GENE
I had liver problems and so if you don’t know what that means, it means that my days were numbered and that I was done for. My wife and children knowing that the end was near, gathered around me at the hospital and told jokes and ‘remember when’ stories. They were all purposefully cheerful and upbeat, which I appreciated considering the circumstances. Our youngest, our little one named Glory told me that she finally figured out why my eyes were jaundiced or yellow.
She said it was because after I die, I was going to come back like a cat and that when I did she would look for me and keep me as her pet. Man if that didn’t just bring me and my wife to tears, everyone else lost it for that matter. Our oldest Gene, who my wife Clara and I named after Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS, instinctively held his siblings together in the last few weeks. Every day, he made sure that they had breakfast in the morning before they went to school and he saw to it that everyone (except Glory) had their homework done. Once dinner was served and his sisters were asleep, he took off to work his second job. He was a good young man that kid, once I ended up in the hospital he really stepped up and became the man of the house. It was a great help to his Mom and it took a lot of the worry off of her shoulders.
“Dad,” he began. “I got the lawn all taken care of I planted that new patch of grass like you wanted. Ummm, I changed out the oil and the filters in the car and took care of all the liquids…”
“I help mom out around the house, with all the dishes and the laundry,” Rhiannon our oldest girl piped in, you can pretty much figure out why we gave her that name. “I wash and Lisa dries the plates and stuff,”
“I haven’t dropped one plate Daddy,” Lisa was so very proud of herself. Yea, so Lisa was named after our favorite instrumental tune by David Sandborn. Oh, and as for our little Glory? Well, it’s short for ‘Blaze Of Glory’ get it?
Gene took a seat on the other side of my hospital bed and leaned in close, “Dad, I’m scared,”
“Scared about what?” I could see that his body and soul were wrecked with emotions that he had to get out.
“What do I do after you’re gone? I mean about the house and everything and…..and mom and the kids? I’m working two jobs but that’s not enough to help with the mortgage is it? You always know what to do….” Gene’s voice cracked and it was filled with some much concern in regard to things that he thought he would have to take on. I could see he was overwhelmed.
“Don’t worry about that stuff,” I smiled. “You’re gonna drive yourself crazy, mom and I have enough money put aside that we won’t have to worry about that for a while, but look at you, Gene. You’re growing up right in front of my eyes, all worried about adult stuff.”
Gene moved closer and lay his head on my chest, “You won’t see your grandchildren,”
“Yes I will,” I assured him. “I may not be of the flesh but I will be there,” looking at Clara and the rest of our children I continued, “I will be there for all of those important moments in your life, nothing will keep me from it.”
“Then don’t die,” Glory grabbed my hand and wailed in tears and everyone followed suit, even Clara couldn’t be strong for that one. That was my last moment on earth, everything went dark and the sound faded out, I could barely hear the strains of sadness from my family.
….……..
Unfortunately, this story doesn’t have a happy ending. When you’re a ghost haunting your old house, you sometimes get to listen in on a few exciting bits of information. Like for instance, I got to see Gene packing his things up and preparing himself to move out. Even in my unearthly form, there was nothing I could do to stop him, knowing very well that Clara and the kids needed him just like they all needed each other. Clara tried to stop him but he pulled away from her and raged, “I’m so glad that Dad isn’t here to know this!”
“Gene just let it go! There’s nothing we can do about it!” Clara screamed back, hoping that the desperation in her voice would stop him from leaving, but to no avail.
“Let it go? I’m supposed to let go of the fact that I tried to donate my liver to Dad only to find out that it wasn’t compatible because I wasn’t his son?” Gene was livid and he walked out and slammed the door.
Turns out that Gene’s natural father was some one night stand that Clara met when she was on a business trip out to Barstow. The guy was a part of the Nevada branch of her company, turned out they were both staying in Vegas where they agreed to meet later for some drinks, which they did. One thing lead to another and nine months later Gene is born, she never to told the other guy anything. The great thing about being a ghost is that we have a long shelf life. I got to watch Gene come back and live in the house after Clara passed; no we did not meet in the afterlife. Gene settled down and had a family, a wife and two children. Rhiannon, Glory, and Lisa would visit on the weekends and at one gathering everyone had a bit too much to drink, including Gene. He blurted out in front his wife and children about the time that he wanted to donate his liver to his dying father, which included all the other sordid details. The three sisters hardly came over after that and Gene’s wife Michelle didn’t speak to him for six months. The next few holidays were filled with family and cheer but with only Michelle’s side of the family coming over for dinner and a few festive drinks, but no Rhiannon, Lisa, and Glory. Eventually, all of my children passed away one by one, with Glory living until the ripe old age of ninety-two. The house passed down from generation to generation with only one fatal flaw in the succession of those generations, the dark scar of Gene’s heritage and my presence as a ghost in my own home. I’ve appeared to many of my descendants in that domicile but I was never able to reach my Gene, not even on this side. So, the generations of my family who continue to live here get to see a ghost with yellow eyes and skin with a big goofy smile, it's a famous urban legend now. I'm a ghost called 'Yellow Eyes' but what it really comes to down to is that I am a melancholy apparition that interacts with his descendants every now and again, trying to get a message across, but all they see is a yellow pair of eyes which scares the shit out of them.
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