5:42 PM

I didn't have to walk into the room to know what I was gonna see. The smell was enough to me, rocking my stomach as if I were at sea.

"Don't breathe through your nose," Wanda says. "Open your mouth."

But I don't. The smell made it more real to me. It would make it so I could never forget what I was about to see. Terry was in the corner talking to the wife. Her arms were crossed, placed perfectly to push her breasts up and he fell for it. His eyes were glued to her cleavage as he licked his lips as if they were Christmas dinner.

"Are you ready for this?' Doug asks. His little faux hawk dancing around as he spoke. "It's some insane shit. Never did see anything like it. So, are you ready?"

We both nod. I'd seen a lot in my life, but was I ready for this?

"Law," Wanda says, which snaps me back to reality.

There was still smoke billowing through the doorway, the smell of burnt bacon still sizzling away surrounded my nose as we walked in. "This is exactly the way we found him," Doug said. He stopped just a few steps in, his tongue sneaking out of his mouth and licking at the corner of his lips. "Makes me gag a bit. But I just can't look away."

Once the smoke stopped stinging my eyes we got a good look. There he was. A tall, obese, naked man sitting in a backwards chair leaning against the stove. His back covered in hair, his head ironically bald. His nose was covered by a plastic pig nose, his face pressed firmly against the eye of the stove. The skin of his face was blistered and burnt, blood ran down the stove. But all I could focus on was his eyes. Open. Staring at me.

I swallowed hard. I had promised myself I wasn't gonna get sick. And I wasn't.

Wanda walked closer, looking all around him, "How'd he actually die, then?"

"Well," Doug pulled up his pants some, "It looks like there's a stab wound to the chest. I'm guessing that did it."

"Alright then," she said looking at me, "Lawrence can you grab the camera from my car? I want to get a few pictures."

I stood there staring into his blue eyes.

"Lawrence!" she shouted.

"Right. Camera." I turned around quickly and left, covering my mouth as I brushed past Doug.

"Pussy," he spat out as I flew past him.

I ran into the bathroom, hunched over the toilet and placed both of my hands on the seat. I looked down into the water and out it came. My steak sub from lunch. I stood up, taking deep breaths like my doctor taught me. "It's not that bad," I coached, "You've seen worse."

I wiped my mouth with some tissue and flushed it all down. Good-bye, appetite.

As I exited the bathroom, Terry exited the room right across from me. "Obviously," he zipped up his pants and spit into his cup. "She aint do it. She's the kinda girl who, you know," he spit again, "Is womanly. Don't do real fucked up shit. Yep. Aint her."

I gagged on the smell of chewing tobacco wafting from him as he spit again, closed the door, and walked back towards the kitchen.

"Camera," I said outloud. A technique my doctor also taught me so I don't forget.

I walked to the front door and opened it, the sun winking at me from behind a cloud. "It's gonna be a loooong day," she sang. "A real long day."