Chapter 3.2

San Simon, Arizona

The Mazda turned off of East Bound Interstate 10, looping out into the desert briefly before turning back and crossing over the freeway and then continuing parallel just north of it. Martha Carrillo did not notice any of this or the Truck Stop she passed as she continued East. Her elderly mother had not answered the phone this morning. With but rare exceptions, Lesnie Ramirez was always up before dawn and working her garden or cleaning her home. Well into her seventies Lesnie was very stubborn, refusing to allow anyone to live with here or to move into a care home. Martha kept trying to mentally convince herself that it was probably the phones were down, but could not keep herself from thinking something was wrong.

She continued down the road as scrub brush and sand passed by, occasionally broken up by a trailer, tower, or house that looked like the arid conditions had worn the building down, before finally entering into the small town and turning left on San Simon Street and going the remaining block to her mothers trailer. She could see her mother’s car parked in front of the dusty brown double wide. Martha pulled in next to it and turned off her engine and got out. Almost immediately she knew everything was wrong. Besides a light breeze nothing moved or made a sound. No dogs barking, no sounds of kids playing or cars moving. A sense of dread began to form in her mind as she stepped forward and moved up to the door and knocked. The sound of her knuckles rapping the wooden door sounded like a serious of gunshots, but her attention was on the door that slowly pushed open under the weight of her knock.

“Madre!” she called out as she cautiously pushed the door all the way open and stepped inside. Almost immediately the hairs on the back of her neck began to stand up. “Madre!” she called out louder as she looked around. While everything seemed in place, it felt as if the trailer had been violated, kind of like that feeling after walking in to your home and knowing some one had broken in and robbed you before you saw the evidence. Martha moved through the rooms calling out to her mother in hopes of finding her. Slowly she made her way back towards the back of the trailer where her mother’s room was located. The door was open ahead but no movement could seen. Then she stopped dead in her tracks. A noise could be heard emanating from the room. A buzzing noise like a low drone sent shivers of fear down her spine as she slowly moved forward again. When she finally made it to the door and looked in, all she could do was scream in horror and anguish at the body of her mother laying on the bead covered in flies. A scream that all in the tiny town would have heard had it not been for the fact that Martha was currently the only living person there.