One Last Spin Part 3

10

He was getting used to it.  He still wasn’t thrilled, but at least he wasn’t a killer.  That was always a plus.

Tonight he was over for dinner.  Again.  But it might not be a total waste.  He promised to actually take a few turns at his game, help him test it out, using the fresh eyes of someone with a background for numbers and logic.  Dona Cooper was going to come over and play too, in just a little bit.  Mom wasn’t going to play.  She used the excuse of needing to catch up on some other work, but he thought she was kind of overwhelmed by it, and wasn’t much of a game player.  Oh, well.  Her loss.

Just as Dona was coming in the door, Mom’s cell went off.  To his surprise she said the call was for him!  “Are you sure, Mom?”

“They asked for Mr. David Roper,” she said, as she handed him the phone.

“Hello, “the voice on the phone said.  “Mickey Barnes here, from the Waycross Gamers League.  Remember stopping by and showing us that homemade game you had, I think you called it To Crown A King?”

David felt himself go dry mouth, but he managed to croak out, “Yes.  I remember.”

“Well, David, I got a guy I know in the gaming business, with a new upstart board game company out of Orlando, and he is very interested in your game.  Could you come by my house this Saturday, and you can meet him and show him your game?”

David’s heart was beating so fast, he couldn’t hear himself think.  What if this was a setup?  Could this Barnes guy be some sort of perv?  He looked to his Mom, who just shrugged her shoulders.  Luckily, Mr. Hollander had overheard it and said, “It’s worth a shot.  Look, for safety’s sake, I’ll go with you, or if you prefer, your mother.”  His mother nodded that she would go.

“Take me too!” piped in Dona.

David thought hard.  “That’s ok, Mom.  I’ll go with Mr. Hollander.  Could Dona come too, sir?”

“Sure, David.  And please, you don’t have to call me Mr. Hollander.  Just call me Gariton.”

David didn’t want to fight it anymore.  “Okay…Gariton.”

Besides, it actually felt kind of right.

11

HAVE YOU SEEN ANYTHING OUT OF THE ORDINARY?  SOMETHING YOU CAN’T EXPLAIN?  WHO YOU GONNA CALL? CALL THE GHOST SQUAD TODAY!

He tore it down.  It was the last one he could find in town.  Why keep trying?  Everyone else had moved on to other things.

After the disaster that was the Ghost Swamp hunt, which was basically just he, Billy and Lester banging around the deeps of the swamp, trying to pull up the ghost of Kayak Kelly.  The only thing they achieved were some horrible bug bites, and a scary confrontation with a black bear.

Billy would not give up the ghost; at least as far as finding Kayak Kelly was concerned.  He just couldn’t bring himself to understand that he was dead and gone.  Billy so much wanted to talk to him again.  What he wanted to say to him, Cokie wasn’t sure.  But sometimes it was hard to let go.  Even when people were still alive, sometimes it was hard to let go.

It certainly was hard to accept that Tabby had left.  Well, she was still on the planet.  She hadn’t pierced that veil.  But she had grown harder and harder to contact.  She hadn’t broken up with him.  At least, not in so many words.  The rare times he had seen her, she seemed friendly, even vaguely affirmative about them seeing each other sometime.  She just was never definite about dates.  It was always some point in the future not yet designated.  He asked Franny what was going on, but all she would say was that it was not her place to tell him anything.

He wasn’t a stalker.  He was shy and reluctant to pursue Tabitha if she didn’t seem to make efforts to see him.

And so he was losing interest in ghost hunting.  It was hard when all he could think about was the girl who was now like a ghost.

12

It was hard for her to believe, but Teresa Smithson actually had a new friend.  And it was one that made her so strong, so confident, that she did what she should have done all along.  She left Jimmy.

Her friend let her move in with her.  They had movie nights and girl talk and all the bottled water she wanted.  Christie was drop dead gorgeous, but it didn’t make her worried or upset.  She loved making her up her hair, and sometimes just sitting quietly while they read books.

Sometimes late at night, Christie would cry, and Teresa would come in to comfort her.  The things Christie did, what she confessed to, put a strain on her and relations with her family.  But Christies was a strong girl, and she was confident that Christie would pull through, stronger than ever.

And Teresa?  Although she hadn’t really thought much about it, she realized she was getting stronger too.

And the scars were healing.

And there were no fresh ones to take their place.