The Tears Devourer

XXVII

     "Could you tell me what happened?" Maddy Peck was wiping her spurting tears, like Magdalena herself, in front of the state police. The officer, with the booklet in hand, and waiting for her loading, looked around in search of comfort, or rather; help. She was trying to locate a female officer with whom Mrs. Peck could vent freely, and without having to become uncomfortable with her sudden social ineptitude. "Ma'am... Try to calm down. Your husband is unharmed. The gunshot wound was superficial, there's nothing to fear."

     "Seriously officer?" The huge greenish eyes stood out in the early morning light, moistened with the hope that nothing bad happened to Steve, the one at the gas station, and not to lose the f**k of the week that she so badly needed with her husband. outside. "Wait... did you say, husband?"

     "Isn't he your husband?"

     "No... He's just a friend of the family. He works a few blocks of the 42. He came as soon as I told him what was happening up the side. By the way, how are they?" Suddenly the tears turned into pointed ears, fierce at gossip.

     "The couple weren't as lucky as you and your little one."

     "Are they...?" Maddy asked, pointing to the stretchers that were carrying blankets on top of bundles that looked like freshly wrapped human bodies in outline.

     "Could you tell me what happened? Please,” the officer insisted, trying to divert the attention from the gossiping neighbor.

     "The guy broke into my house. It gave a tremendous scare to me and my child... Which by the way, he was completely terrified by what he saw in front, Eh! It could even be confused, I say."

     "What do you mean?"

     "Because the lady across the street was r***d… Yes," Maddy shook her head, up and down with a childlike impetus. "I heard the moans of the neighbor... And I thought for a moment that it was, well, you know, her husband... But no, my son warned me that they were making a lot of noise outside, and well, I just went out to check, but out the window... Let it be clear, hey! That I am not a gossip, that I only went out because my son was complaining about the noise, and then I go out and I see that the neighbor is sinking her bone..."

     "Mrs. Peck, please watch your vocabulary. Remember that you are talking about a deceased. Show some respect."

     "Ah! So they were those two who were wrapped, right?"

     "Mrs. Peck, please. I need your statement so that the prosecution doesn't intervene, or press charges against Mr. Steve..."

     "Ok, ok, ok, ok officer. As you wish." She interrupted him. "Then... I noticed that the neighbor, Mrs. Rhodes, was yelling more than usual... And I mean, she complains every day... Ok, ok, okay. She complained every day. And so, I opened the curtain wider and I saw a strange man on top of Mrs. Rhodes, and I know this may be irrelevant, but that girl was too young to be married and I would understand if that guy was really her lover, and not the madman is who kills people at night..."

     "When you entered your home, did the guy hurt you in any way? Or your son. Did he assault them verbally or physically?"

     "Uh..." Maddy took her time before answering this one. The time that the officer noticed strange because since she began to speak, not even tears could silence her. "No... He didn't do anything to us. My boy and I hid in the basement, and when the guy broke in the door, he pushed me... I thought he was going to abuse me like he did Mrs. Rhodes, but Steve came and got his attention. The guy followed him out into the street and shot him. It was there when you guys arrived. Nothing else happened."

     "Are you sure of it, Mrs. Peck?" He wanted to encourage her to speak, as he noticed something in his eyes that said to the officer: 'She's lying.' "Because I just want to emphasize that you're safe now. Absolutely nothing's going to happen to you or your boy for talking. And if we have your cooperation on the case, we can ask for more years for that jerk."

     "No sir, he didn't do anything to me. And if you have any more questions, I'd like to go home. I want to see my boy. He must be terrified of all this fuss."

     And of course, what was she going to confess if deep inside her, she enjoyed it. Maddy was very clear that the charges against the night prowler exceeded a hundred. It was easy to conclude that he was going to be given a life sentence, and if the laws weren't as lax today, as they were yesterday, the guy would be in the chair the day after tomorrow. That was very clear to her, so a declaration of rectal violation would only muddy her standard, her image.

     She was the wife of a decorated soldier, a soldier in his second service. Killian already had too much s**t with everything that lived in those desert lands, full of poverty and hunger, but as dry as the s*x life she had to endure in his absence. This is why she needed Steve. To moisten her woman's area while her husband couldn't.

     The night prowler only did what Steve could do to her any night. It was a matter of time, a matter of the i***t asking her. So no. Maddy was not going to waste saliva in accusing an action that deep down, deep down, she liked.