The Morgue [HC #51]
Note: Nothing but angst because Tony Kushner decided to hurt me so I am hurting all of you. You can thank Mr. Kushner for this one.
The first blow, that night was when Quique and Pepe came to her and told her what happened. “Bernardo esta muereto” played in her head on loop. Over and over again. The sight of Quique fighting back tears. She was still at work when they came by.
Despite knowing they should stay out of sight, Pepe offered to walk her home, but she declined. She needed to be alone. She didn’t cry. She didn’t want to believe it. After closing the store, she walked home, contemplating, hoping they were wrong.
She arrived home and found Officer Krupke exiting the apartment building. He immediately recognized her.
The second blow was being asked to identify Bernardo’s body in the morgue. No one could get a hold of Maria. Anita was the closest thing to family they could find, but under law, she wasn’t considered his family. She would always just be known as his girlfriend.
She was driven to the city morgue. In complete silence. Krupke wanted to say something to her. Comfort her in some way, but what could he say?
There were two bodies. The first they showed her was the white boy from the dance, Riff. She shook her head. When the blanket was moved off the second body, she felt her knees go weak. Had Krupke not been there to catch her, she would have fallen to the floor.
Her cries, her wails are sounds Krupke will never forget. That was ID enough for the medical examiner to add a detailed toe tag to Bernardo’s body.
“Come on, Mrs. Vasquez. Let’s get you out of here.” Krupke offered, but Anita broke from his embrace. She didn’t want to leave him. She caressed his face, mumbling Spanish, that no one else in the room could understand. She spoke through tears and sobs. When Krupke, placed a hand on her shoulder, she place one last kiss on Bernardo’s lips.
“Te amo.”
