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Chapter 16

"Yes, there was a boy that did make fun of me. He was at my school. He never stopped teasing me. He teased me after school, or even if the school principal suspended him. He would never stop to tease me. Things were worse if my little sister was around. I felt like tackling them both to the ground. They wouldn't stop being a problem for me. It was during the time when I was in sixth grade that I told my parents about what was going on. My sister was in her room at the time. I finally had her caught making a mess out of my room. I brought the parents over to my room, and she got what was coming to her. I told them about the problems she was causing for me." James said. Alice felt down about how the ghost was being treated when he was alive. "I'm sorry." Alice spoke with a saddened tone of voice.

The ghost took a good look at her. "Yes, I'm sorry for yelling in front of you. These people who made my life miserable just only bring up bad memories. It seems that you and me have a few things in common." The ghost noticed how the three kids from school were causing her problems just like the little sister from his family or the boy that like to make fun of him. "So what happened to your little sister? And the boy at school that made fun of you?" Alice demanded with a calm manner of voice. The ghost still stared at Alice. He went to answer her two questions. "When my sister was caught, she had to do some of the house chores that I normally do. She didn't talk to me very much after I told my parents. I don't know if she was mad at me, or if she was expecting me to make a mistake and get myself into trouble. I remember that the time I told my parents about the problems she was causing was at sixth grade. I had a normal birthday that year. I think that my sister went to summer camps during the summer months that followed. I was at home, enjoying life with my parents. Eventually, the talk about the trouble that my sister has been causing to me soon went away. I think the boy who was teasing me was expelled and went to another school. I haven't heard from him the last time after he teased me." James floated over the section of the concrete base that was on the edge of the dirt lot, and the concrete foundation itself. "So, the only reason why you're still here is that nobody has come to take your body away. What Mrs. Backstrom did to you is unacceptable. You shouldn't have to have your body buried here the rest of your life." Alice said with a confident but with a meek tone of voice. "Yes, you're right. I shouldn't have to be buried here where I could be forgotten. I don't know if the supervisor made my death look more like a disappearance." James mentioned as he looked at the concrete base. "Maybe we should get evidence that Mrs. Backstrom has that will prove that she has done something bad to you." Alice suggested. "I don't know if that would be possible. Besides, I think that she is good at lying and that she would probably want to make sure that her secret hasn't been find out yet. I will get even." James declared with his hoarse voice as he dived into the concrete base. "Wait, shouldn't we find the evidence first before finding your supervisor?" Alice questioned again. She didn't want the ghost to hurt anybody else. She had some bad memories of him throwing students all around the building and didn't want him to start again. "Revenge isn't the way to solve things!" Alice shouted out.

She hoped that the ghost wouldn't do anything else bad to the students at the school. "We're done talking. Go away!" The ghostly voice whispered into her left ear. Alice could feel her feet not touching the dirt lot. She looked around and found out that she was at the same height that the nearest horizontal beam was at. Alice found herself to be floating leisurely towards the wooden fence that was on the other side of the construction site that was opposite to the gate. "Please, isn't there some way we could get Mrs. Backstrom to say that she did have you buried in the cement?" Alice pumped James as she was only halfway across the construction site towards the fence. Alice quickly found out that she was only halfway between the distance between the two horizontal girders alongside. "Mrs. Backstrom will cry out her mistake. I will make the people who make your life bad regret that they would do anything horrible to you." The hoarse voice whistled into her right ear. Alice thought that James was doing this the wrong way. She didn't want him to get revenge on his supervisor by scaring Amelia. Alice had one question lingering in her mind. How was Mrs. Backstrom related to Amelia. Is she her mother, or just an aunt? That question lingered in her mind as she found herself floating past the abandoned steel girder structure on the desolate construction site. Alice wanted to talk James out of getting revenge on her enemies at school. "Those bad kids will indeed pay!" The ghost said as Alice was only three quarters of the way across the construction site. She remembered she was floating high enough to cross the wooden fence. "Please, can I talk to you tomorrow? We need a plan as to how we can bring Mrs. Backstrom to justice." Alice gently asked in the thin air.

Any neighbor who would try and surprisingly saw Alice floating along would have to deal with a problem with the shower. It started off automatically. The water would spray out of the shower attachment and land onto the floor of the shower. "Please James, can I come back here tomorrow?" Alice requested as she saw that her head was across the wooden fence. There was no reply. Within a few seconds, Alice was now levitating above the sidewalk across the fence. The girl could see below that she was being slowly lowered onto solid ground. Alice expected the ghost to answer back to her offer of meeting him back here tomorrow. The only thing she could hear was the sound of a car nearly approaching the nearby intersection. Alice was now on the sidewalk. She couldn't believe that the ghost would want to do anything bad to Amelia, Liam and Rosalie. Alice thought that she could talk him out of it. She heard the car cross the intersection and was driving in the direction where her school was supposed to be. Alice wanted to go back into the construction site. She still wanted the ghost of the construction worker to help her find proof that he was buried in the concrete base. James has already made up his mind. Alice knew that she would be on her own if she was going to help the ghost of the construction worker rest in peace. Alice continued the rest of her way home. She skipped down the street until she was at the next intersection. Alice crossed that very intersection on her way home just as she normally does. She try to think of a plan to find evidence that would prove that James was buried at the construction site. Alice thought of going into the construction company's website to find out some clues. It was a calm and quiet walk for the rest of the way. Alice managed to make it home on time. She was met with a happy father. "Hi Alice, how was school today?" He rallied her with a friendly tone of voice. It was the mother's turn to help make supper. She was making beef enchiladas. Alice could smell the food as she came into the house. She said "Hi." to her mother and went to put her things away. She was quick to finish nearly all of her homework. She only had two pages of it left to go before her father called. He asked her to help set the table. Alice had the napkins and the cups of milk all ready. The cups were full, and the napkins were neatly folded next to the seat that family members normally sit at.

Alice sat at her spot. She felt that any one of her parents would call her up to help put the plates of food onto the table. Alice decided to talk to her father, not trying to make herself bored. "How was your day Dad?" "It was fine. My work day was fine. It's still a shame that you still can't get back onto the bus again." He spoke with calm tone of voice. "I know. I already miss talking to my friends on the way home from school. That's the one thing I like doing. Talking to my friends and trying to cheer them up." Alice added. "Well that's good that you do that. I hope you're still like being kind around other people." The mother uttered, trying to join the conversation. "Oh don't worry mom. I do like helping other people. Sometimes they can be mean to you, but I try to be the best person I try to be." "Who's being mean to you?" She asked with a little bit of an alarming tone of voice. Alice felt that she shouldn't be saying this in front of her parents, but she knew it was the right thing to do. "Well, you see there was boy at my school who says that my hair makes me look like a squirrel. I told him to stop several times. And then there was a girl at my school who was bossy to other people that she talks to in the school." Alice answered. She didn't want her parents to see her crying at the table. "Well Alice if there was somebody who behaved inappropriately at school. You should tell a teacher immediately. It's a sensible thing to do. If you or somebody else has been hurt by somebody who bosses them around or who makes fun of other people, you should always tell the principal about these problems." The father advised with a serious, and yet relaxed tone of voice. "I've been doing that Dad." Alice told him truthfully. "If people continued to be bossy or make fun of other people, you should always tell the teachers or the principal. The kids should learn that its never okay to be bossy or have any other kind of bad behavior. If they continue to be bad, it would be their fault that they would be expelled from school." Her father continued.