Fausto woke up the next day, much like the other times. The feeling of confusion with a hint of guilt. Although this emotion washes him after every night of drinking and regrets his actions of the past night, it's not really easy to say he truly has remorse because he is already thinking about the next chance he gets for a sip of cold beer.
He slowly crawls from his bed to the bathroom. He turns on the light to be greeted by his own disgraced reflection. With every day that passes, Fausto began to noticed that his own reflection looks less and less like the person that he once wanted to be. It started with a 5 o'clock shadow and progressed into sunken in eyes and a frown that got longer. He splashes water on face, hopping when he looks back into his own reflection that those eyes are no longer looking back at him. But today, just like any other day, that person is still there. Staring back at Fausto with apathy.
Fausto returns to his room and retreats to his coffee maker to start the day. He just stares at the maker as it drops warm black liquid into the pitcher and when its full, Fausto pours the contents into an unwashed mug.
With a mug in hand, he turns on his tv and sits down, trying to fight the hangover. Fausto flips through the channels but nothing really interests him enough. However, he leaves the tv on so it would be silents in his apartment. After all he thinks to himself, even if he's by himself in the small room, it's nice to know there are people out there smiling and living their lives. He leaves the tv on the local news channel because he thinks the anchor woman has a pretty smile. His hand reaches for a cigarette and puts it in his mouth without lighting it again.
Suddenly he hears a loud knocking on his door. This freaks out Fausto and not wanting to deal with whoever is outside lowers down his tv. His initial thought was that it was possibly the land lord and he is going to hassle him for the smell coming from his apartment. Fausto thinks, "Damn, I don't want to deal with anyone right now. I'll just pretend to not be here."
Then, his cell phone started to ring on full blast.
"Fausto! Wake up, you damn drunk!"
Fausto freaks out as he grabs his phone to try to mute it but realized it's too late. Whoever is outside knows it he's home. The contact reads; Boss. Fausto picks up the phone, "Hello?"
"Fausto! It's me John! I need you to open your door something happened."
"Oh um... I'm actually not home but I'll be there-"
"I can hear your voice dumbass! Come open the door!"
After realizing he is defeated and John is not going to stop bugging him unless he opens the door for him, he unhappily walks to let him in. John barges in and closes the door, "Fausto, you need to come with me."
"Why?"
John doesn't quite know how to articulate his words but just blurts out, "Katya went missing this morning and they found Isaac at the beach today!" Fausto lays down a cup a coffee for John and sits down next to him on his couch/bed.
"How you want your cup?", asks Fausto. "John says, "Lotsa a milk and sugar. Thanks Fausto"
Fausto gets up to retrieve the milk and sugar from his kitchen/ living room where his couch/bed is at. He sits back down with John and says to him, "So... Where did you find the son uva bitch?"
"Carrol asked me to go get something from the market next to the shore" said John. "Oh ok, who's Carrol?" asks Fausto. John looks at Fausto with a disappointed look, "Carrol? My wife? don't I always talk about her?"
Embarrassed, Fausto says, "Carrol!? I thought you said Sheryl?"John still has a disappointed face but lets it slide this time. "Well anyway, CARROL sent me to go get flour and on my way there, I came across this huge commotion going on at the shore line. Im talkin' paramedics, cops, screaming women; I'm tellin' you, it was a whole spectacle."
"Just get to it John", tells Fausto as he grabs his head. All that talking from John is starting to make Fausto's head hurt even more.
"Well when I got there... they were taking Isaac out of the ground. It was like... it was like...", says John confused even though he saw it with his own eyes. "He covered himself with gasoline and lit himself on fire. But I guess that didn't do him in because they found him buried up to the neck on the shoreline and let the shallow water drown him."
"Are you sure it was him?"
"Yeah his face was fine, just his body was melted down to the muscle. When they pulled him out, his head nearly came off from how badly burnt his body was. Hardly any flesh was keeping him together," says John with a shaky look in his eyes.
"Jesus, i'm sorry you saw that Johnny. But how do you think, he was able to do that to himself and then bury his whole body in sand?", asks Fausto
"Well that exactly why I am here. I went to the hospital to Katya to see if the police was still there considering they found him but..."
"But?"
"Well she went missing too", says John. Fausto at first thinks he was playing around because he knows that John has a habit of taking a joke too far but he notices right away that he wasn't joking. He thinks about yesterday and how Isaac left Katya, barely able to walk and completely mangled from her face. No way she just got up and walked away without anyone noticing her.
"Are you sure John? I mean you saw her yesterday, She was really fucked up!", tells Fausto in almost frantic spill. John replies, "I wanted to find out what was going on so I waited by the bus stop to see what was going on and I heard two cops that were talking about it, just like how you were describing it. But it would make more sense that Isaac slipped in and kidnapped her and you know... probably finished her before he offed himself."
"I would agree but don't you think the way he killed himself is kind of weird?", says Fausto. "Yeah no doubt but come on, Katya killing him sounds even more weird", says john chuckling a little bit but he continues, "Regardless, she is still missing."
"And?"
"I want you to call your ex."
Fausto immediately gets off putted and ask why.
"She knows Katya more than either me or you, so maybe she knows that we don't"
"Another Day"
The shades of orange change and I find my myself with the same affliction
The want of more never quite goes away. My creation of the indiscreet and anger doesn't stray Even when on paper, I can still feel the frustration of those inflicted with the pain.
Although many love me, I can't love myself Because I know I can do better in life Im stuck with the knowledge that what I want Will make others look the other way Because I can't differentiate whats necessary And what's brought on from hate.
The notion of love, makes me warm But a slight breeze will make me freeze I truly have no where to go
I truly lost my form.
-Fausto Merlo