Upper Merion High School

We pulled into what would be our home for the next three days, Upper Merion High School in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. It was nice enough, but a bit of a step down from the school we had spent the night before in. The air was not working and the fans they had were not enough to effectively circulate the air. There was a bit of a hike between where we slept and where we ate, which was a nuisance, but not a big deal. Lastly, the gym we slept in had a light, the beacon of despair, which stayed on all night. None of this would keep us from sleeping, or eating well, or just being thankful for what we had.

If there was anything to keep us up, it would be the janitor. Not every janitor, many of them were quite nice and they protected our things and were always quick to let us in. But, there was one who easily could have haunted our thoughts.

In my mind I can see the creases on his face, which swallow the air and darken the room. I can see his fly away hair, which didn't show a general carelessness, but that the burden he carried made such small things as taking care of your hair beneath him. I can see the dark pools of his eyes which looked not at you, but too some faraway place, as he rested his weight on a still mop. A daydream, a nightmare, a truth.

In the evening, in the hallway, as he looked across the lot of us, he said to a few of us, but as if to no one, you know there was a murder here.

When we talked about we laughed. It was a little too much like Mr. Withers in Scooby-Doo telling us he would have got away with it too. Given all that was going on, it seemed unreal. He didn't belong here, and yet here he was, and with a little research we found out he wasn't kidding.

It turned out in the 70's one of the English teachers convinced another, who he was having an affair with, to take out a huge insurance policy and name him the beneficiary. She was found dead and the kids were never found, that is until someone thought to check the school incinerator.

We opted to to tell the kids until we were long gone.