Ghost (temporary)

I: Prologue

"He's such a pig."

Henrietta Walsh walked along Main Street, the heart of DeSoto. She hated Missouri.  She hated small towns and she especially hated Mark!   Every time he wanted to be a butt-head, she had to get out and take a walk.  Her parents didn't mind the walking; DeSoto was a sleepy town with little crime.

Walking was therapeutic for Henrietta. Ever since she was a baby and learned to walk, it was her most favorite thing to do.  Her momma always said she'd walk clear to Timbuktu if she had enough pairs of good runners.

Mark inspired this walk, like so many other walks in her past. His constant bickering and complaining about their never engaging in intercourse, like "everybody else" was sickening!  Henni, as her parents called her, wasn't trying to be like everybody else.  She had visions of wedding-day white and being right with God when she married.   She wasn't going to give in to peer pressure just because he wanted to.

So Mark had dumped her.

What a loser!  But he had been her loser.  Now she was alone.   No boyfriend.  No prom date.  No white wedding.   Technically, she was the loser.

Walking down Main Street, she rubbernecked at people filling their gas tanks at one of the two Phillips 66 gas stations on the same road.  The one she currently passed was bigger, with a drive-thru car wash.  As she trudged along the sidewalk, she hugged herself as a cool mist of water blew by on an early autumn wind.  She decided to offer up her own bit of self-abasement in preparation for what she'd receive at school.

How could I have fallen so hard for him?

Because he was so cute and you've always been about looks!

But he was so sweet before...

You're blind, you idiot! You knew he was a pig.  You just thought you could change him.

Didn't all girls do that?

It was late.  The sun had begun it's descent around five-ten, making it dark already, but Henni was a DeSoto native. She could walk the area blind-folded and never miss a beat due to the dark.  But tonight was different.  The town's main drag was just a little bit darker than most nights.  It could have been her imagination, but it just felt different.

She headed towards the town's one-screened movie theater.  They'd recently fixed it up with a digital system, new speakers and even an updated concession stand. Old jewelry stores and thrift shops, where business was not booming, surrounded the theater.  Those windows were dark, but the large marquee of The Melba Theater was bright.  But only on that corner.  Every place else was as dark as her broken heart.

What had once been her familiar hometown was now a place of isolation and soon-to-be humiliation. Once tomorrow struck, everyone would know Mark had tossed her aside.  Would he tell the truth?  Probably not.  By tomorrow afternoon, she'd probably have about ten rumors out about her. 

How would she face everyone?  Debbi, TaKeisha and Shawna would huddle around her, making matters so much worse- she didn't want that.  Maybe she wouldn't go to school; she could easily play sick.  As she walked, she realized she didn't even want to see the cars that passed her by.

Annoyed and feeling as though every passing vehicle gawked at her, she decided she would take a side street instead.   Anything was better than seeing people. 

Henni turned around and backtracked until she made it to Easton Street.  She made a left and felt much better.  Anyone who drove by would see her back and not her face.  Plus, there were no opened stores or homes that would add to her feelings of frustration.  There was next to no light on Easton street, granting her solitude.