Nothing Is Forever
So long ago I don't remember when
That's when they said I lost my only friend
Well they said she died easy of a broke heart disease
As I listened through the cemetery trees
The suicide note started with song lyrics, and the Detective stared at the bloodstained paper. His eyes, unfocused, darted from the page (carefully stored in an evidence bag) in his hand to the body crumpled against the wall. He stared off into yesterdays he knew and tomorrows this girl never would.
His younger partner, still an apprentice, stood over his shoulder. He gagged, waving away flies. Reaching into a coat pocket, the veteran handed over a bottle of Mentholatum for the younger man do dab under each nostril.
"What do you see?" the old man asked. Knees protested standing with creaks and pops.
"I see a girl who ate a thirty-eight about a week ago."
"Anything else?"
"She was a fan of one-hit wonders?"
"They had thirteen top-ten hits, smartass."
"Oh, I guess I should apologize?"
"Show some fucking respect for the dead girl's good taste, you ape."
"Careful, Inspector. I could interpret that as racist."
"And I could break a foot off in your ass."
"Hostile work environment. I think you're flirting with me now."
"Let's step outside. This place stinks about like your sense of humor."
"Oh, shit. Now you wanna fight?"
"Kid, I'm too old to fight and too young to die. Let's just get some air."
They stepped out the front door of the old cottage. Originally built for workers of the nearby cotton mill, the paint was peeling and the floor sagged. The porch was missing several boards, and an old swing hung unevenly from rusted chains. Testing fate, the old man lit a cigarette and lowered himself into the swing.
I seen the sun comin' up at the funeral at dawn
With the long broken arm of human law
Now it always seemed such a waste
She always had a pretty face
I wondered why she hung around this place
Virginia tobacco couldn't quite hide the scent of dried copper and rotting meat, but it helped. The detective read through the note again, flicking ashes on weatherworn boards that saw its best days before he was in high school.
"What you thinkin' boss?"
He stops reading, closes his eyes, and leans back. He exhales smoke with a weary sigh.
"I think she found her own way out of the maze of ugliness and greed, kid. I just hope wherever she is now, both headlights work and she found something better than in the middle. But now she knows some things do last forever."
Confused, the younger investigator just shakes his head and goes back in to supervise the coroners as they move the body to the morgue.