#Wattys2015 The Ghost of James Fitzpatrick

Chapter 17

James and Sarah were both on their backs on the rug next to one another with their heads are touching. They looked up at the ceiling lamp and said nothing. It was quiet in Sarah's room, the clock was ticking, and the clink of Josh's cereal bowl heard coming from downstairs. James reached over and took Sarah's hand in his.

"I'm sorry," said Sarah.

"Stop" he said. "Please, don't Sarah. It's my stupid crap, not yours."

Sarah felt James squeeze her hand, and she wished she could curl all the way into its warmth.

"This kid I knew," began James, "one of my teammates, took something very meaningful of my neighbor's. He was an old guy, Sergeant Lewis, a war veteran; everyone just called him 'Sarge'. He lived in that brick house right across the street, the one with the big screened in porch."

Sarah just laid there staring at the ceiling and listening. She felt tears well up in her eyes and make the long fall down to her ears.

"My, apparently homicidal, friend JJ, took Sarge's war medal, his Purple Heart, and a gun from his house that night. He threw the medal down his grandparent's well, which really pissed me off, so when he showed me the gun, I wouldn't give it back to him, and that really pissed him off." James smirked.

Sarah said nothing.

"I was very literally in no position to argue about anything with JJ Zwicki," said James. He turned to look at Sarah and saw the skinny track of tears.

"Are you alright, Sarah?" he asked.

Sarah let go of his hand and slowly got up from the floor. She walked to her bookshelf, pulled out her yearbook and sat down again next to James.

"Wow, still the Arden High Chargers," commented James upon seeing the book. He propped himself up on one elbow and watched Sarah. She said nothing as she flipped through the pages of the heavy book to the back where she located the school administrator's photos.

There she found a large 3x5 color photo of John Jeffrerson Zwicki, Principal, Arden High School, Arden Missouri. He sports a smile, showing his straight, white teeth. His blonde hair is combed neatly back, and he's wearing a dark suit and a striped tie.

James stared in disbelief for a long time at the photo. His mind was overwhelmed as he tried to comprehend the photo. It was without a doubt, JJ. Time could not change those eyes, the last ones he saw in life thirty seven years before.

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