"How long does your ex usually hang out after you escape your office?" I asked.
"I dunno, I'm escaping, so I'm not really thinking about it," she shrugged. "I can't believe you thought I was a hooker."
"Sorry, it's just that it's Hotel Street, and you came out of the trap door on the floor, so, you know?" I could see now that what I said earlier really hurt her feelings. "I'm sorry." As soon as we got to a stop light, I removed my jacket and put it over her lap. "For your modesty, that's a high-cut skirt."
"I was married to my ex for twenty years, so after the divorce, I did what all middle-agers do. Go to the club and dance all night in a drunken stupor. My ex didn't like that I'd completely gotten over him and that I was moving on with my life. So, whenever he got drunk, his stupid ass would show up at my job, and he'd rough me up. One night, my boss was hosting an office party, and the idiot showed up with a gun. Desperate to escape, I crawled into a manhole and found the lava tubes. That's how I met Maude and Harry and you." Now that I wasn't pissed at her for invading my personal sanctuary, I finally got a good look at her. She'd been through the wringer, but there was beauty there.
"What?" She asked. "What are you looking at? You're not gonna say something weird, are you?"
"No, it's just that I see it now. How you've struggled and all that. Sorry for being an asshole before," the lights turned green, and we were on our way.
"I feel sorry for you," she began. "You've got this gift that's made you a prisoner. You can't go anywhere and be in contact with other human beings; what kind of life is that?"
I had no reply to something that was entirely factual. It's not a life, but if I try to be normal, I'll never get out of being possessed. It won't ever stop. She reached out and tried to put her hand on my shoulder as a gesture of sympathy, and I slapped it away instinctively. Not out of anger. "I'm sorry," I apologized quickly. "I just reacted, I didn't mean it like that."
"No need to be sorry," she assured me. "After getting the shit beat out of me for twenty years, it took a while for me to realize that when someone reached out to me to hug me or pat my shoulders for encouragement that they weren't trying to hit me. This is new for me, too, so what you did just now is what I used to do. So I get it."
"Listen, you can stay at my place tonight if you want, but it's just for tonight. You're gonna have to figure something out tomorrow. You can take my room upstairs; I can sleep in the bar. I've got a fold-out couch in the back, so I'll be ok. I've also got some of Maude's old clothes upstairs, so feel free to use them. The shower and everything else you need is up there, too. It's all on the up and up, so no worries."
"I trust you," she said. "I dunno why, but I do." She adjusted in the passenger's side seat and regarded me more seriously. Why'd you ask about my ex and my office in the first place?"
"I thought he'd never expect you to go back there, so it might have been the safest place to bring you," I answered.
"I never thought about that," she agreed.
9:45 am
A couple stoically walks by; their love is a routine. The two have no idea when the newness left their relationship and became a job. They're going through the motions; their lovemaking is just that—motions. The UPS man is passing them in the opposite direction with a load of boxes on his oversized hand truck, which is taller and broader than he is. He's trying not to think about his girlfriend sitting in her doctor's office to check how far along her pregnancy is. Her parents don't know, and neither do his. They're not sure when they're going to announce it. The situation will make it harder to break up with his girlfriend and leave her for the secretary at the print shop downtown. However, the person who, unbeknownst to her, won the appreciation award was the beautifully stunning hapa haole girl walking by in her fitted top and jeans. Not because of her physical attributes but what was happening in her head. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
10:17 am.
Breakfast took a while because the bacon was frozen when DoorDash dropped it off. So, I had to make do with a box of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The Pog washed it down nicely. Teralyn comes down the stairs wearing Maude's old sweatpants and overshirt. "PB&J? That's not a breakfast. What are you trying to die of a sugar overdose?" She shook her head. "I'll whip up something; you go upstairs and wash up. By the time you get back, breakfast will be ready."
"I can't let you do that," I protested.
"Bullshit," she disagreed. "Get going, wash your face, and take care of that bad breath."
What a pain in the ass. Who does she think she is, kicking me out of my own kitchen and then telling me what to do? I'll wash my face when I'm good and ready, and lucky for her, I got new toothpaste and mouthwash! I would use it anyway; she just happened to suggest it. It was nice to shower, scrub off all that otherworldly gunk, and watch it swirl into the drain. The water was freezing cold, but that's what I needed at the moment, that brusk wake-up call.
10:48 am.
I put on some clean clothes ran my fingers through my hair and headed downstairs. The frying pan sat on the stove with no heat on. Strips of bacon lay in it, and freshly beaten eggs sat in one of my small bowls. The spatula, the POG, and the box of peanut butter and jelly sandwiches were on the counter. The fucking front door was open, and Teralyn's upper body lay partially on the sidewalk while her lower body lay inside. There was a big hole in the middle of her forehead with a large pool of blood around her. I was suddenly struck with the revelation that it wasn't spirits trying to break in last night. It was Teralyn's ex. He more than likely followed her through the lava tubes and was trying to get in. He must have discovered where the trap door would have come out and realized it was my place. Teralyn must have forgotten what I said last night about all the entrances and exits, so when her ex knocked on the front door, the last thing he must have expected was for Teralyn to answer. The spirits were coming in now, along with all the people possessed by spirits. My body began vibrating, and my eyes rolled back into my head. I'm not sure if I crumbled to the floor and just fell back and hit my head. Whatever it was, there was a loud ringing. Raylour Chang was later found and arrested and convicted for the murder of his ex-wife, the former Mrs. Chang, who went back to her maiden name of Alito when he killed her in my doorway. I was one of the witnesses in the case.
I eventually got my life back, and I reinforced the bar with ten times more spiritual protection than it had before. I also had to reinforce my emotions. Now and again, Teralyn's spirit appears outside my tinted picture-glass window, knocking gently and pleading, "Chad? Let me cook you breakfast, please? It's the least I can do after everything. Please, Chad?"
Can't risk it, just can't risk it.
...Pau
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