Warning, this story has a very intense theme. Expect it to be disturbing. Based on where you found this story, you will probably be turned on by the beginning. However at the end, it should be clear that something wrong happened. It should illuminate how we consume news of bad things happening to people as entertainment. There is no denying that many would find the headline of what happened as titillating. Yet, the actual experience that the person lived through was very sad. Read this as an examination of the conflicting feelings.
The story is very loosely based on reality. Video surveillance tapes have been released on the Internet. Wikipedia has a detailed article about the incident.
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"Macky Dees, Farnhamville, Joe speaking. How can I help you?"
"I am officer Scotty. We have a report that a suspect may be working at your business. The suspect is female, white, slight build, blond hair. Does that description match any of your employees?"
"Sir, we have about 70 employees, many of which are female and blond. Do you have any more information?"
"This is privileged information, because we don't want anyone to know how close we are. Her first name initial is 'L'."
"No, Laurie is a very hefty girl, definitely not slight."
"Maybe, she goes by another name..."
"Officer, my manager just told me that you need to come down here, if you want any more information. He told me to hang up right now, as I am not authorized to speak on behalf of Macky Dee Corporation."
Click.
"Macky Dees, Harcourt, Karl speaking. How may I help you?"
"I am officer Scotty. We have a report that a suspect may be working at your business. The suspect is female, white, slight build, blond hair. Does that description match any of your employees?"
"If you got a warrant, you come down here. Otherwise, fuck you very much!"
Click.
"Macky Dees, Churdan, Janet speaking. How may I help you?"
"I am officer Scotty. We have a report that a suspect may be working at your business. The suspect is female, white, slight build, blond hair. Does that description match any of your employees?"
Janet swallowed. Her body heaved with tension. Her body was the shape of a pyramid. Her head was the pointed tip. Down from there, her torso expanded into every which direction with her fat hip being the ultimate foundation. She wore a dark blue shirt-pant combo that was oversized with many ripples in the clothing. It gave her body the outline of a blob without definition. The mouth with the flaming red lip stick in the pale face dropped open.
"Oh gosh, oh gosh, the police," she muttered under her breath. She waved her arms to get enough momentum to slip off the round, hard plastic disc that served as a bolted-in seat. Everything about the tiny restaurant was cheap, sturdy, and vandal-proof. The chairs and tables were bolted to the floor. The shine of the white tiles had gone. A thin permanent coating of gray grime covered it. The small fast food counter fit one registry and a big glass case with factory made apple pies, guaranteed to be 100% sugar, chemicals, and artificial flavor.
"I got to take this in my office." Janet was already panting from the effort of walking and the adrenaline had her eyes starring wild ahead at the door handle of her office. It was a small 7x7 feet cube filled with boxes of personnel records, promotional items, and cleaning supply. That's all that was needed for a place serving a rural Iowa city with a lazy main street up front.
"We got a new girl working the floor right now. She looks so innocent. She is barely 18. I can't belief her having gotten into any trouble."
"Is the initial of her first name 'L'?"
"Oh, yes, Lisa Forrester is her name."
"I think we got our suspect. There is a small reward out in her name. You may be able to collect it, if you help us in apprehending her."
"Oh, no, it must be drugs. She must have gotten into drugs, poor girl."
"Janet, I cannot share case confidential information with you. A police car is on the way. In the meantime, I need you to go back in the store and be my eyes and ears. Observe her from the distance and report back to me."
Janet stood behind the counter holding the cordless phone in her hand. Roger, a black, tall lanky college kid, was punching orders into the register. His eyes looked bugged and glanced at the timer in the top right corner every ten seconds. The counter constantly egged him on to get his average order taking time to under 80 seconds. There was a line of five corn fed customers waiting for lunch. A bulky construction worker had a pink fedora feather in his wavy dark hair. A five year old was holding a colorful toy car high in the air pretending it to be a plane.
Lisa was bent over a table corralling the yellow burger wrappers, red food baskets, and paper cups into a pile. A dirty, used, originally white cleaning rag lay twisted on the table. Her arms moved lanky and awkward like teenager ripped out of her world of playing all day in her room to doing something productive in an adult world. Her face looked contemplative at the pile of refuse. She tried to balance the cups on the garbage pile. Then, she put some garbage in the cup to lower the pile. That worked better. She smiled. Her hair was dirty blond and hung down limp from the low end shampoos.
"Janet, describe her clothing."
Lisa wore Old Navy sneakers with neckless socks, so that it seems like the foot is barefoot in the shoe. Yet close observation usually finds a sliver of white sock near the opening of the shoe. Her jeans had a stiff and tube shaped cut to it that little conformed to her body. The white t-shirt was size S and fit her snuggly. The fabric was fluffy from the many washes. The bra strap clearly showed on her back, when she was leaning forward.
"None of the witnesses were able to give us a precise description. We need us to give clothes sizes."
"Oh, that's maybe a 26 inch jeans. Shoe size is 6. That's definitely an S-size t-shirt."
"What's her bra size."
"Gosh, you need to know that as well. I have to wait until she turns around."
Lisa turned around to go for the garbage can. She began sprinting with a slightly desperate face. She seemed worried about her job performance, not cleaning fast enough. Her feet flung sideways in a funny way, as she was running. She bumped into a customer's stuck out elbow. "So, sorry," she said while brushing the man's arm. The man looked surprised and thrown out of contemplation.
"Such a goose! She is a B or C cup. She is so young. They look like they will still be growing."
"Janet, I got bad news. The car en route was diverted for a code 604. You have to apprehend her for us and hold her until we can send another car. Ask her to go to your office without causing a scene."
"Okay."
Janet swung around the corner and walked straight up to Lisa sorting the refuse into recycling and trash. Being empowered by acting on behalf of the police, she stood a little too close. Lisa was taken aback by the sensation of the large rolling body right next to her. Lisa had to be careful getting up to avoid touching Janet. "Yes, Janet!" Lisa had the worried look of a dear on her face. There was a little quiver in her voice.
"Come with me to my office."
Janet turned around without question. Lisa tried to get around the large body ahead of her. "Janet, I'll try working harder. I swear I'll bring out the trash more often. That dumpster smells so awful. Yet, I'll do it. I really want to learn this job!"
Without turning, Janet hissed, "You are in deep trouble, Missy."
"Janet, try to keep it low key or she may try to escape."
"What did I do?"
"Keep quiet and get her into your office."
"What did I do? I deserve to know what I did wrong." Lisa's voice was thin and her eyes were teary. Her heart was thumping. "I'll work for free for a week to learn the ropes. My aunt told me nobody hires inexperienced help. I need to get started somewhere. I'll clean the bathroom, too."
The door shut closed. The room penned them close together. There was only one place to stand for Lisa between the boxes and guest chair piled on with aprons. Janet had only one place for her large body behind the desk. Lisa's body was shivering with stifled sobs. Her arm hung down lifeless on the lanky girl with slight build. The emotion got Janet riled up to proof that she had taken the right role. Until now she had been cautiously listening to the officer. Now, her face was heaving with anger to proof that she was right to detain Lisa.
"That's the police on the phone. They finally caught you. You little filthy thief were trying to take advantage of my gullible nature. You better confess now."
"I didn't do anything," cried out Lisa. Her eyes were pulled open white. Her lips moved wide, when she talked. Saliva showed and the red flesh of her mouth was evident in the moment.
"Janet, you need to remain calm. She may try to send a message to her accomplices. You need to search her for cellphones and pagers."
"Come here, you," hissed Janet. Janet reached for Lisa's arm. A box of papers was knocked of the desk. Lisa instinctively pulled her arm away and pushed against Janet with the other arm. Janet got her rump around the desk and hit the sharp desk corner with a yelp. Then, Janet pushed Lisa's arms above Lisa's head against the wall and pinned them there with one hand. The other hand frisked Lisa's back. The space in the little jeans pockets was narrow. There was a bundle of two twenty dollar bills and a rimstone decorated cell phone. Janet knew that a bra made for a good hiding space. She felt up the stiff, smooth bra cup.
"Take your shoes off." Lisa kicked of her shoes. She stood on the balls of her tiny white low-cut socks trying to avoid the cold floor. Lisa's face had a newfound composure assuming that the worst was over. Janet backed away from her body and emptied the guest chair for her to sit. Janet heaved herself behind the desk. She looked wedged into place in between the desk and the wall. Her fatty arms rested on her belly holding the phone and money.
"Pass the phone to Lisa," said officer Scotty with a stern voice. Janet went passive with the phone out of her hand starring at her desk. The adrenaline was slowly calming down in her.