Serial Killer's Diary: Part 22

**Warning: these entries may be graphic and, hopefully, frightening.  Keep in mind this is merely fiction.  No humans (or animals) have or will be harmed in the production of this blog.  All names have been chosen at random and are not meant to represent anyone, living or dead.  Any similarities are purely coincidental**

10/28/13    9:15 PM

     I’m definitely feeling the effects from yesterday.  By the time I finished all the yard work for Mr. and Mrs. Flemming, I could barely move.  I hinted to Mrs. Flemming that I might have to move out if I couldn’t find work soon.  With no job and practically nothing coming in from unemployment, I could either eat or have a roof over my head-I couldn’t afford both.  She looked so sad; I swear she had tears in her eyes!  She insisted that she and her husband didn’t want a new tenant.  She said they felt so comfortable with me and it wasn’t like they really needed the money anyway.  It made them feel safe to have a strong young man nearby if they needed any help.  Again, she reminded me of all the times I’ve helped them out, like shoveling the driveway, mowing the grass and cleaning out the rain gutters.  I figured the reason my rent was so low was because I did those things but apparently that’s not the case.  They offered to waive November’s rent if I did a little extra yard work.  Done, only now I can barely move. 

      I slept in and it was late in the day before I was able to get up and shower.  I stood under the steamy spray for at least an hour trying to loosen up my muscles.  Eventually, I managed to get myself moving.  My fridge was empty so I headed over to the store for some groceries.  I ran into Angela there.  She and Marcus have been dating seriously so I had to listen to her gush over her happy little life. Ugh! 

      Anyway, she gets real serious then and asks me if I’ve heard about Natalie.  I was afraid I’d give myself away so I went with the “play dumb” routine.  As her eyes grew teary, she told me Natalie was dead and they suspect foul play.  I could feel the blood draining from my face as I asked her what she meant by foul play.  She says, “They think it was murder.  But if you ask me, I think it was Don.”  Curious now, I asked her why.  She tells me that just before Nikki died, Don had asked her out on a date but Nikki said no.  The next day, Nikki was dead.  Then she says, “And there’s that crap Don told Natalie about you.”  What crap, I ask her.  It seems Don claimed that I told him that I’d had sex with Natalie.  He must think I’m some kind of ladies man because he claimed that I’d managed to make Natalie do other things-perverted things.  He told all of this to Natalie because he suspected she had feelings for me.  “I don’t even talk to that douchebag!” I replied.  I must have shouted it because the other shoppers all turned and looked at me and Angela shushed me.  Angela says, “That’s what I told Natalie, right after you got fired last week”.  She leaned in closer, whispering to me about how Don was saying all kinds of horrible things about me to the whole staff.  
      “That’s why Natalie wouldn’t speak to me,” I interrupted.  Again I was shushed but this news was huge.  Natalie only snubbed me because she thought I was spreading rumors about her.  My heart sank.  Angela said she found out later-after I’d already been canned.  She said Don hit on Natalie and even kissed her in the parking lot.  I’d seen the kiss but apparently, what I hadn’t seen, was Natalie saying that if he ever did that to her again she was going to file sexual harassment charges.       

      She wasn’t in league with Don.  In fact, Angela had finally managed to convince her that Don had lied about me and, if she hadn’t died, Natalie was planning to apologize to me.  Suddenly, the room began to spin.  I couldn’t breathe.  Natalie was dead and the worst part is that she hadn’t deserved to die.  It was all Don’s fault and I was filled with rage. I insisted that Angela and Marcus had to report all of this to the police.  Natalie needed to be avenged.  Angela smiled (a dark and wicked smile) and said, “We already did.”  The police had arrested Don just a few hours earlier.  Marcus was at the restaurant and he called her right after it happened.  He said Don was sobbing like a little girl as they led out in handcuffs.           
      By the time I got home, there was a message on my answering machine from Jack, begging me to come back to work.  He said he couldn’t guarantee that they’d stay open much longer, especially after all the bad press, but he desperately needed an assistant manager and he wanted me for the job. 

Rest in peace, Natalie.