2 The Ghosts Upstairs

by SUE FINEMAN

  “Are you telling me they watch us in bed every night? That’s sick.”

  She shrugged. “There are ghosts everywhere. You can’t stop living because a ghost might be watching.”

  Lifting her knee to rub him between the legs, she reached for another kiss. “Ignore them. They’re dead. I’m very much alive, and I want you to make love to me.”

  He turned his back on the ghosts. To hell with them. Kayla’s wet, sexy body beckoned.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sunday morning, Billy took Kayla and Georgia to church. He hadn’t been there since before Eleanor died. His pickup was a two-seater, so he drove Eleanor’s Mercedes.

  Kayla’s voice soared on the hymns, and after the service, the pastor took them aside and asked her if she’d like to join the choir.

  “I’d love to if I was going to live here for a few more months, but…” She shook her head.

  “She’s Eleanor Goodman’s cousin,” said Billy. “She came for her inheritance.”

  The pastor nodded. “Such a sad case. When Eleanor was a young woman, she spent some time in a mental hospital.”

  Surprised, Billy asked, “Did something happen?”

  “As I recall, she did something to her son and the maid called the police. I was still a boy back then, but my parents socialized with Eleanor and William. William was distraught over the incident, but the judge determined that Eleanor was too sick to know what she was doing. William had to put the boy in an institution, and he sent Eleanor to a private sanitarium. A year or two later, she returned home and acted like nothing had ever happened. It wasn’t long before they adopted your mother, Billy. Eleanor seemed fine by then, but she kept to herself. Just her and her little girl.”

  “Their son didn’t come home?”

  “No, he died in the institution. Your grandfather followed him to the grave a few weeks later. You were a little boy then.”

  “I didn’t know about John until recently. I don’t think my mother knew, either.”

  “Very few people knew. In those days, there was a certain stigma to having a mentally handicapped child. People hid them away. Today things are different.”

  Billy thanked the pastor and walked out to the car with Kayla and Georgia. He slid behind the wheel, but didn’t start the engine.

  Kayla rubbed his arm. “She was sick, Billy. Eleanor was sick.”

  “I know, but why would William give her another child after what she’d done to John?”

  “Maybe he didn’t do it on purpose. Maybe he got Maggie’s mother pregnant and Eleanor found out.”

  He slammed the heel of his hand down on the steering wheel. “He disposed of one child and gave her another one.” William was as much to blame for the way Maggie turned out as Eleanor, because he allowed it to happen.

  “I guess I’m not the only one with a dysfunctional family,” said Georgia.

  After church, they went to Livingston Avenue for a barbecue with Billy’s family. He was strangely quiet, and Kayla worried about him. He’d heard things about his family today, things that were hard for him to understand. Eleanor was a sick woman. Perhaps she’d always been a little off and the birth of her son pushed her over the edge. Whatever the reason, Billy needed to deal with it and put it behind him.

  Hannah asked, “Kayla, did you hear anything about your inheritance? It’s been a month, hasn’t it?”

  “Yes, it has. If I don’t hear from Mr. Clapp this week, I’ll call him. I hope it’s enough to buy a better car. My old van is about worn out.”

  “You can have Eleanor’s Mercedes,” said Billy.

  “But that’s yours, Billy.”

  “No, it’s yours. It was her personal property, so it belongs to you.”

  “Well, hey,” said Charlie. “If nobody else wants it—”

  Kayla laughed. She liked Billy’s brothers, especially the ornery one. “Tell you what, Charlie. I’ll drive the Mercedes and you and your brother can have my old van.”

  “Not a good idea,” said Donovan. “Charlie would put a bed in the back and turn it into a rolling motel room.”

  “But, Dad—”

  “No van.”

  Kayla and Hannah walked into the kitchen together before they both burst out laughing. Kayla said, “He’s such a cute kid, I can see why the girls are crazy about him.”

  “Donovan and I try to keep him under control, but we’re slowly losing the battle.”

  “He’ll be okay. He has a good foundation, like Billy.”

  “Billy. My wounded little boy has been my favorite kid since the day I met him. He was living with Pop and Donovan, starved for a woman’s affection. I’m so glad he found you, Kayla. You’re good for him.”

  Was she? Sometimes she wondered. They talked, made love, and worked on the house together, but it seemed like there was a little piece of Billy missing. He wouldn’t or couldn’t let himself love her, and without love, their relationship couldn’t last.

  Donovan came in for the plate of hamburgers to put on the grill. “Andy seems taken with Georgia.”

  “She’s pregnant, Donovan,” said Hannah.

  “Yeah, I know, but I’m not sure he does.”

  “She’ll tell him,” said Kayla. “She’s handling it pretty well, considering. I don’t know where she’ll go when Billy sells the house. Her parents don’t want her, and I don’t think she should live alone right now.”

  “How old is she?”

  “Eighteen next month. Old enough to know better than to let some guy talk her into doing it without a condom. He told her she couldn’t get pregnant her first time. Billy wants to teach his students sex education, but the administration won’t let him.”

  Donovan shook his head, and Hannah said, “That’s crazy. How can they protect themselves if they don’t know the facts?”

  Kayla shrugged. “They can’t.”

  When they got home that afternoon, Georgia went to her room to study for her exams and Billy closed himself in the secret room to watch more videos of Eleanor. Kayla lay in a deck chair in the shade with Buford by her side. She’d worked non-stop since coming here, and her body screamed for rest. Besides, it was that time of the month, and she didn’t have anything to take for cramps. Maybe the fresh air and sunshine would help.

  She dozed off and woke with Buford licking her face and Billy hunkered down beside the deck chair. “Kayla, are you feeling all right?”

  No, she wasn’t feeling all right. “Do you have any ibuprophen?”

  “No, but I can go get some if you need it.” He put his hand on her forehead.

  “It’s just cramps. Some months they’re really bad.”

  “I’ll go pick up something for dinner and buy some ibuprophen. Fried chicken okay?”

  “Fine.” Anything was fine if she didn’t have to cook it.

  He stood. “Anything else you need from the store?”

  “I don’t think so.”

  As soon as Billy left, Kayla went in search of a heating pad. She found one in Eleanor’s bathroom cabinet. The rooms looked funny without furniture, but she was glad to see that creepy bed gone.

  “I’m borrowing your heating pad, Eleanor. I’ll put it back when I’m finished with it.”

  Georgia had followed her upstairs. “Who are you talking to?”

  She couldn’t hide the ghosts forever, especially from a girl who was living here in the house. “Eleanor. She’s the woman who died here a few weeks ago.”

  Kayla took the girl’s arm and Eleanor’s heating pad and walked downstairs. “Eleanor is still here, and so is Billy’s mother, Maggie. They’re ghosts. Sometimes they get upset and cry or yell, but they can’t hurt you.”

  Georgia’s green eyes widened. “You’re serious?”

  “Very serious. Every now and then I see them, and when I’m in their rooms, I tell them what I’m doing so they won’t get upset.”

  They sat in the family room, and Georgia plugged in the heating pad for Kayla. “So you’re psychic?”

 
; “To some degree, yes. My granny could see a lot more than me.”

  “That’s so cool. I’ve never known anyone who was psychic.”

  At least Georgia didn’t think she was crazy. “If you hear a young woman crying, that’s probably Maggie. Eleanor… I haven’t figured her out yet. She seems to be trying to control Maggie.”

  Billy came in with dinner. Fried chicken, cole slaw, and potato salad from the supermarket deli. And a bottle of Advil.

  What a sweetheart.

  <>

  Billy began the last week of school with a final exam for his first period social studies class. The kids considered him a tough teacher, and he was, for the most part. But they stressed out about their finals so much, he made it easy for them. They’d learned everything they were going to learn from this class, and he saw no need to finish off the year with a hard final exam.

  He passed out the exams and watched the faces of the kids as they realized they could answer the questions. Some actually smiled.

  Someone from the office came in with a note.

  Mr. Kane, please come to my office between classes. K. Packard

  So the principal wanted to see him, maybe to tell him he had a job next year. He assumed after the prom that whatever reservations the board had about him had been put aside. The kids loved him, partly because he was young enough to relate to them. But the kids didn’t pay his salary, the board did. And Mrs. Packard was a part of that board.

  At the end of the hour, the kids put their exams on his desk and left smiling.

  Billy walked down to the principal’s office and was shown right in.

  Mrs. Packard didn’t waste any time. “We have a problem. Someone on the board claims you are sharing a house with a woman of questionable morals.”

  “You were at my house. Did you meet anyone of questionable morals?”

  “Kayla is from Memphis?”

  He nodded.

  “Did she work in a topless club?”

  “She worked as a waitress in a club that went topless, but she wasn’t topless until someone related to a member of this board ripped her top open and put his mouth on her breast. This is like blaming a woman for being raped.”

  “Still, she worked in a place that—”

  “She worked in the same place she’d been working for years. When the club went topless, the boss let her keep her clothes on. Are you firing me?”

  “No. I don’t want to have to do this, but I have no choice. The board has instructed me to give you a warning. Unless Kayla leaves your home—”

  Anger raged inside him. He kept it under control, but there was no way in hell he’d teach here again. “Tell the board I’ll finish out the week. The seniors have enough to worry about with graduation coming up without having a substitute their final week. You’ll have my letter of resignation by the end of the day. I won’t work here another year.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Damn right, I’m sure. I’m sick to death of their rules and warped sense of morals. Elizabeth Banning’s brother-in-law is the biggest sleazebag I’ve ever met, and the suggestive remarks he’s made to Kayla and about her are totally uncalled for. He should have been arrested for assaulting her at the club that night, and if he makes another crack to me about passing her on to him when I’m finished with her, I’ll bash my fist into his big mouth. Tell Mrs. Banning she should look in her own backyard before accusing me of consorting with the wrong kind of people.”

  Billy stood and walked to the door. “The board’s refusal to let me teach sex education has led to the pregnancy of one of my best students.”

  “Who?”

  He shook his head. He wasn’t telling anyone the name of the student. They’d learn about Georgia soon enough. “Apparently the boy told her she couldn’t get pregnant her first time. If the kids had even the most basic class in sex education, she would have insisted he use a condom.”

  She stood and walked around her desk. “I agree with you, but I’m outnumbered on the board. For what it’s worth, I won’t be coming back either. I’m retiring two years earlier than I intended, because I’m tired of fighting.”

  Still steaming, Billy walked out to the gym for his next class. He was angry and frustrated. If he’d had any sense at all, he would have found himself another job by now. He’d put his name on the list for the public school district two years ago, but the list was a long one, and it could be another year or two before they had an opening he was qualified to fill.

  The boys in his second period gym class milled around the locker room. They seemed unsure if they’d have a regular gym class or a final exam.

  Billy said, “Don’t bother to change. Clean out your lockers and meet me in the gym.”

  “Are we having a final exam?” one of the boys asked.

  “Yes, an ungraded one. As far as I’m concerned, you all got an A plus.”

  Amid the cheering, no one seemed to notice Billy wasn’t his normal self. He went into his office and pulled a book off the shelf, a book he wasn’t allowed to use before. Now he didn’t give a shit if he was allowed to use it or not. He flipped through and found the page about misconceptions. He’d start there.

  Ten minutes later, the boys sat on the bleachers in front of him. He paced back and forth, and began. “In Africa, many men believe they can be cured of AIDS by having sex with a virgin.” He turned to the kids. “True or false?”

  “True,” said Conner. “I heard it on the news.”

  Billy nodded. “Okay, here’s another one. You can’t get a girl pregnant if it’s her first time.”

  “That’s what my brother told me,” said Jeff, “but I don’t believe it.”

  “Smart boy. It’s not true. One time is enough. Here’s another one. She can’t get pregnant at the wrong time of the month.”

  “True,” several boys said.

  “False,” said Billy. “Some girls are fertile all month.”

  “Whoa!”

  “Worried, Jeff?” Conner asked.

  “Hell, yes.”

  The kids laughed, and so did Billy.

  Robert, a devout Catholic, said, “According to the priest, the rhythm method is the only one acceptable to the church.”

  “Maybe that’s why there are so many Catholics,” said Nick, and the kids laughed again.

  Billy talked with the boys through the entire class period, astounded at how much they didn’t know. “The board of this school doesn’t believe in teaching sex education, and you’ve just proven how much you need it. For your own protection and to protect the girls you’re with now or will be with in the future, I strongly suggest you educate yourselves. Check out library books, talk with your parents, or come to me. You all know where I live. This is too important to rely on instinct, guys. What you don’t know can hurt you. I have a book I can loan you, and if necessary, I’ll buy more books. Or we’ll just talk.”

  “Are you an expert on sex?” a kid in the back asked.

  “I’m sure I know more than you do, Kenny.” The kids all laughed, but he didn’t want to turn this into a laughing matter, because it wasn’t.

  “What you know and don’t know can cause your life to change, and it can hurt other people. My girlfriend’s husband cheated on her and brought home an STD. The infection caused so much scarring she can never have a baby.”

  The laughter had stopped. Most of these kids had met Kayla, and they liked her. Putting this on a personal level increased its importance.

  “STD’s can cause infertility, birth defects, and death. You may not want a baby now, but someday you might find a special woman, and you’ll want to start a family with her. Don’t ruin it by being careless now. If you must have sex, use a condom. Learn what you need to know to make it a pleasurable experience without getting her pregnant or giving her something your last girlfriend didn’t mean to share with you.”

  The first bell rang, and he held up his hand to stop the boys from leaving the gym. “I’m not giving you permission to have sex, b
ut I know you will anyway. I want you to be safe, and I don’t want you making babies until you’re ready to be a parent. Those of you going to college, be especially careful. It’s a breeding ground for HIV.”

  He took a step back. “Get out of here, and have a great summer.”

  Billy didn’t tell them not to share the information with their classmates, because he knew they would anyway. Mrs. Packard would find out, but that couldn’t be helped. Tomorrow was his last day as a teacher at the River Valley Academy.

  If he lasted until tomorrow.

  While his next social studies class took their final exam, he wrote a brief letter of resignation effective the end of the week. He wanted it on the record that he’d quit the job, not that he’d gotten fired.

  His next gym class was after lunch, and he gave the kids the same talk he’d given to his second period class. Only this class expected it, and the discussion was a lively one. The boys had questions, and they weren’t embarrassed to ask them.

  Today, he truly felt like a teacher.

  Too bad it was his last week.

  <>

  The painter started on the foyer Monday morning, but Kayla didn’t do much that day except sleep. She was dozing on the family room sofa when the phone rang.

  Norma said, “Kayla, I did it. Ted negotiated a better deal, and I signed the contract. He said we should each get some money, since we made the baby together, so we’ll each get ten thousand when the baby is born.”

  “Imagine that.” Leave it to Ted to get his fingers in the pie. He didn’t want the baby, but he’d gladly take the money.

  “I moved back in with Ted, and when I went back to get the rest of my stuff, Leonard was there.”

  “Doing what?”

  “Living there. Lisa Marie threw him out.”

  Kayla groaned. She didn’t want Leonard in her apartment. She didn’t want him in her life. “I don’t care if she did throw him out, he can’t stay there.”

  “He said he’d pay the rent until you got back.”

  “Whoopee. I still don’t want him there.”

  “When are you coming back?”

  “I don’t know.” She didn’t want to have this conversation now. Her stomach hurt and now that she was awake, she was hungry. She hadn’t eaten anything today.