again. It sounded like someone banging a frying pan against the wall. This time it was coming from her office. She walked toward it to find the door standing open. She remembered having closed it. If this was Charlie messing with her, she would deck him for sure. As she got closer, the banging got louder and louder, a shrill piercing thump, repeating itself. The noise didn’t frighten her as much as irritate her. She had a lot of work to do, and wasn’t in the mood for someone playing games.
“Hello? Charlie, is that you? I don’t got time to be fucking around. I’m gonna kick your ass if that’s you messing with me!” She stepped into her office and the pounding stopped. There was a police officer standing in front of her. He was tall, Hispanic and wearing a Del Rio police uniform. He was covered in blood and had gaping wounds on his face and neck.
Maria took a step back at the sight of him. The blood and gore didn’t bother her. It was the fact that he was up walking around in that condition that terrified her.
“Maria,” he said. His voice was hoarse, barely above a whisper.
“Are you okay? I should