by Terri Reid
“Course it works,” he grumbled. “Why in the world would I keep a broken one?”
“Could I borrow it for tonight?” Mary asked. “Pretty please.”
Stanley smiled. “Course you can, girlie,” he said. “I’ll bring it over after I pick up the ball.”
They carried several items from the locker upstairs, and then Stanley left while Rosie and Mary got things ready.
“I don’t want you to do too much climbing,” Rosie said. “You have to be careful in your condition.”
Thinking back to the day before, she nodded and smiled. “I agree,” she said.
“By the way,” Rosie asked, looking from the dining room into the kitchen, “what in the world happened in there?”
“An angry ghost with a lot of power,” Mary admitted.
Rosie turned and looked at Mary. “And you were home at the time?” she asked.
Mary nodded. “Yes, I think she was mostly angry at me.”
“Have you ever considered doing something else?” Rosie asked. “Something less dangerous? Just while your children are small?”
Mary put the rolls of crepe paper on the table and turned to her friend. “How can I do that?” she asked. “I feel so responsible.”
Rosie came over to Mary and took her hand. “Oh, sweetheart, you don’t know anything about feeling responsible yet,” she said. “You just wait until you hold little Mikey in your arms. That will change your whole perspective on the world.”
“But I’m already a mom,” Mary reasoned. “I have Clarissa.”
“Well, yes, but Clarissa was already a fairly independent and smart as a whip youngster,” Rosie said, “who needed love, attention and guidance, but that’s nothing like having a newborn whose very survival depends on you.”
“Do you think I’ll change?” Mary asked.
“Call your mother and ask her,” Rosie said with a smile. “She’ll explain it to you.”
Chapter Fifty-four
Several hours later, the living room had been transformed, and Rosie and Stanley were headed back to their own house for a well-deserved rest. Mary sat on the stairs and dialed her mother’s phone number. A minute later her mom answered the phone.
“Mary, how are you feeling?” Margaret O’Reilly asked.
“I’m a little tired,” Mary replied honestly. “But I feel good.”
“Oh, well, darling, get used to feeling tired,” her mother teased. “That will be with you for the next eighteen years.”
Mary leaned back on the staircase, trying to get comfortable. “Is that true?” she asked. “Is my whole life going to change when Mikey is born?”
“Aye, it will,” Margaret said. “Does that worry you?”
“I don’t know,” Mary said. “I guess I really wasn’t thinking about it. I mean, I obviously know I’m pregnant. I know that Mikey is going to be born in a few months. I know I’ll have a baby. But the rest, I don’t know, it’s almost like it’s not real.”
Margaret chuckled. “Yes. That’s exactly right,” she said. “You’ve never experienced something like this, so how could you possibly imagine what it’s going to be like?”
Mary shook her head. “But I’ve taken care of Clarissa,” Mary said.
“Yes, and you’ve been a wonderful mother to her,” her mother said gently. “And she loves you and trusts you. I’m so proud of you.”
“But,” Mary encouraged.
Her mother laughed. “But,” she said. “This experience, of giving birth, of having a wee babe placed in your arms, of holding him and bonding with him. There is nothing that can prepare you for the change you’ll experience, the love you immediately feel for this tiny, wrinkled newborn. It’s a miracle in itself.”
“Rosie said I’ll change,” Mary said. “That the things I want now won’t be what I’ll want then.”
“Darling, love changes people,” she explained. “It makes you want different things because there are more pieces to the puzzle. How about an experiment?”
Mary nodded. “Okay.”
“Walk to your refrigerator,” Margaret said.
Mary climbed down the steps, walked into the kitchen and opened her refrigerator. “Okay, it’s open,” she said.
“So, tell me. What’s in there?” Margaret asked.
“Okay, there’s milk, cheese, yogurt, strawberry jelly, some sticks of salami,” Mary replied. “Applesauce, lunch meat, hot mustard, hot dogs…”
Margaret laughed. “Okay, you can stop,” she said. “Where’s the Diet Pepsi?”
“What?” Mary asked.
“Where’s your Diet Pepsi?” Margaret repeated. “When I used to come and visit you, I could barely find room for anything because of all the Diet Pepsi.”
“Well, we don’t have room for them in the fridge anymore,” Mary said with a shrug. “So I just put ice in a cup and drink them that way.”
“Why don’t you have room in your fridge?” Margaret asked.
“Well, because Bradley, Clarissa and I all need to put different things into it,” Mary replied.
“And are you angry because your Pepsi is now in the pantry?”
Mary shook her head. “No, of course not.”
“So, you’ve changed for the people you love,” Margaret said. “It wasn’t a big decision on your part. But it was a change, and you did it to meet their needs. You don’t resent them. You didn’t even notice, but you changed. That’s how it works.”
Mary stared at the inside of the refrigerator for a while. “It was just a natural evolution,” Mary said slowly.
“Aye, the changes you make are because you’re changing,” Margaret said. “I know that sounds a little obvious.”
“No. No, Ma, it’s brilliant,” Mary replied. “I don’t have to worry about change. I just need to let it happen. And when it does, I’ll be ready and happy.”
“That’s right,” Margaret said. “And you’ll know what’s right, because you’ll feel it in your heart.”
Mikey kicked Mary, and she rubbed her stomach and felt the little foot. “I already love him,” Mary said. “Can I love him even more?”
“Oh, darling, the love you have for that little man will be fierce,” she said. “And there will be a bond between you that defies science. There is nothing like the love between a mother and her child.”
“I’ll never regret the changes?” she asked.
“Well, there will be moments,” Margaret replied. “Mine were generally at three in the morning after several days of no sleep when you’ll wonder why in the world you decided to become a mother. Then your baby will look up at you and smile. Or he’ll chuckle, a deep belly laugh. Or he’ll take your finger and wrap his hand around it. And your heart will break all over again, and you’ll know that it’s the greatest job and the hardest job in the world.”
“It sounds magical,” Mary said.
“It is, darling,” she said. “And you will be a wonderful mother. So, have I swept your worries away for the day?”
Mary laughed. “Yes, you have,” she said. “I’m lucky to have you for my mother.”
“And I’m just as lucky to have you for my little girl,” Margaret replied. “I love you, Mary.”
“I love you too, Ma.”
Chapter Fifty-five
Bradley parked the cruiser in the driveway and hurried across the lawn to the house. Apprehension was building in his gut. There were no lights shining out of the windows, and Mary had been home alone most of the day. She’d told him that she wasn’t worried about Julie anymore, but Julie was unlike any ghost they’d encountered. And, he had to admit, he felt responsible because Julie was in their home because of him.
He took the stairs two at a time and dashed to the front door, his worry overwhelming his common sense. Grabbing hold of the doorknob, the threw the door open. “Mary!” he called immediately as he stepped inside. Then he froze.
“What the hell?” he asked softly.
The furniture in the living room had been pushed to th
e sides of the room, or removed altogether. A large mirror ball somehow hung from the ceiling, and a hundred strands of crepe paper draped from the center of the room to the edges, creating a tent-like feel to the room. The lights were low, and thousands of tiny reflections from the ball sparkled throughout the room.
“Hi,” Mary said, coming up and kissing him. “Welcome to Prom Night.”
He shook his head. “This is amazing.”
“Your outfit is laying out in the bedroom,” she said. “You need to hurry because you’re one of the guests of honor.”
“I don’t have to guess who the other one is, do I?” he asked.
Mary shook her head. “No, and she should be showing up any moment.”
Bradley followed his usual routine of taking off his jacket, securing his gun, and then he went upstairs to see what Mary had in store for him. He looked at the clothes on the bed and shook his head. “It could have been worse,” he said looking at the charcoal grey, stovepipe slacks, the striped, polyester shirt and the letterman sweater.
He was dressed and coming down the stairs in a matter of minutes. Mary looked up at him and smiled. “You look very handsome,” she said.
“I feel like a dork,” he replied. “And these pants are like floods.”
She shrugged. “That’s how they wore them in those days,” she said.
He gazed slowly around the room. It was really incredible. “You outdid yourself,” he said. “It feels like a prom.”
Smiling she nodded, “And we even have old records and a record player. Stanley never throws anything out.”
He looked down at the letterman sweater. “Yeah, well, I guess neither do I,” he said.
She shook her head. “No, this is part of your history,” she said. “And I’m really glad you saved it. It could make the difference between pulling this whole thing off or not.”
“Okay, what do you want me to do?” he asked.
“Bend down,” she said.
He did as she requested and she ran her hand through his hair, messing it up a little. “There,” she said. “Your hair was too perfect.”
Still bent over, his face only inches from hers, he met her eyes, and she felt the familiar warmth flood steal through her body. “You really are one sexy man,” she teased with a sigh.
Lifting his hand to her neck, he caressed her gently, rubbing the underside of her jaw with his thumb. “How soon will she be here?” he asked.
Mary sighed. “Too soon,” she said regretfully, stepping back. “But you definitely owe me a raincheck on that.”
He straightened up, but kept his eyes on hers. “Yes,” he said. “Yes I do.”
Feeling a shiver of anticipation, she wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. “If your dad was even half as sexy as you are,” she said, “I can totally understand her obsession.”
She stepped away from him and went into the middle of the room. Tiny lights sparkled over her as the mirrored ball slowly spun. “Julie,” she called out. “Julie, it’s time.”
Julie appeared immediately, and her jaw dropped when she looked around the room. “I don’t understand,” she breathed.
Mary walked over to the turntable and put the needle on the record. Strains of Unchained Melody filled the room, and Julie gasped in delight. Bradley walked towards her and smiled. “I think this might be our dance,” he said.
She blushed, looked down at the ground, and then back up at Bradley. “Are you sure you want to dance with me?” she asked.
He nodded and smiled. “More than anything,” he said.
She glided into his arms, and he slowly moved around the living room to the music.
“This is how I always dreamt it would be,” she sighed. “I’m so sorry I made you crash your car.”
Bradley stumbled over his feet. “What?” he asked.
She smiled up at him. “You know, you were driving with the other lady,” she said, a bright smile on her face. “I wanted to see you, so I stepped out into the middle of the road.”
Her smile disappeared. “And then your car swerved off the road,” she continued. “I’m so glad you didn’t get hurt.”
Bradley stepped back, away from her, shaking his head. “Someone did get hurt,” he said. “My parents. My parents were in that car. My parents died in that car accident.”
She shook her head. “No, it was you in the car,” she insisted. “You were driving it. You turned the wheel because you thought I was real. It wasn’t anyone else.”
The song ended, and Bradley took a deep breath. “If you’ll excuse me for a moment,” he said.
She smiled. “And then we’ll dance some more, right?”
He nodded, his mind a hundred miles away. “Sure, right.”
Chapter Fifty-six
Bradley found Mary in the dining room, pulling the next record out of its sleeve. “How’s it going in there?” she asked. Then she saw Bradley’s face. She put the record on the table and hurried over to him. “Darling, what’s wrong?”
“She…” he paused. He couldn’t bring himself to say it.
“Yes?” Mary asked.
He looked back over his shoulder, and then he looked at Mary. “She killed my parents,” he finally said.
Mary shook her head in shock. “How?” she replied, at a loss for words.
“She just apologized for causing my car to crash,” he said. “She said she saw me driving with another woman, and she stepped out onto the road. The car swerved to avoid her and crashed.”
The pain in his eyes was almost unbearable. She couldn’t ask him to help her save the person who had destroyed his young life. “I’ll call Mike,” she said, placing her hand on his arm. “We don’t have to help her. Someone else can do this.”
His eyes widened, and he took a deep breath. “No,” he said, his voice resolute. “No, I’m okay. No, actually, I’m better than okay. I have a feeling this is what my dad would want me to do.”
She smiled at him and nodded. “I’m sure he would,” she said.
He walked back into the living room, and Mary put on the next record, My Girl, then walked over to the living room to watch. Bradley smiled down at Julie and spoke with her as they danced. Julie’s eyes were beaming with adoration as she danced with him. And they both clapped when the song was over. Mary had set up a record to drop down automatically and start playing. She really hadn’t been paying too much attention when she’d put it on, and then the song Strange Things Happen started to play.
It was like watching a scene from a movie. As the song came on, Bradley shrugged off his letterman sweater and put it on Julie.
The lyrics from the song wafted through the room, a young man singing about a girl he met at a dance.
“That’s like us,” Julie said to Bradley. “We’re both at a dance together.”
He nodded. “Yes,” he said. “Do you remember this song?”
She listened for a moment, and her smile dropped. “This is the dead girl song, isn’t it?” she asked sadly. “She takes his sweater, and he finds it on her gravestone.”
Bradley nodded. “Yes, you do remember it.”
Her look of adoration turned into one of possessiveness. “I’m not like that girl,” she said slowly. “I’m not going to give back the sweater.”
Bradley felt a cold chill wash over him. “Julie, you wanted to go to prom,” Bradley said. “That’s what was keeping you on this side. You were supposed to go to prom with Blake.”
She shook her head. “No, Blake never asked me to go to prom with him,” she said, her smile widening. “No one ever asked me out because I was “Crazy Julie,” and most people were afraid of me.”
Bradley glanced over to Mary, and she nodded, her eyes as wide as saucers. She’d heard Julie’s pronouncement. It hadn’t been a broken heart or a missed dance that caused Julie’s behavior. Julie had been disturbed before she died and had carried that trait with her after her death.
Mary stepped back into the dining room. “Mike,” she whispered
urgently. “I need some intervention here, and I really need it now.”
She hurried back to the living room and saw Julie with her head on Bradley’s chest, slowly dancing to the song, humming to herself. He looked over to Mary and shook his head, uncertain of what he should do.
“I love dancing with you,” Julie said. “I’ve dreamed about this for so many years. And now that you’re here, we can dance together forever.”
“Forever?” Bradley asked, his blood running cold. “What do you mean by that?”
She sighed happily. “Once the music stops, I’m going to take you with me,” she replied. “Where we can be together for always.”
Chapter Fifty-seven
Mary pulled out her phone, clicked on the radio app and accessed an oldies channel. She wasn’t going to take any chances with the record player. She wanted non-stop music for now. She synced her phone with the Bluetooth speakers in the living room, and music streamed out of them. She slowly increased the volume, so her music came up as the record was finishing. The familiar strains of Baby I’m Yours filled the room, and Julie looked around.
“I love that song,” she said, starting to sing along. “In other words, until the end of time.”
Bradley shot a Really? look and Mary shook her head and shrugged. She had no control of the music at this point.
“Actually, Julie,” Bradley said, “about the whole end of time thing…”
Julie looked up and smiled at him. “Oh, don’t worry,” she said. “I know that as a human you can’t stay with me until the end of time.”
Bradley was pretty sure he wasn’t going to be happy with the rest of her thought. “So, I’m going to kill you,” she continued happily.
“No. No you’re not,” Mary said, walking into the room.
Bradley looked at Mary and shook his head. “Get out of here,” he said.
Julie turned and Mary saw all of the crazy in her eyes for the first time and held back a gasp. “I’m taking him with me,” Julie said. “Then I’ll go and never return.”