by Christina OW
“I don’t need a babysitter,” I protested. Pain shot from all parts of my body as I struggled to sit up.
“Of course you don’t!” she yelled back sarcastically.
*
The trip home was quiet and bumpy. I was sure she was hitting all the bumps and taking hard turns on purpose just to punish me. I got the picture, loud and painfully clear. I was ready for a tongue lashing from Kristy the second I opened the door, but she wasn’t there. I waited around the entire day for her but she still didn’t come. I figured she was mad at me, and like her sister, she was probably giving me the silent treatment until her temper had simmered down.
I fell asleep waiting for Kristy and woke up to her lovely scent filling all my senses. I didn’t feel her weight on me but I knew she was there, lying on my chest, because I could feel her finger trace shapes up and down my torso.
I brushed my hand over her hair. “It’s a good thing you’re as light as a feather.”
“Why did you do this?” her voice was below a whisper.
“For once in my life I wanted to live on the edge. I don’t want to be the safe Englishman anymore.” I jumped in pain when she pressed her hand hard on my bruised ribs, “What the hell was that for?”
She sat up and looked at me, “Are you trying to punish me? Is that why you’re doing this?”
Not up for the conversation, I carefully got out of bed and walked to the bathroom, “Is Sandra still here?” I turned on the tap but before I could splash the water on my face it was off. “Do you get super powers when you become a ghost?”
“William, if you’re tired of having me around, I could always leave.” Immediately she said that she disappeared. I felt my heart drop into my stomach when she did that.
“Kristy no! Come back Kristy!” I ran back into the room, she wasn’t there. I wobbled into the living room, my legs heavy under me, “Okay I’m sorry! I’m sorry now come back!” I yelled on the verge of tears. “I swear I won’t do something as stupid as that again! I swear on my love for you!”
Kristy hugged my back, her flat hands resting on my chest. I felt like my safety cord had been reattached when she held me. “Sorry, when I get mad I disappear. I still haven’t gotten a grip on this ghost thing.”
I pulled her in front of me and held her tight against me, “That’s fine. It’s not like being a ghost comes with a manual.” My voice was shaky.
“Come on,” she pulled me forward, “You need to rest.” We sat down and she cuddled against me. “That show you like is on now, do you want to watch it?”
I kept my hands around her, afraid of letting go, “Yeah, sure.”
“Who are you talking to, Kristy?” Sandra asked coming behind me.
“If I said yes you wouldn’t believe me.” I answered not bothering to turn around.
“Aah... William,” Kristy started sitting up, “We have trouble.” She sounded alarmed.
“It’s just your sister and she already knows I’m seeing my dead wife, so no there’s no trouble.”
“You really are talking to her?” Sandra asked sounding scared.
“William, turn around!”
“What Kristy?” I half yelled turning. The second I did, I regretted it. “Hallo mother.”
Chapter Five
The flight to London was a long seven hours. Gloria’s private jet was too small for the both of us- there was no where to hide, unlike a commercial jet where I would just switch seats or move to economy class and hide there. My mother talked about everything and nothing, purposely avoiding the topic on Kristy and what she walked in on.
I had missed London, but I didn’t want to go back to it like this, forced by my mother.
Gloria walked out to the garden and sat down at the table surrounded by red and white roses. “I’m glad you came back to London with me.”
I had missed the mansion. The big, classy yet empty and cold mansion that was full with close to twenty people inside it every day.
I sat down opposite her, “You didn’t give me much of a choice.” I looked around the garden. It looked like a beautiful sea of delicate bloomed flowers.
Kristy didn’t like how big the house was and the fact that only my mother lived in it, while her army of servants stayed in the small house in the far corner of the estate. It was one other thing my mother and my wife fought about. But she loved this part of the house. She used to camp out in the garden and gaze up at the stars all night.
~
“William, could you just imagine how beautiful this world was before human beings were created,” Kristy said, gently touching the rose petals like they were fragile and precious.
“You mean before man became ambitious and selfish,” I picked a white rose and handed it to her. She smiled. She looked so beautiful, as beautiful as the flowers she held.
“Will, I want a garden like this. Somewhere I could just go and forget the world and all its cruelty but embrace it beauty and love.”
I put my arms around her and held her close, “My wife the dreamer.” I kissed the back of her neck, “I wouldn’t mind being apart of that world.”
“You will be,” she turned to look at me, “And so will our kids. They’d love a huge garden to play in.”
“Okay. Find a place with a huge beautiful garden, with a nice pond and a large space that can hold a few pets and five kids. If the world can’t give you your Garden of Eden, I will.”
“I know you would. You have a giving loving heart, that’s why I love you.”
“So that’s why. All this time I thought it was my English charm.” She laughed pulling me down for a kiss.
~
My mother stared at me with a wide grin on her face, “I did give you a choice, three choices in fact.”
“Walking into the plane myself, or getting a court order declaring me mentally incompetent or having your pilots bind and gag me? Yeah, so much for choices,” I rubbed my hand over my fuzzy chin. I needed a shave.
“Those were three practical options weren’t they? Adrian, would you be a dear and get us some tea please.”
I hadn’t noticed the butler; he was pretty quiet. Probably why my mother liked him so much- he moved around like a phantom. Adrian bowed his head before he turned and disappeared into the house.
“Mother, why don’t you get your own tea?”
Gloria looked at me as if I had just insulted her. “Then what would I be paying him for? Your father, bless his soul, didn’t leave me well off to serve myself.”
“Of course not mother, we wouldn’t want you to break a nail.” I said sarcastically. “Why am I here?”
She gave me a cut look before she spoke, “You needed a break from that haunted cubical you call home.”
“It’s not haunted.” I struggled to keep my voice steady. Adrian came back with a tray in his hands. He set it down on the table and put the fine china in front of us. “We’ll serve ourselves, thank you Adrian.”
“It’s nice to have you back home sir.” Adrian said with a smile.
“It’s nice to be back, of course depending on mother’s agenda as to why I’m here.”
His smile widened to a grin and then he turned and walked back into the house.
Mother looked at me astonished, and then stared after Adrian. She blinked away the shock before she poured herself a cup. “You keep seeing and talking to your dead wife, it doesn’t take a genius to see it’s haunted and that you are in trouble.” She glanced at me before she looked back at her cup, “You know that kind of thing doesn’t happen in England.”
I wasn’t up to listening to her long list of vices America possessed and how wonderful England was. “I know mother, the English are bred proper and with discipline, and we couldn’t possibly have the supernatural exist among us without a visa and a specific and short duration of stay.”
She gave me another cut look, “Don’t you dare make fun of me William, I’m still your mother.” She said sharply.
“I’m sorry, you are right, as always
.” I said, not at all meaning the apology.
Her lips curved up in a smile, “Good, that’s why you are going to see my psychiatrist tomorrow.” She poured some tea in my cup.
I shot off the chair and glared at her, “You brought me all this way to see a shrink!”
She raised her cup to her lips and sipped coolly, “Psychiatrist, shrink doesn’t do him justice. He’s a wonderful doctor. Maybe that’s why you got worse after you saw a shrink when your wife died.”
“Why are you so anti-American... you know what, forget I asked. I’m going back home tomorrow.” I turned towards the house.
“No you are not. I won’t let the pilots take you and if you plan on going on commercial, I’ll put you on the terrorist watch list at every airport if I have to,” she looked at me under her eye lashes, “You know I will.”
“William what are you doing here?” Ronald’s loud voice came from the door, momentarily pulling our attention. He walked towards us with an amused look on his face.
My elder brother was well built and had more charisma than I did. He was wild and very sociable. He loved travelling especially to the most remote and exotic places in the world where man hadn’t destroyed its natural habitat. Kristy had loved it when he took her along to one of his adventures but she came back complaining about the different women who went in and out of their villa every night. He was handsome and possessed a striking resemblance to our father. I on the other hand took more after our mother. I always thought that was why my mother tolerated Ronald more, he reminded her of her husband- that and the fact she was still trying to convince him to make a full commitment to the company as the eldest of the Stanford sons.
“I’m just finding that out myself.” I kept my eyes fixed on my mother, struggling to keep my temper in check.
“Did mother bring you here? How did she manage that, or did she lock you in the cargo hold with her luggage?”
“That’s very funny Ronald.” Gloria scolded, “I raised you to be a gentleman. You don’t start a conversation without a proper greeting.”
“My apologies,” he kissed her cheek, “it’s all out of love mother.”
“Which immoral country have you just arrived from that taught you jeering at your mother is a sign of love?”
“I was in Bali, beautiful place. You should go there sometime William, relax and unwind.”
I backed up, taking a few steps away from the table. “How about I leave right now?”
“You are not going anywhere William! Tomorrow you are going to see Dr. Ashford.”
Ronald stared at me amused, “You willingly followed her here so that she can lock you up in a loony bin? Don’t they have those in America?”
I stood next to my laughing brother and dug my hands in my pockets feeling exhausted and annoyed. “They weren’t proper enough for her liking.”
Gloria rose from her chair in a huff. “You think that’s funny? Well Ronald this should tickle you some. Your brother is talking to his dead wife Christina.” Ronald’s laughter died as he turned to stare back at me. “Not so amusing anymore is it?” She walked into the house and left an astound Ronald still gaping at me.
I sat down feeling resigned, waiting for Ronald to officially add himself onto the list of people who thought I was losing my mind.
Ronald sat down, his eyes still fixed on me, “You are seeing Kristy?”
“Yes” I whispered. I kept my eyes fixed on the table avoiding Ron’s.
“How long has it been since she died and since you started seeing her?”
“Four months since she died. Three since I started seeing her.”
Ronald was quiet for a moment before he spoke, “Do you believe she’s alive?” His voice was softer, more understanding.
“I don’t know. She feels so real. I believed she was for a couple of weeks until it came out while I was talking to John. He told Sandra and Morris and it became this whole insane mess to the point I was placed on compulsory leave by John.
Frustrated, I wracked my hand through my hair tagging at it hard. “Kristy and I talked and laughed like we used to as if she never left. Maybe I am going crazy.”
“How did mother find out about it? I doubt any of your in-laws told her.” There was chuckle in his voice.
Kristy used to take my mother head on, while Morris and Sandra avoided her as much as they could. They said she frightened them, and they were right. Mother does frighten a lot of people she meets. She was demanding, blunt and very opinionated. She would criticise everything she felt didn’t suit her taste.
“She paid me a surprise visit and caught me...watching telly with her.” I felt embarrassed saying it, as much as I did when mother walked in on me.
“With Kristy?”
I nodded.
He let out a loud breath, “For some reason, that doesn’t shock me, as much as it should. She loved you too much to leave you alone.”
My head shot up and I looked at him surprised. I wasn’t sure if I heard right. “Excuse me?”
“I’ve been to a number of African and South American countries. They believe when a spirit visits a loved one it’s because of unfinished business. I assume she’s not haunting you to torment you, so it must be something important. You’ll find out soon.” He placed a comforting hand on my forearm, “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to attend the funeral.”
“That’s fine mother would have had you in a matching suit like the rest of us if you had.” Still in doubt, I asked, “Have you been watching the Ghost Whisperer?” Ronald liked playing pranks on me and I wasn’t certain if this was one of them.
“I have better things to do with my time than watch television.” He answered, void of the true question I was asking him.
“You are the first person who believes me.” I felt my body unknot in relief. But having my brother believe me still didn’t mean whatever was happening was normal.
“I’m your brother. I should give you the benefit of the doubt. Come on let’s go drink some of father’s old scotch.” He stood up and I followed him. He stopped and turned to face me, his brow raised and his lips curved in a mischievous grin. “By the way, how is the delectable Sandra fairing?”
I laughed. “She still despises you.”
Ronald has always chased after her since Kristy introduced them. I didn’t know exactly what Ron wanted because he had no intentions of tying himself down.
He turned around and kept walking. “She loves me. She just doesn’t want to admit it to herself yet.”
“You are delusional Ronald.”
“Says the pot to the kettle.”
Chapter Six
After the argument with Gloria, all I wanted to do was stay as far away from her as I possibly could, but I couldn’t do that. Alienate my mother in her own home. It’s much easier to do that when we are in two different continents. But I needed to spend some time with my mother and my brother before his itchy feet took him to the other end of the world.
Gloria had made me shave, cut my hair and threatened to hire someone to groom me on a daily basis if I fell off the wagon again. Gloria was a pain but she was still my mother.
I went down the long staircase to meet my brother at the foot of it with a glass in one hand and a silly grin on his face. He looked amused by something and he seemed to be bursting at the seams to tell me, which only meant I wouldn’t like it.
“Okay Ronald what has you so amused?”
“Here, this is for you. Brandy,” he handed me the glass and chuckled. “I have a feeling you are going to need it.”
I felt the dread wash over me. My mother was up to something, “Ronald, tell me what’s going on?” I asked patiently saving all my rage for whatever mother had in store for me. If it was the psychiatrist, he’d have a serving of that rage too.
“Oh I think I’ll leave that honour to mother. I don’t want to steal her thunder,” he turned and walked ahead of me. “She’s in the drawing room. Wait five seconds before you come in, I want a good view of your
reaction.”
I was already beginning to feel irate. Why my mother thought she had to control every second of my life was beginning to annoy me. Yes, I’m talking to my dead wife but I wasn’t doing crack. I was very much in control of my life and I didn’t need her interfering.
I gulped down the brandy and sauntered to the drawing room. I was going to put a stop to whatever she had planned and set her straight.
When I got there Ronald was holding out another glass of brandy for me. Once I took it from him he rushed to stand behind mother with an excited smile on his face. I looked at him with a raised brow, wondering why this was all so amusing to him- not like anything in life wasn’t.
He might be on crack and he was the one mother should be trying to control- wait; she’d been there, tried that and failed miserably leaving all the nagging for me.
I gulped down the liquid, “Mother.”
“William,” she answered in her high pitched voice. “You look so handsome neat and clean and without all those whiskers covering your face, like a bum sleeping in garbage outside a cheap restaurant.” She sipped on her small cup of tea then placed it on the table, “Wouldn’t you say so Victoria?”
“Victoria?” I echoed searching the room for her.
She stood up, “Hallo William. It’s been a while.” She spoke with a nervous smile on her face.
“Hallo Victoria,” I looked at her, then at mother. I knew what Gloria was doing and I wasn’t going to give her the chance. “So you and Ronald are going out tonight? That’s wonderful!”
Ronald choked on his brandy then gave a low laugh.
“Well don’t let me keep you. Victoria, it was a pleasure seeing you again,” I turned to Gloria, “Mother, I hope the rest of your day goes well.” Her eyes slit, which made me a little happy and then I left before another word could be said.
“William, wait!”
Reluctantly I stopped and turned to face her with a polite smile. “Hallo Victoria.”
She approached me slowly, “I didn’t come here to see Ronald.”
“I know that. Mother brought you here to annoy me further.”