Doomed "to live"

Chapter 3 (Mother's love)

A heavy knock on the door occurs out of the blue. With nervous hands, Rosa opened it:

-Hello, Rosa Melo I'm Christina, Detective Jones' coworker.

-Good afternoon. Please, come in.

-I have a few questions for you and your spouse regarding-

-You're here because of this horrible incident, right?

-Well...

-I am aware that talking to someone like me can be challenging. I'll do my best to provide you with as much details as I can. However, my spouse will be unable to respond to you.

-Why, exactly? - inquired Christina.

-He's away on a business trip and doesn't plan to return for a few weeks, - replied Rosa.

-When did you become aware of your girls' absence?

-It was around nine o'clock at night. I was mistaken to believe that they had gone to sleep.

A flood of tears overwhelmed Rosa's eyes.

-Miss Rosa, don't cry. Your daughters won't come back if you cry. You can therefore pray for Isabella and Adele with the knowledge that they'll be with you at all time—through every stride, every wind gust, and every word. Your daughters would not approve of you crying. - Christine reassured Rosa.

-Thank you...

-You mentioned that you believed your daughters had gone to sleep.

-Ah, yes.. I went to check if they were asleep. However, they vanished like pebbles in the ocean! I looked through the entire house, but nothing! I made the decision to dial 112. They promised to find my daughters before daybreak. I was hoping they would do their job and my girls would be with me in no time. The police called me around three in the morning. I was expecting to see my girls, but I was wrong. When my husband stated that the police discovered them dead, they gave up looking for the murderer and returned all the evidence! I was shocked and angry. Apparently, I paid too little, that's why they didn't even care to bring back the bodies of Adele and Isabella! I stumbled and collapsed to the ground. I ran straight to the Lily Park. It was around five in the morning. My intuition directed me to the centre of the park. I spotted a man getting ready to rake the leaves. The thought suddenly crossed my mind that the park keeper must've murdered my daughters and was getting ready to bury them under a mound of leaves. Rage boiled inside my heart and I went after him like a crazy woman.

-Do you know who could've attempted such murder?

-Philip. It could only be him! I have known him ever since he was a little boy. We were good friends until something terrible happened...

-What happened?

-Philip became a drug addict! When he was just five years old, his parents got a divorce. It had major impact on his personality growing up. He went from sweet and caring to distant and cold. Philip would often bully other kids, get into fights and even mistreat the teachers. Everyone started to avoid Philip and of course that made it easier for him to do bad things. While his father fully disappeared from his life, Philip made the decision to remain with his mother. It troubled him to only have one parent. He was sick of his eccentric father and that plastic Malibu Barbie who had ruined his life. Depression and anxiety were so overwhelming that he decided to take a small amount of pain medicine he found at home. Unfortunately it backfired. The medication worked for a couple of hours, but after the time period passed he would feel sad and miserable again, so Philip began taking 12 pills a day to keep the pain away. And the rest is history...

-I see...

-The drugs took his mother's life!

-W-what do you mean? - Cristina asked.

-His mother Lydia was standing in front of a huge open window, chatting on the phone. Philip overheard the talk and quickly stood up. Hallucinations were among the side effects of drugs. He assumed it was his dad's new girlfriend speaking on the phone. Philip was so high on drugs that he couldn't even recognise that the woman behind the phone was his mother. He shoved her out of the window! She tumbled from a seven-story building!

-Oh, my God!

-I haven't seen him ever since.

-Ah, I see. I only have one question.

-Yes?

-How do you know that this is exactly what happened to his mother? You weren't there, so...

-You think I killed my own child and Philip's mother?!

-That's not what I'm saying.

-It's clear that you can't trust nobody these days...

-Rosa, please... Tell me who gave you this information about his mother's murder.

-You wouldn't believe me even if I told you...

-Just say it.

-Philip.

-Wait, what?!

-He confessed to me. That day when it happened, he called me on the phone. His voice was shaky and at first I thought he was joking. But then I remembered how he treated my child and his friends so I put two and two together. I ran to the scene to see Philip with blood on his shirt and his dead mother's corpse in his weak, tiny, teenage hands... It was horrible.

-What did you do?

-I called the police. They questioned me and him, after that interrogation they decided to let him off with a warning, because he was under age. Only 16 at the time... I'm sorry.. - she wiped her tears, - this topic is hard on me.

-Okay, I won't bother you much longer. Could you tell me how you know Philip?

-He is my nephew.

-Can you please provide me with Philip's home address?

-Yes.