Ghost House

by Carol Colbert

  “You did?” Asked Jim, surprised. Sarah shot him a look and he walked back into the house to tell the girls to get garbage bags and to start cleaning outside.

  “I have had enough of you bothering us. We won’t be renewing at the end of the lease year, Mr. Witters. Until then we would appreciate you leaving us the hell alone or we will take out a restraining order with the police department.” Sarah told him firmly.

  “Yeah, you like the police department, you should be great friends with them as often as they have been here since you moved in! May I remind you that this is MY MOTHER’S house?” Joe Witters said taking a step closer to Sarah. She did not back up, nor did she back down.

  “No, you may not. You can turn around and get off of this property for as long as we are paying you to live here, and, for your information, we have already spoken to the police department and told them all about you. It is a matter of public record now.” Sarah told him.

  Joe Witters turned and picked up two pop cans and started to leave. “Drop those cans, Mr. Witters, unless you want us to take twenty cents off our next rent check!” Sarah said.

  She turned to see Jim looking at her oddly. “Really, Sarah?” “Well, he pissed me off.” “Apparently so.”

  Riley, Ava and Emma came outside with garbage bags and gloves and went to work picking up the trash and putting the pop cans into the bags. Sarah looked at the ground and was surprised to see Mr. Witters was correct about there being cigarette butts on the ground. “Riley, come see me when you are done there.” Her mother told her.

  Sarah never did get the chance to speak to Riley about the cigarette butts on the ground. She did not want to embarrass her in front of her new friends and it was her birthday. After they made sure the backyard was back to normal, the girls went back downstairs to talk about the party. Sarah had a big pot of spaghetti made, always good to feed a crowd. She put out bread sticks and salad and called the entire family and Riley’s friends, up for dinner.

  The girls were eating at the table while Sarah and Jim ate in the living room. Suzanne, on a sugar high from all the cupcakes and cookies she had consumed that day, was singing and dancing around the room with Mr. Pickles. Cooper jumped on Sarah’s lap wanting to be petted. Sarah petted him and said “Momma, Cooper, momma, momma, momma.” Again, little Cooper turned his head as if he was trying to understand what she wanted. He jumped up and licked her on her cheek. “Aww, Cooper.” Sarah said, “Not on my face.”

  Suzanne was sound asleep in her bed with Mr. Pickles in her arms and Freddie and Cooper lying next to her. Jim checked to make sure the doors were locked and then he and Sarah told Riley and her friends’ goodnight and they went into their bedroom. “Long day, huh?” Jim said as he looked over at Sarah sitting on the bed. “Yes, it has been. Listen, Jim, I know I have been on edge lately and I am sorry about that. I really think we should start looking for a house of our own sooner rather than later.”

  “Sarah, we have been here just over a month, we have to give it a chance.” Jim said. “Moving is a big deal and the company isn’t going to help us pack and move our stuff to yet another house. Frankly, I just don’t have the energy to deal with another move, not to mention we have a one year contract with Witters and you know he would take us to court if we broke it.”

  “I’d like to break him.” Sarah said. Jim smiled and pulled his wife close to him. “Let’s forget about that for tonight, deal?” “Deal.” Sarah said, snuggling into her husband’s arms.

  Loud knocking on the back door woke Jim up. Walking into the kitchen Jim was surprised to see Riley and her girlfriends with the back door open and a young man standing there. “What is going on here?” Jim asked.

  “This is my boyfriend, Seth.” Ava said. “What is he doing here at this time of the night?” Jim asked. “I came to see my girlfriend, do you mind?” Seth said rather sarcastically.

  “As a matter of fact, yes, I do mind. Go home, you can see your girlfriend at her house tomorrow.” Jim told him, starting to shut the door. “Wait – can’t I just talk to him for a little bit outside?” Ava asked. “No, if you want to, you are welcome to call your parents and have them pick you and your friend up and then you can talk to each other all you want, at your house. This is my house, and we are losing sleep here.” Jim said.

  “This is bogus, man!” Seth said.

  Jim looked at Riley “Go to bed, Riley.” Riley, Julia and Emma turned to go downstairs, but Ava stood her ground. “You are not my father!” She yelled at Jim. “You are correct – go call your father and I will be glad to step aside and let him make the decision. But until he gets here, you have to leave this property, Seth. My wife and five year old are trying to sleep.”

  Seth left, yelling obscenities’ kicking the gate on his way out.

  “I’m sorry.” Julia said when Jim came back into the house. “It’s not your fault, Julia.” Ava stomped back up the stairs with her purse in her hand. “I’m leaving and you can’t make me stay!” She screamed.

  That started Cooper barking and woke Sarah up. “Julia, does your mother know Ava’s parents?” “They are our neighbors.” Julia said. “Please call your mother, I would like to speak with her or with your father.”

  Julia called home and Jim spoke with her parents. Sarah was listening and jumped when they heard a car horn blasting outside. Suzanne ran into the dining room crying and clutching Freddie to her chest. “What is happening?”

  At this point, Jim did not know what to do. He and Sarah were responsible for the welfare of the girls as long as they were on their property as invited guests. He did not want to detain someone who wished to leave, but at this time of the day and as young as Ava was, there was no way Jim was going to let her go with that moron who was blaring his horn outside.

  Blue and red colored lights shown through the kitchen window. “Son of a bitch!” Jim said, walking out the door to speak with the officers. Sarah told all of the girls to go into the living room and sit on the couch. The police officers walked into the house and asked which girl was Ava and asked her to go into the kitchen so they could speak with her. You could still hear every word that was said, only the small dining room stood between the kitchen and the living room.

  Riley was crying and Suzanne started to creep closer to the kitchen so she could see what was going on. “Suzanne!” Her mother said, giving her a look. Suzanne came back and sat next to Riley.

  Julia’s mother and father came into the house and said perhaps it would be best if Julia and Emma went home with them now. “Did you speak with Ava’s parents?” Sarah asked Victoria.

  “I did, but the police officers thought it best that they take Ava home. That boyfriend of hers is something else.” The two sets of parents expressed their regret on how the evening turned out. Ava left with the police officers, and Jim and Sarah looked at each other. “This is insane. Riley, you are not dating until you are thirty!”

  Sarah looked out the window. “Crap! More than a few houses have their lights on, Jim. Now the neighborhood has even more to talk about!”

  “I couldn’t care less!” Jim answered, anger finally winning over diplomacy.

  “Why should you, Jim? You are at work all day, it’s me and the girls who have to deal with everything here!” Sarah yelled at him.

  Riley cried harder and Suzanne had tears in her eyes now as well. Sarah felt awful for the way she and Jim were bickering with each other. None of this was their fault, nor the fault of their daughters.

  Jim looked at the clock. It was three a.m. Sunday morning. “Get the kids to bed, Sarah.” Jim said, walking into the kitchen and making a pot of coffee. Sarah had Riley and Suzanne lay down in Suzanne’s room, she gave them each a kiss on the cheek and told them no one was angry with them and that mommy and daddy were just tired. The girls fell asleep within minutes.

  Sarah walked into the kitchen and poured herself a cup of coffee and sat next to her husband in the dining room. “I don’t know why I am drinking coffee, it will just keep
me up the rest of the night. Jim, what are we going to do?”

  “I have a plan.” Jim winked at his wife.

  Chapter 11

  When Suzanne woke up that morning she again found herself in her car seat in the back of her father’s van. She didn’t mind it so much this time. Maybe we are going back to Tennessee. She was surprised to see Cooper sitting on the back seat next to her. He had Freddie in his mouth and she had Mr. Pickles on her lap. All was well in Suzanne’s world.

  Riley was looking out the window. She didn’t know where they were going, but she didn’t much care at this point either. All she had wanted was to have a nice birthday party and look how that turned out. She hadn’t really liked Ava and could tell that Julia wasn’t real close with her either, but Emma had asked if Ava could come too and they felt they couldn’t say no.

  She had been disappointed in Alex too when she saw him smoking a cigarette. He had also acted stupid with the friends he had brought with him. She had also felt funny when a bunch of kids she had never seen before and who were obviously much older than herself and Julia, started to come in the back door. She couldn’t tell them to leave and she didn’t want to tell her parents either.

  Riley was still young enough to have expected everyone to walk in with a birthday present for her, but not one of those people did. Julia had given her a birthday card and it did have a five-dollar pass to the movie theatre, but besides that and the beautiful new bedding and rugs that her mom and dad let her pick out, she felt left out in the present getting scheme of things.

  Sucks to grow up. Now mom and dad are mad at me. I probably will never have another birthday party.

  Jim had been noticing how increasingly upset his wife had been becoming and he felt bad. His job was very demanding, especially with the transfer. He knew he should had followed up with the management company or with Mr. Witters directly, but until the other day, he had not witnessed what Sarah had been trying to tell him all of these weeks.

  He had thought about calling his old friend Bob. He knew that Bob and his wife Barbara had a beautiful big cabin in Oscoda, about three and a half hours north of Detroit. But the thought of room service and a big indoor pool had him changing his spur of the moment plans yet again. He figured he had a lot to make up to Sarah and the girls and it would be good to get away for a couple of days while the kids were still on summer break.

  Sarah sat in the front seat, fighting to keep her eyes open. When Jim had suggested that she get the girl’s swimsuits and a couple of changes of clothes together, she hadn’t even stopped to ask him why. Now here they were just a few hours later, driving up Northbound I-75. She hadn’t asked him where they were going, simply put, because she did not care. As long as she was away from that house. Right now her only worry was if Cooper would get car sick or not. So far, so good.

  Jim had not gotten any sleep at all. First he went to Meijer and made some very important purchases. He came back home, installed and checked out what he had purchased, then went back out to get an oil change and to fill the gas tank. He had called his boss on the way back to the house from the gas station. All that was left was to load his little family into the car and take off.

  This was the first time the family was traveling with a pet, so they had to make sure they stopped enough for Cooper to get some exercise and fresh air and have time to insure there would be no accidents in the car. Jim also had checked his smart phone when he stopped for coffee, to make sure the hotel they were going to allowed pets.

  Jim looked at Sarah. She was sleeping with her mouth open, a tiny bit of drool coming out of the side near her bottom lip. He noticed a couple of lines near her eyes that he had not noticed before, and her hair was sticking up in all directions. He thought she never looked more beautiful. She was truly the glue that kept their little family together and he was very grateful for her.

  When they got to the hotel and had deposited their belongings into their room with two queen beds, they all seemed to get their second wind. They had a big breakfast at the buffet and brought some back for Cooper. Jim had suggested that they go horseback riding that afternoon and was very surprised when Sarah and the girls said that they would much rather stay in the air conditioned hotel room with Cooper.

  Jim wasn’t sure about bringing Cooper with them on this trip, but he did know that there was no way he would leave their newest family member in that house all by himself and with them so far away. He didn’t trust Mr. Witters to stay away and for that very reason had arranged with the local police to issue a restraint order. That required the help of his friend Bob, plus a kind lady at the management company who understood immediately their dilemma. Jim was told to check a particular website Monday morning and that he could then initiate an electronic signature to finish the process. Jim had no idea if this was regular procedure, or if someone had helped them be able to leave town sooner, but in either case, he was grateful and felt more like he was part of the solution.

  Jim stayed in the room with Cooper, saying he wanted to check a few things on line for his job. Sarah took the girls and they went to the pool. Jim checked a few things out on line and then put Cooper’s leash on, wrote out a short note in case Sarah came back before he and Cooper did, and then he and Cooper left the room.

  Two hours later when Cooper and Jim got back to the room, Sarah and the girls had apparently not returned. Not knowing if Cooper would be allowed down by the pool, Jim called his wife and asked her what she felt like doing for lunch. He said that he and Cooper would go pick up whatever she and the girls wanted to eat.

  When Sarah, Riley and Suzanne came back into the room they were laughing and soaking wet. They squealed when they saw Cooper, who had been to the groomer and had all that hot hair cut off of him. Sarah felt like squealing when she noticed the chicken dinners and ice tea Jim had set out for all of them. She hadn’t realized until just then how hungry she was. It was a treat just to have someone else do the cooking, or at least the setting of the table.

  The Gaunter family talked and laughed all through their meal. It was so good not to worry if someone was going to knock on the door or shoot out a window. So good to know that they were somewhere Mr. Witters could not reach them. Jim had set his cellphone on silent when they left the house that morning. He had everything he wanted and needed right here in this hotel room and did not want the outside world interfering with their down time. Sarah had only turned hers back on when she and the girls went down to the pool.

  None of them planned to, but each fell asleep within three hours of finishing their meal. It had been so long since any of them, with the exception of Suzanne, had managed to have a full uninterrupted night of sleep. In fact, since before they left Tennessee. The sun and the fresh air and central air also helped lull Sarah and Riley into a deep, rejuvenating slumber.

  Jim awakened about midnight and closed the drapes and turned on the light. He opened his laptop and went on line to check on a feed that he had set up at the house. He had not mentioned this to Sarah, but he decided that they should get out of that house and the sooner the better. He wanted to do so, however, without having to be liable for the remainder of the rent until the lease was up.

  Jim had gone to Meijer before they left and had purchased home security cameras and set them up in various places in the house. Jim tried to check it, but they must be too far out of range since all he saw were white flashes and ribbons of motion. A very grainy view of their backyard looked fine. He decided he would have to check it closer to home.

  Jim then checked on houses to purchase that were approximately five to fifteen miles away from the house that they were renting now. Jim liked the downriver area and still felt it was a good area to raise the girls in. They just needed space from that intrusive Mr. Witters and that house.

  Jim hadn’t mentioned it to Sarah, but the night he went downstairs after they heard that loud noise, there had been more than one light bulb broken. The one in the lantern, as well as the one over the washer and dryer
had exploded. Neither light had been turned on, so why they had exploded had been a mystery to him. Then there was that business about the glass from the window only being on the outside. He wondered if Mr. Witters had somehow found a way to get into the house and even for a short moment considered if there might be some sort of tunnel from the garage to the house.

  None of these theories made any sense at all, of course, but Sarah was not the kind of woman who scared easily, and yet she was. And what about the lock?

  Before they left, Jim had gone into the basement to install a camera, do a quick look-see and grab a suitcase. He had noticed a padlock on that coal room door. Who had put it there? Why or when, Jim had no clue. God only knew what was on the other side of that door. Drugs? Guns? Dead bodies? A hostage? Jim had been so surprised and had his mind made up to leave that house ASAP, that he decided to deal with it when they got back.

  He wondered if Riley had something in there, or if perhaps someone from her party placed something forbidden there to be recovered later. It was a sad day when you viewed your child through jaundiced eyes. Had Alex asked her to hide something for him?

  Jim had taken two swings at it with a baseball bat they had in the basement, but when the lock didn’t budge, he thought the hell with it. He would have to make sure he had that lock opened when they returned. If no one could produce a key to it, he would call a locksmith. It was about time he became proactive. Never before had he had so many issues pulling him in so many different directions. He needed time to think and decide how to handle this new situation. Should he ask for his old position back and take his family back to Tennessee?

  Jim took a deep breath. Logically, he knew that no matter where they lived that Riley and Suzanne would still go through all of the angst of the teenage years and that he and Sarah would be right there with them. He dreaded the first time a boy asked one of his little girls for a date. What would he do the first time one of his children got their hearts broken? What would he do the day that Suzanne considered Mr. Pickles and Freddie her former child toys? He could not bear to think of it.