Michael's Ghost Girl

Anger in Four Parts

Fall passed into Winter, Winter was starting to fade into Spring. This particular afternoon Michael was going straight home. He sat on the bus, noticing subtle signs of spring showing, like the first buds on trees and bushes. Most houses had crocus pushing up their heads in flower beds, and other bulbs were starting to send up shoots. Spring was in the air, and he just felt good. He hadn't felt this good in a long time. Even Thea sitting two seats ahead of him and pretending he didn't exist didn't bother him.

Suddenly a cold hand was holding his. Mariah smiled at him and rested her head on his shoulder. He wished he could put his arm around her and rest his head on hers. He missed spending the night with her. The thing or whatever it was, had not re-appeared and he hoped its absence would bring Mariah and him back together again.

When he got home he kicked off his Vans and stretched out on his bed, wondering why he felt so tired. Mariah materialized next to him, became solid, and held him in her cold arms. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No, I couldn't be mad at you for long. I was really freaked out by what happened to Thea, and seeing something that looked like you on the course, that's all. I was afraid it was you, but later I realized it wasn't." He wrapped his arms around her more tightly. "I have to meet Kit at six when she gets off the bus—will you come with me?"

"Don't you ever let yourself just be a kid, Michael? I didn't have much chance to have a life and enjoy myself, but with you it's like you've taken the burden of the world on your shoulders. You're too young to be so old."

"I wasn't always this way," Michael turned on his back so he could see her. "I was a real slacker, except for school. Then Dad lost his job, and even though he got unemployment and Mom was working, they could barely manage the bills. He found another job, but the pay was way less than he made before. I'd hear them at night, talking about which bills they should pay, how much the insurance was costing. Then, one day, they didn't have the money for the house payment, and they realized they might have to go into foreclosure."

"Kit doesn't get it, she can't understand why we don't live the way we did before. There were some other kids in the school that had the same thing happen, but it doesn't make it any easier to go from being upper middle class to having to struggle day-to-day. I figured it was my job to make it as easy on Mom and Dad as I could so there'd be one less thing for them to worry about."

He sighed and sat up. "They've put a lot of money into this house and it's beginning to feel like home—I never thought I'd say that. My run-in with the guy up the street shook them up, but I don't want them to love this house any less. It's their refuge from all the stuff they had to go through. Now it's my job to be as good a student as I can so they can send me to college, and find ways to support myself so they don't have to worry about me. If I can keep an eye on Kit and keep that creep away from her, then they can think the neighborhood is safer than it really is and live in their comfortable little world again."

"You know that can't happen," Mariah countered, "Not as long as he's here and alive on this earth. Maybe we can find a way to scare him and chase him away, but he's after your sister and he won't stop until he gets her. I'm being unfair to you, but you're the one who's going to have to do it. There's no one else."

"Like you think I don't know that? Every time I walk up the street, every time I walk down it, I'm on the lookout for him. He could grab me and maybe I couldn't get away, but if I succeed in fighting him off and run—he knows that I'll call the police again, and he's done for. I've promised you your bones." He paused for a moment, "Mariah, I'm terrified to go into his basement and get them, but I intend to keep my word. You're right; I do have the weight of the world on my shoulders, but who's going to take it off them?"