Ghost Guardian

Chapter 10

947 words 

Pip struts out of the doors of the college of which he just graduated.

"Meet the latest graduate of Kings College. I probably shouldn't brag, but dang, I amaze and astonish. The scholars say I got the same virtuosity and brains as my pops. The ladies say that's not where the resemblance stops."

I get that Alex is good looking, but something seems off about the age difference. We'll figure that out later.

"I'm only nineteen, but my mind is older." I remember Alex saying that.

"I gotta be my own man, like my father, but bolder. I shoulder his legacy with pride."

You're a Hamilton. Of course you do.

"I used to hear him say, that one day I would blow us all away!"

Sh*t.

He walks over to some girls. "Ladies, I'm looking for a Mr. George Eacker. He made a speech last week, our 4th of July speaker. He disparaged my father's legacy in front of a crowd! I can't have that. I'm making my father proud!"

"I saw him just up Broadway a couple of blocks. He was going to see a play."

"Well I'll go visit his box!"

"God, you're a fox."

"Hey, y'all look pretty good in your frocks. How about when I get back, we all strip down to our socks?"

"Okay!" They say.

"What the hell was that?" I ask as I catch up to him.

"What the hell was what?"

"You're just going to go around asking random girls on the street to threesomes!"

"They weren't random! I knew them from school!"

"Fine. Are you actually going to go?"

He hesitates. "I don't know. I have to go find Eacker. And don't try to stop me." He walks away.

This is normal talking. This is whispering.

"George!"

"Shh!"

"George!"

"Shh! I'm trying to watch my show!"

"You should've watched your mouth before you talked about my father though."

"I didn't say anything that wasn't true. Your father's a scoundrel, and so it seems are you."

"It's like that?"

"Yeah, I don't fool around. I'm not your little schoolboy friends-"

"Then see you on the duelling ground! That is unless you want to step outside and go now!"

"PHILLIP! WHAT THE HELL?" I shout.

"I know where to find you. P*ss off. I'm watching this show now."

Phillip walks away.

"Really, Phillip? You're gonna challenge him to a fu-"

"Please. Shut up. I need to focus."

"Phil-"

"I said SHUT UP!" He's about to cry.

"I'm here for you, Pip. If ever you need anything." I whisper.

"I know." He whispers even quieter.

————

"Pops, if you had only heard the sh*t he said about you! I doubt you would've let it slide and I was not about to!"

"Slow down..."

"I came to ask you for advice. This is my very first duel. They don't exactly cover the subject in boarding school." He says nervously.

"Did your friend attempt to negotiate a peace?"

"He refused to apologise! We had to let the peace-talk cease."

"Where is this happening?"

"Across the river in New Jersey."

"Everything is legal in New Jersey." They say together.

"Alright, so this is what you're going to do: stand there like a man until Eacker is in front of you. When the time comes, fire your weapon in the air. This'll put an end to the whole affair."

"But what if he decides to shoot? Then I'm a goner!" He's understandably nervous-sounding.

"No! He'll follow suit if he's truly a man of honour." He sounds confident, but I don't think that's what'll happen. Eacker doesn't seem like a man of honour. "Phillip, your mother can't take another heartbreak."

"Father!"

"Promise me, you don't want this young mans' blood on your conscious."

"Okay, I promise."

"Come back home when you're done." If he survives this. "Take my guns. Be smart. Make me proud, son," He says with a promising smile. I can almost believe this will turn out okay. I mean, when I duelled Lee, we both survived. Why can't this be any different? But I have this feeling it won't be. Because this is different.

"Hey, Pip," I say.

"Hey."

"Don't you have a threesome to go to?" I ask playfully.

"I'm not going. I don't want that to be the last night I have."

"And what if you survive?"

"Then, uh, I honestly haven't gotten that far."

"So you're okay with dying?"

"No. I just don't want to think about that and let myself down when I die."

"That's a little dark, but okay. You do you."

"Thanks."

————

He wakes up before the crack of dawn. As he gets dressed, I hear him rapping a new version of his rap from when he was a kid. 

"My name is Phillip." He grabs some food. "I am a poet." He walks to the duelling ground. "I'm a little nervous but I can't show it." Eacker is almost here. "I'm sorry, I'm a Hamilton with pride!" The only one right now. "You talk about my father, I cannot let it slide!"

Eacker walks onto the duelling ground. "Mr. Eacker!" Phillip calls. "How was the rest of your show?" He really is Elizas'  kid. 

"I'd  rather skip the pleasantries. Let's go!" 

"Rude," I hear Pip whisper. 

"Grab your pistol." Eacker says. 

"Confer with your men. The duel will commence after we count to ten! Look him in the eye, aim no higher. Summon all the courage you require, then slowly and clearly aim your gun towards the sky-"

The people around them start chanting. "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven-" They stop at the sound of a gun being fired. There is silence as Phillip falls to the ground, wounded, mere inches from death.

A/N

Y'all probably hate me now. I hate myself for this, but it had to happen. Pip has to die, because, he did in real life, so...that's where we are. This just keeps getting more and more depressing. Oops. I promise I love y'all. 

-Asher