I winced at Justice's words as we reappeared in a park. Lebanon, I suspected, I had jobs to complete and couldn't spend my whole day dwelling on Justice's words.
"Who's Hades?" Ursula questioned as I pulled at my collar, uncomfortable at her sudden question.
"Didn't I say to not talk unless you're asked to." I responded harshly.
"Jeez, alright. Touchy subject." Ursula seemed to adjust well to being a soul, that fact bothered me to no ends but I couldn't fiddle my fingers with hundreds of souls waiting for my appearance.
"Andrew Calkins." I blinked and we were in a small room in an apartment, Andrew was lying in a bathtub, his wrists slit as blood was rushing out of them, a beer bottle lying snugly in his hands as I pressed my palm to his forehead.
"Woah. Who are you dude? How the hell did you get into my house!" Andrew yelled.
"Turn around."
"What? You fucking with me bro?"
"Turn around." I said as calmly as I could.
"Eh, you better not be fucking with me alright? I have 911 on fucking speed dial!" He was getting more agitated.
"Just turn around..." I pinched my nose as the stubborn man refused to do so.
"No. What the fuck is so impo-Oh. Holy mother of fucking god." He went silent as he stared at his limp body lying in a bathtub full if blood.
"T-That's m-me..." His tough man act soon dropped as he became nothing more than a sniveling pile of tears.
"December ninth, twenty sixteen. You died in this bathroom by slitting your wrists at twelve thirty. Your wife was calling you but you didn't want to answer and now, you have given up your life." I repeated the sentence as if I was reading from a textbook.
"No...no no...no! This can't be happening. I wasn't...I-I can't be...." He couldn't say the word, another thing I didn't understand about humans, why were they so sensitive about words. They are meaningless unless you believe the meaning behind them.
And if you are what the word is, then you should accept it and swallow the words down. Its almost pathetic how the simplest of words can turn a bodybuilder into a crying fool. Then again, that's one of the many mysteries of humanity that I will never understand.
"Dead. Mister Andrew Calkins, I'm afraid that its time to go." I raised my hand as he sank to the floor.
That's when Ursula peeked out from behind me, a sad smile on her face as she watched the man stare at her.
"Are you...like me?" He whispered as she nodded and slowly pushed past me, sitting beside Andrew.
"I died a couple of hours ago." She offered a sympathetic smile.
"How are you so fine with this? I mean come on we're Fuc-Urm..I mean we're freaking talking as ghosts! And I don't even know who that dude with the suit is! Or you! Hell, what if this is just some sort of crazy dream?! Yeah, that would be nice." He ranted to Ursula as she patiently listened.
She suddenly reached out and plucked Andrew's skin, pinching him as he gasped out in pain.
"Ow! What was that for?!" He yelped.
"Now you know you're not dreaming." She said as if it was a matter of fact.
"Wait...so....I'm not dreaming? I'm...really...dead....fuck..." He didn't even bother to cover up his expletive as he ducked down to look at the ground.
"Why did you kill yourself?" She asked.
He looked up, his eyes wide with sorrow and his lips curled down into a saddened frown.
"I-I didn't want to but...it was all....too damn much...I mean...Abbey-She's my wife, or soon to be wife, she's great and all-like beautiful, smart and all that crap but...I mean...we had to raise our kids at sixteen and...after working...so damn much just to support my fam-them...I don't...I don't want to be tied down anymore ya' know? I was an idiot...I know that. Stupid and crazy and it was a party...I didn't know what I was doing...I didn't mean for Abbey-No point in saying it now is it?" He choked out a forced smile before collapsing back into despair.
"For the record, I think you're a great dad. To give up everything for your kids and support your wife, not many people would do that. It takes a lot of bravery to not dump your family onto the sidewalk and I respect that so you need to stop moping and relax." Ursula talked in such a calming way that even I relaxed a little.
"Fuck, Abbey. Shit, I didn't...I didn't mean to...fuck. Is there a way to get back my life?!" He frantically twisted his head around before his eyes came to rest on mine.
"Mister. Dude. I-I made a mistake. You can't take me, not yet. I need to make amends. I caused Abbey so much pain...I need to fix it-like right now." He pleaded with me as I stared back without a trace of sympathy.
"I don't do deals. Once you're dead, you're dead. What's dead, stays dead, that's the rules." I said as he tugged at my sleeves and let out a bawling cry.
"Oh...Abbey..." He wailed as I stood there uncomfortably.
"Hey, Mister Andrew. If its any help, your wife would be proud of you for sticking with her through good and bad. My mama and papa didn't stay with me so I don't know how its like to have my birth parents with me but my new daddy and mommy are really kind to me but I would love it if my mama and papa stayed with me. Mister Andrew, not everyone can be perfect, you tried your best and this was the maximum of your ability. You can't change the past so why not look forward instead of backwards." She comforted him as he slowly regained his conscious and listened to her words in earnest.
"B-But..I...I failed them. I was suppose to be the father...the Perfect-Perfect....f-fa...family..." Andrew sniffed.
"Mister Andrew, I bet that to them, they already had the perfect family."
