“I’m glad you clued me in. I hear ya. I know the theater has to be finished by early January for the talent competition.”
“Yeah, she’s arranging to have all kinds of people come in from LA and all over. Not to mention that the competition is going to be filmed for a TV show. There’s no way I can let anything slow down the works. We have to finish on schedule.”
River twirled his straw in his drink as he thought about what Larsen was saying. “Well, what if the next thing happens when my mom is with you? What if the ghost starts wailing right in front of her? ‘Hellllp! Waaaaaaah!’ Then what?”
“Then I’ll deal with that as it happens. I’m too busy with ‘what is’ right now to freak over ‘what if.’ Promise me you’ll keep your mouth shut.”
“Yeah, I will. Anything else I should know?”
Larsen raised his glass to let the server know he needed a refill, then nodded thanks. “Oh, just that my mom was sitting out in front of Kathryn’s on Friday night. She had been there the previous Monday, too.”
“Like what? Spying on you?”
“I guess. Kathryn told me there was a lady in a blue Toyota outside, and she figured it was my mother. Kind of made my stomach flip even hearing that. But I went outside, got in the car with her, and it took only seconds for the gay bashing to begin. I told her that I wasn’t going to listen to that, and I left. I’m sure she got over it. She was on her way to some spa resort with Reggie. So, listen, enough about me. How did your dinner with Gina go last night? Wasn’t she going to cook for you?”
River paused before responding. “Yeah, she did. It was great.”
“Great, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Hey, I’m sorry, Riv. I can tell there’s something you’re not saying, and, seriously, I’m not trying to pry it out of you.”
“Thanks, dude. It’s just that this relationship is still pretty new for both of us, and I’m falling for this girl more and more. We almost went somewhere a little too quickly. Get my drift? Not that I didn’t want to take the trip, but the reasons were all wrong. I don’t want to eff this up. You know?”
Larsen gave River a knowing look. “I’ve been there.”
River looked embarrassed. “Oh, shit. I never even asked you if—”
“I understand. I’m just glad you wanted to be my friend.”
“Wait, Lars. No, you shouldn’t understand. Because all along I’m talking to you about Gina, and I never asked you if there was anyone in your life. But if you had been a straight guy, I’m sure I would have. I don’t like to think that I was such an idiot. Honestly, I didn’t even realize it until just now. I’m sorry, dude. My bad.”
Larsen looked down the street at the people who were lining up for the Mystekal Sands Theater. “Wow, there must be some good films playing there. That’s a big matinee crowd for this small town.”
“Are you changing the subject on me?”
Larsen hinted at a smile as he turned back toward River. “I know you never asked me about my love life, but I knew that if I wanted to tell you, you’d be cool with it.”
“Yeah, I am. So … is there someone?”
“There was. Before we moved here I met this guy, Chaz, who lived down the street. I was a junior, and he was a senior. His parents were pretty accepting, so we didn’t have to hide in the shadows to spend time together. We just hung out at his house and sometimes went into Palm Springs together on the weekend. Things were going okay for us, better than okay, and then, on the exact same day I realized just how much I cared about him, my mom ran into his mom at Trader Joe’s, and everything hit the fan.”
“That’s how your mom found out you were gay?”
“Hell, no, Riv. She always knew that. But she had this idea in her head that as long as I just thought I was gay and wasn’t in any actual relationship, she could straighten me out when the right girl came along. So, when the right guy did come along … or so I thought … well, that was all she needed. She was on the computer that night looking for a new town to live in.”
“What if you had met someone here? What would you guys have done? Moved again?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. You know why she picked Mystekal? Because it’s smaller than the other towns, and she figured the chances of me finding anyone would be slimmer. Well, she was right. There’s nobody here I’m interested in. And that’s actually okay because I’m concentrating on my job and my future. I need a clear head. For now. Holy shit, Riv!”
“What, dude?”
“You know that clear head I was talking about? It’s like San Francisco fog rolled in just about now.”
River saw Larsen staring intensely at the Mystekal Sands Theater. “What, is your ex, Chaz, down there?”
Larsen looked surprised by River’s question. “No. Look. Can’t you see her?”
“Who? Gina? Is she here with someone else?”
“Chillax! No. Quick. See the lady there with her hair up and a white flower in it?”
River’s mouth dropped open in sync with his bulging eyes. “That’s the lady you met inside. The one I saw crying later on. The one who we looked up on the Internet who got killed when your mom’s new boyfriend drove his big rig into her. Um … Martha something.”
“Martha Joy!” Larsen jumped out of his seat and ran down the steps of the café, then down the street toward the theater. He had nearly reached the last person in line when he saw Martha Joy standing about two feet apart from the line of moviegoers. She turned, smiled brightly at him, then disappeared into the crowd. Five seconds later, Larsen had reached the very spot where he had seen her go, but there was no trace of her and no way she could have made it inside that fast … had she been a living, breathing person.
Chapter 17
“TGIF, huh, Mrs. D?”
Arielle laid her head back against her chair and closed her eyes for several seconds. “Today is Friday, but I’ll be working through the weekend. Tomorrow I’m going to Palm Springs to meet a friend of mine who’s in for the weekend. She’s been managing a theater in LA for over ten years and has promised to share her trade secrets. Sunday, I’ll be hanging out here in the trailer. No rest for the weary. The show must go on.”
Larsen spun around in his chair. “But you’re exhausted! You’ve been here for nearly twelve hours today. And you’ve been pulling long days like this all week.”
“Believe me, I know. My mirror knows. When I got up this morning, I screamed when I saw my own reflection. Then my mirror cracked.”
Larsen laughed. “Yeah, right. Well, I think you look beautiful. And don’t worry, there’s only one month to go before the opening and the talent competition.”
“Exactly! Why do you think I’m working seven days a week? How long have you been working with me? I think I’ve lost all track of time.”
Larsen did the math in his head. “Let’s see. I started on Halloween, so today it’s been five weeks. I never thought first jobs were supposed to be as epic as this one is.”
“You’ve been a godsend to me. Hey, while we have a few minutes, tell me: how are things with you personally? Have you seen or spoken to your mother?”
Larsen’s happy face disappeared. “I haven’t seen her for a month since Kathryn told me she was sitting outside in her car. She texted and asked me if I would have Thanksgiving dinner with her at a restaurant and then an hour later told me that she couldn’t do it because ‘her man’ wanted her to go somewhere with him. Nice, huh?”
“I’m sorry, sweetie. Well, her loss was our gain. I’m so glad you and Kathryn joined us for dinner. It made it that much more special. Listen, I need to ask you something.”
“Sure. Go for it.”
“That guy at school, Jax, the one who was bullying you and then Erik, has he left you alone?”
“He has other people doing his bully work now. I haven’t said anything to anyone, but I saw Jax handing notes to this sophomore kid. Then, a few hours later, the notes show up on my locker and on Avalon’s. I took them
down and threw them out. Really ugly stuff, Mrs. D. I told Gabe and Erik I’d watch out for Avalon, and I have been. I just didn’t want to give Erik anything more to be upset about, so I kept it to myself. The things Jax wrote about Avalon and me were really ugly. I try not to let the words of an ignorant person hurt me.”
Arielle’s face tightened in anger. “I despise bullies. This Jax kid, he doesn’t happen to have blond hair, does he?”
Larsen looked surprised. “Yeah, actually, he does. How did you know?”
“Damn.”
“What’s up, Mrs. D?”
“There have been two times in the past two weeks when I thought I saw a blond kid backstage. Both times I went looking for him, calling after him, but I couldn’t find anyone. Maybe my mind is just playing tricks on me. But I was really worried he’d come here looking for you to start some trouble.”
Larsen looked intrigued. “Have you seen or heard anything else unusual?”
Arielle laughed. “Well, I do see my son every day. Does that count?”
“That’s so funny. But really, anything unusual here?”
“Why do you ask? Have you?”
Larsen panicked. “Oh, no. I’m just trying to figure out if it was Jax.”
“Well, there was one night when I was here late, and I thought I heard someone crying. But it was really windy outside, and the wind has many voices. Now that I think about all of these incidents, every single time I’ve seen or heard something unusual, Muggins has, too. But you know how hypersensitive dogs can be. They often bark for things only they can hear. Well, I’m freaking myself out, so let’s change the subject. I have some pretty exciting news for you.”
“I’m always a sucker for good news.”
“I know you’ve been wondering about that footage that Lisa and Josh shot last month of you doing your Othello bit on stage.”
“I’ve been dying to ask, but I didn’t want to seem too eager or anything.”
Arielle looked through a stack of receipts as she continued to talk. “Lisa was just waiting to combine that footage with what they shot yesterday with the reinstallation of the seats. She’s going to edit it this weekend, and the promos will air next week on both the station Lisa works for and their sister station. Both stations are national, too.”
“That’s fantastic! I forgot the seats are going back in. I was working on the media kits and programs for the past week and haven’t even been in the theater.”
“No, you haven’t. That’s right. I’m sorry, Lars. You have to see them. They look more beautiful than I imagined. The craftsmanship is exquisite. Listen, there’s a sleepy boy under my desk who could use a walk. Take him out for me and then go into the theater. Gabe’s there. He’ll show you everything. It’s so exciting!”
Larsen jumped up from his seat as Muggins simultaneously came out from under Arielle’s desk without being called. “You’re such a smart boy. Come on. Let’s go.”
`*`*`*`
Gabe smiled proudly as he looked at the seventy-six seats that were back in their original setting. “So, Larsen, what do you think?”
“I think these look incredible. Did you say that all of them should be in by next week?”
“That’s right. The guy who did this work, Joey, is an old friend of mine from Jersey. I knew he wouldn’t disappoint Arielle. Yeah … feel really good about this.”
Larsen looked at Muggins. “What do you think, boy?”
Preoccupied, Muggins seemed interested in everything but the refurbished theater seats.
“Wow, Gabe. This must have been quite a job.”
“You bet. All of the old upholstery had to be stripped and each chair disassembled. After that was done, Joey stripped and sandblasted all of the metal and iron pieces to get the paint off. Said he found over a hundred pieces of petrified chewing gum.”
Larsen made a face. “That’s awful. Why can’t people just wait until they find a trashcan?”
“Ah, some people just suck. You know that. Yeah, people can suck real bad.”
“Grrrr.”
Taking a quick look at Muggins, Larsen knew he had seen or heard something unusual. “What is it, boy?”
“Ah, don’t pay the dog no mind. Every time he’s in here he’s growling or woofing. It’s what dogs do.”
Larsen looked curiously at Gabe. “Yeah, I know what dogs do, but, um, the last time I was in here alone with Muggins, I not only heard a song from West Side Story playing, I heard a loud scream followed by this really intense wailing. That was about a month ago. I spend most of my time in the trailer, so if there’s weird stuff going on in here, I don’t see too much of it.”
Larsen watched as Gabe’s face reddened. “But somehow I’m thinking you’re seeing it.”
Gabe looked panicked. “You didn’t tell Arielle about any of that, did you?”
“Uh, no. I didn’t want to upset her. But now I’m wondering if she’s seen or heard things.”
Lowering his voice, Gabe moved closer to Larsen and looked him squarely in the eyes. “Listen to me. I’ve trusted you with my kids, so I’m gonna trust you with this. Don’t ask me any questions. I’m just telling you that people like to play mind games to mess with other people’s heads. Things aren’t always what they seem to be. I’m just sayin’. I’ve been racking my brain since I got here tryin’ to figure out how they’ve rigged this place, and for the life of me I can’t find squat. But I will. I’ve had enough crap pulled behind my back for a lifetime. So whatever you think you see, you only tell me, okay?”
Larsen looked confused. “Who are the people playing mind games?”
“You’re a good kid. But what part of ‘don’t ask me any questions’ didn’t you understand? I’m heading back to the trailer. You stay here a while if you want. Sorry I don’t have time to give you a walking tour of all we’ve done, but you can see for yourself. Okay, kid?”
As Gabe hurried out of the theater, Muggins’ interest in the backstage area grew tenfold. But unlike the previous times, Muggins seemed afraid to approach the stage, but his eyes remained fixated on it, and his tail wagged nervously between his legs. Larsen followed the dog’s gaze and was startled to see the faint image of what looked like a young blond man in distress, crying for help.
Larsen knew immediately that this must have been the same person Arielle had mentioned, but this kid looked nothing like the muscular, taller Jax. He had no idea what Gabe had been talking about, but the person he was looking at was definitely not a trick or a mind game. Though the teen wasn’t speaking, Larsen found himself able to communicate telepathically with him. He wasn’t able to make out any words, but he knew the boy was crying for help. Only Larsen couldn’t figure out what kind of help he needed. And he knew one other thing: if he tried to approach him, he would disappear, the same way Martha Joy had disappeared into the crowd, because like her, he, too, was a ghost.
`*`*`*`
“Hey, dude. I’m glad you could come over today. So, look, tell me more about what happened yesterday. Sorry I had to hang up on you. Gina was freaking out about something, and I had to calm her down.”
Larsen sat back in Mick’s armchair. “Hope everything’s okay. You two still are going strong, right?”
“Hell, yeah. Stronger than ever. It wasn’t about us. Her sister, Taylor, is like this volcano that erupts every two months. You ever hear of Mount Vesuvius?”
“No. Should I have?”
“It’s an active volcano on the west coast of Italy. Never mind. Anyway, Gina’s parents dealt with Taylor’s latest crisis … for now. So, go back to what you were telling me last night. You said that my mom thought Jax was hanging out at the theater, Gabe told you someone was playing mind games, and you saw a blond-haired guy ghost who needed help. Did I get that right?”
“That’s right, Riv. I’ve been going over it all a million times. First, I’m convinced that your mom has been seeing the same kid I have. Only neither of us have seen him clearly enough to make out his face, but I can see he�
��s nowhere near as tall or as muscular as Jax. But your mom has never seen Jax, so she just figured he might be lurking around trying to bully me away from school grounds where he can’t get into trouble or something.”
“Yeah, Lars, but if she thought that was Jax, why wouldn’t she say anything to him? No way my mom would just let him hang in the theater. My mom is tough. She can kick ass! Seriously.”
“I asked her the same thing when I got back to the trailer, after Gabe went home. She said that when she saw him, he was way backstage. She did yell after him, but both times she just assumed he left through the back of the theater because she scared him off.”
“And what do you think, dude?”
Larsen looked around the Dalworths’ living room to make sure nobody was around. “I think that ghost I saw lives backstage.”
River contemplated what his friend was saying. “Okay, so what’s Gabe Martelli going on about?”
“I don’t know, Riv, but I think that’s an entirely different scenario. Remember I told you about a month ago that I heard Gabe on the phone in the trailer? Well, someone was on the other end telling him to do something, and he was saying that things were going really well, and he had changed his mind and wasn’t going to do whatever.”
“I hope nobody’s trying to hurt my mom.”
Larsen was concerned. “Well, I think if he thought your mother was in danger, for sure he’d do something about it. But when he was talking about people playing mind games, I got the idea that someone was trying to get Gabe to pull some shit, and when he refused, they were doing it themselves. Only Gabe can’t seem to find any trace of foul play.”
River laughed. “Foul play? You sound like somebody in a cop show or a murder mystery.”
“Get real, Riv. With all of the weird things you say, you’re really gonna get on my case for saying ‘foul play’?”
“Damn, I hate when you make a valid point. Go on with what you were saying.”
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