Taking Risks (24 page)

             
“Well…I got her to listen, but now she’s asking to speak with you, Mar.”

             
“Oh…well, we’re supposed to bring her and Joey together tomorrow morning. How is this supposed to work?”

             
Gray cringed. “She’s here, outside in the parking lot. She wants to speak to you alone or she won’t speak to anyone.”

             
Risk had been quiet until Gray said that I had to go alone. “Oh
hell
no! Absolutely not! It’s way too dangerous.”

             
I looked at him sympathetically and shrugged my shoulders. I knew that he was scared, but it was the only way our plan would work, and something had to be done. According to Joey I was going to die from exhaustion sooner or later if things continued so it really wasn’t much of a risk. He quickly understood that this was our only option and said, “I didn’t think that this would ever actually happen…
shit.
” And he plopped down into his seat with an over exaggerated sigh. I grabbed my purse that matched my dress and bent to kiss Risk. I didn’t want to make it seem as if it were a goodbye kiss, so I made it short and sweet. I nodded and smiled at Gray and then I turned to go meet Mrs. Harper.

             
I looked for a few minutes amongst the crowded parking lot before I spotted her. She was dressed in a pretty dress and had her hair all pinned up. Her expression was hard and unreadable and instead of standing with slumped shoulders, like most ghosts, she stood with her head up high as if she were proud. That was very unusual for an angry ghost. I approached her slowly and she smiled a polite smile at me. I stopped about twenty feet in front of her and took a moment to check out my situation. She stood patiently waiting for me to speak first.

             
“Hello Mrs. Harper. I’m Marlee Chase, I’m an acquaintance of your son and husband.” She nodded at me and simply said, “I’m aware.” Her voice was like silk and it made me more nervous. “I would like to ask you a few questions, if that’s okay.”

             
“That’s why I’m here Miss Chase. Ask away.”

             
I cleared my throat. “Could you please tell me how much of your life you remember?”

             
“I’m sorry, but I remember nothing. Your…friend filled me in on some of it, but he couldn’t convince me that my life was something that I needed to remember. He thought that maybe you could change my mind, but it sounds tragic and I don’t see how you could come up with a better reason for me to go through the pain of remembering the loss of a child.”

             
Her red eyes started to flare and I swallowed hard trying to keep my cool. “I understand what I’m asking you to go through, but you have to understand that you’ll be saving so many other souls, and hopefully you’ll be saving your own too.”

             
Her image flickered before suddenly appearing right in front of me. I gasped, but I stood my ground. I had to show her how serious I was, no matter how hard she tried to scare me. Her face had changed to a mess of anger and she made a growling sound in her throat.

             
“Do you have any idea what I can do to you,
girl
? I can bring you straight to my hell, right now.”

             
I didn’t like her threatening me. It sent all thoughts of fear away and replaced them with anger. I pushed my head forward so that our noses were almost touching and said, “You can do whatever you want to me, but if you do, your
child
will never know real happiness or peace in his death. He will wander this world forever carrying around the same hate that you feel. You’ll condemn him to the after-life that you’ve been living all of these years. Don’t you feel the pain that you carry with you?”

             
She backed off at hearing the anger in my own voice and her face softened into a worried expression.

             
“Do you know how I died?” She asked in a whisper.

             
I took a deep breath. “After two years of living with the grief you felt with Joey’s death, you decided that you couldn’t take it anymore and you shot yourself. He couldn’t remember much about his life when I found him, but something sparked his memory when we visited your old house and all of his memories came back. He thinks your death is all his fault, Roletta. He’s hurting people because he’s just as angry as you, it’s tearing him up inside. You have to help him. He’s your baby, whether you remember him or not.”

             
Roletta’s eyes welled with tears and she clamped them shut. I stood silently waiting for the storm to brew and for her to tear me to pieces, but instead, she opened her eyes. It was hard to see in the dark and she had backed away from me some, but I could see that the glow of red was gone and she was sobbing. I carefully took a few steps towards her. The closer I got, the more I could see the chocolate brown color of her eyes that matched what I remembered of Joey’s before his transformation.

             
“Can you help me remember him?” She asked through her tears,

             
I shook my head in agreement and told her that I needed to grab my friends. She agreed to wait for me and I ran inside as fast as I could, hoping my short absence wouldn’t give her enough time to change her mind and send us back to square one.

             
Risk and Gray were right where I had left them at the table. When they saw me running in they jumped up in a panic and I was quick to explain our current situation.

             
“Hurry, I got through to her, but I don’t want her relapsing. She
wants
to remember.”

             
Without a word, Risk gathered our things and Gray vanished to go be with Roletta while we dashed our way toward the exit. Just before we made it to the doors we were blocked by some white tuxedo wearing douche bags. When I realized they were purposely blocking us I took a second to look up at them and came face to face with Jon Gillman and his friends. His eyes were black and blue from where I had broken his nose, but I could easily see that his pride was still intact. I scowled at him and he returned the look in earnest.

             
“Get out of my way.” I said through clenched teeth.

             
I shot Risk a warning glare. A fight with Jon would mean a major delay with Roletta and Joey, and that was time that we couldn’t afford to lose.

             
“I don’t have time for this right now, so why don’t you go fondle one of the skanks that follow you around and keep them the hell away from my boyfriend.”

             
Before he could come back with any smartass remarks, Risk pushed him aside and pulled me out of the doors. Just as the doors were coming to a close behind us I heard Jon yell, “You’ll be seeing more of me sweetheart!” and his minions laughed hysterically. The threat meant nothing compared to what we were already dealing with.

             
Out in the parking lot Risk and I found a very awkward Gray and Roletta as they waited for us to join back up with them. When we got into the car I saw how uncomfortable Roletta was. Her eyes had returned to normal so her normal human reactions were easier to see. She looked as if she were in agony, but she wasn’t making any noise. She just sat in her seat wringing her hands. The car ride was silent as we drove to Roletta’s grave site. We weren’t supposed to be meeting Joey until the following morning, but I wasn’t going to lose the opportunity that I had now, and I knew just where to find him.

             
When we got to the cemetery we walked amongst the tombstones to find the place where she was buried. I was just thinking to myself about how easy it would be to get turned around in a big cemetery when Roletta popped up right in front of me, cutting off my path.

             
“I don’t think I can do this. What if I can’t remember him? I don’t want to hurt him any more than I already have.” She said in a panic.

             
I saw the motherly concern on her face and the fear that she might not know her own child was showing through too. We were so close to victory, but I couldn’t think of anything to say to her. She looked up at me, hopeful that I would say something to comfort her, but I just stood there. One moment later, she was gone. I looked around for a few minutes before I yelled, “
FUCK!”
as if I had stubbed my toe. Gray and Risk turned around and ran up to me.

             
“What happened Mar? What’ wrong?” Gray said and Risk came to my side.

             
I started to cry. “I lost her.
Damnit!
”

             
“What do you mean you
lost
her?” Asked Risk.

             
“She wanted to know what she should do. She didn’t want to hurt Joey anymore and I didn’t know what to say to her. I’m not a
parent
, don’t know what kind of advice to give. I’m just trying to save my own skin here and I couldn’t think of
one fucking word of comfort
to say to her.”

             
Risk lifted my face up to meet his as I stood sobbing. “You couldn’t have been expecting her to ask you for parenting advice. And you’re not just trying to save yourself Marlee, you’re trying to save all of those souls that have been kept here and are ready to move on. You’re risking everything so that they can move on from this world and have peace. We still have time, so have faith in yourself. You’re doing your best.”

             
That’s when I heard a third voice behind me. “You lost her, huh? I should’ve known that you would screw this up.” Joey said as he stood there with his angry face and awful red eyes.

             
I turned to face him. “You don’t understand. I just choked. She’s worried about you Joey, she just doesn’t want to hurt you anymore. It’s not your fault!”

             
I dropped to my knees and started sobbing and shaking. I felt the cold of the ground through my dress as Joey bent down to whisper in my ear, “This isn’t my fault, it’s your fault. You’ve ruined everything, and because of that, you’re going to die and your soul will be trapped here just like everyone else. I’m going to get stronger and I’m going to start hurting as many people as I can. My mother doesn’t
want
me anymore, don’t you see? If she wanted me she would’ve come looking for me, or she would’ve quit hiding from me a long time ago. She’s asking for this and so are you.”

             
Gray walked in front of me. He was standing tall and the air around him was sizzling. He took a deep breath as I was pulled to my feet by Risk. I looked down at the mud stains on my once beautiful prom dress as Gray started to speak.

             
“Listen to me
young man
. You have no idea what you’re talking about.” Gray said through clenched teeth. Joey came back with an “Oh yeah?” and Gray continued, “Yeah. Your mother loves you very much and she’s just doing what she thinks is best for you. You have
no idea
what she went through when you died. It was a tragedy for everyone and no one should have to go through losing a child, but people do it every day. Your mom reacted badly, but you wouldn’t believe how much she loves you. When we found her, she had red eyes just like you. She was an angry, awful soul. Marlee was with her for
twenty
minutes talking about you, and just the thought of her being a mother to a child who was hurting himself pulled her out of her ghost coma. She’s just as scared as you and if you want to help her, you’ll listen to us.”

             
Risk and I stood there for a moment, amazed. Gray had completely commanded authority from the person that we had all just been so afraid of. It was as if he were trying to get through to his own, very troubled, child. He took a look at Risk and turned back to see Joey who had a completely dumbfounded look on his face. His image flickered for a moment as the wave of emotion washed through him. I thought Joey was going to vanish before Gray started to speak again.

             
“The reason why you and your mom haven’t been able to find each other isn’t from lack of trying. It’s because your mother can’t remember anything about her life or death so she doesn’t remember you. Even if she
did
remember you, I doubt that she would be able to recognize you under all that ugly anger. If you could only see yourself in a mirror Joey. You’re just a glimmer of the boy that I met a few weeks ago. You’re only one side of yourself and it’s the ugliest side.”

             
And with that, Gray turned and walked away, leaving Risk and I staring at Joey like we were idiots. Joey looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet before he vanished. When Risk and I gathered ourselves together we ran to catch up to Gray.

             
“What the fuck was that?” I asked Gray and he just smiled back at me.

             
He reached out to hold my cheek. His hand felt cold, but comforting, and he said, “The boy needs some guidance. Every child needs someone to show them the way. He’ll come around Spud.” Gray smiled at me and swiped at a tear that had fallen on my cheek, but it remained there. We all rode back to the house quietly and I tried my best to make myself look like I had just had a rough night of dancing so Mom wouldn’t freak out as we walked into the house. My makeup was mostly gone and my dress was muddy on the knees, but I wiped away the mascara streaks and the bulk of the mud. When we entered, Mom quickly snapped a picture before warning anyone.

             
She took the camera from her eyes and when she caught a glimpse of me her mouth turned down into a quick frown. “What the hell happened to you Marlee?” she bit.

             
I came back with a rehearsed answer telling her that I had taken a spill and I was way too clumsy to be wearing heels. I smiled the most genuine smile that I could at her and she looked at me as if she were questioning herself about my sanity, but seemed to accept to explanation anyway. She asked us a little about our night before she excused herself to go get some sleep. When she came to hug me before going to bed she whispered in my ear, “You looked beautiful tonight sweetie, I love you.” And then she went upstairs, leaving the three of us alone.

             
Gray and Risk leaned close to me when they knew that she was out of earshot. They tried discussing what our next move should be and if I was prepared to handle to next step, whenever we figured out what that step may be. I tried my best to listen to their conversation, but I couldn’t keep my eyelids open. The last thing I remembered is Risk giving me a worried look and saying, “Marlee?” as I felt myself go in to the darkness.

              When I woke up I was in a hospital bed with my mom asleep in the chair beside me. Gray was sprawled out in the middle of the floor staring up at the TV and Risk was sitting on the small couch next to him and whispering something. When he looked up his eyes met mine and I could see the relief wash over his features. He ran over to me and gently shook my mom to wake her and tell her that I was awake. Gray appeared at the foot of the bed. He didn’t look concerned as much as he looked down right pissed. He didn’t think about my mom being right there and that I was a little groggy and might respond to him before he rushed to me and said, “This ends now.” Through gritted teeth. Risk and I nodded at him.

             
Right away Mom started in on me, asking if I was okay and what happened as I tried to shake the fog from my head. I told her to calm down and then asked them what day it was. It was Sunday, which meant that I had only been out for less than a day.

             
I squinted up at Risk and asked him what happened.

             
“I have no clue babe. We were all just talking and you passed out. You almost quit breathing and we couldn’t find a pulse so we called an ambulance. The doctors think its chronic fatigue.” He looked at me sheepishly and glanced at my mom.

             
“What do you mean
you all
? Who else was there?” Mom asked

             
Risk looked at me in a panic when he realized his easy mistake and I felt his pain. I knew the anxiety that came from making those little mistakes. I shrugged my shoulders and took a deep breath to prepare myself for telling her the truth.

             
“I don’t have the energy to make something up for you Mom. It was me, Risk…and Gray. Risk can see and talk to him too.”

             
Her eyes snapped up to Risk and her jaw dropped wide open. I rolled my eyes and heard a giggle escape Gray who was taunting Risk like a child, telling him that he was in trouble. Risk and Mom had a short stare down before she crossed her arms over her chest and gave him her best business woman stance. “So you’re bonkers too, is that it?”

             
Risk dropped his head into his hands and I heard him grumble, “Thanks for throwing me to the wolves.” Then he pulled his head back up to look at Mom.

             
“Look Mrs. Chase, I know this is hard to believe, but Marlee is in trouble. This isn’t some sort of freak accident. A ghost put her in here. He’s taking more energy from her as we speak and he won’t stop until we set things straight in that world. This isn’t a game.”

             
Mom rolled her eyes at him and then gave me a murderous glare as she spat, “You think this is
funny
? You’re my daughter and you’re in the hospital, and now some boy is telling me that a ghost is out to get you. Seriously Mar, what kind of drugs are you taking? I want to get you help…”

             
I interrupted her in a hurry. “Woah! Calm down there Mom. I am
not
on drugs. I’ve had my head on straighter than any other teenager that I know.”

             
“So explain this to me than. Why exactly are you in a hospital for passing out and breathing so shallow that you hardly had a pulse? I was home one day when you slept through an entire day and I could do nothing to wake you up. God knows how many times that’s happened and I haven’t been there!”

             
“You won’t believe any true explanation that I can give you.” I whispered and she scoffed.