Page 10 of Ghost

T he rest of the day went by quickly. After lunch, of course, they all lay around like roadkill for about an hour, they were so full.

Mason had finally finished pulling down the rest of the old plaster walls, revealing that most of the studs were intact.

There were a few that were going to have to be replaced, primarily on the outer walls.

He was glad that he’d saved those from downstairs.

That would cut some costs. His biggest concern was the floor, but so far it looked as if it was going to be salvageable.

Mason took a step back, standing in the doorway and looking at the small room. “This is... tiny,” he said to himself, or so he thought.

“Yep, that’s pretty damn small by today’s standards,” Mitch said behind him.

Mason looked over his shoulder. “Not sure what to do about it, though.”

Paul came up behind Mitch, peering over his shoulder. “Easy, extend it out.”

Mason walked over towards the back door that went through to the deck which was only about four feet out from the back of the house. “You mean use the deck?”

“Well, you can’t use that deck,” Paul replied, pushing Mitch out of the way, causing Mitch to frown at him indignantly. “There’s no way this deck would be up to code, but yeah, and it needs to be bigger I think.”

Mason stepped out. “No, this would all have to be replaced.”

“Oh yeah, for sure, but think about it.” Paul also stepped outside. “You could use this whole deck space for a kitchen and sitting area or eat-in kitchen type deal.”

“It’d make for a cool covered space downstairs, too,” Mitch added quickly as he joined them. “I can see a hot tub down there. Talk about a party place!”

Mason rolled his eyes. “Really? It’s so fucking hot out here, even this late in the day; you could fry an egg on the sidewalk, and you want a hot tub?”

“It’s not hot all the time,” Mitch said. “Besides, you can turn the heat off, ya know. Be kinda like a bubbly swimming pool.”

“It is a thought.” Mason turned to look back at the house. “Could maybe make it like a green house or solarium kinda thing.”

“That would be very cool, but expensive.” Paul looked up and then over the railing. “You could even do a smaller deck out here as well. It wouldn’t take up too much of your courtyard and there is no real yard back here to mess up. Might even put a grill out there.”

“I think it’s a great idea.” Mason looked around for a few seconds. “But it will be years before I can afford to do anything like that.”

“Keep it in mind, though,” Paul said seriously. “We’ll need to think ahead before doing any wiring in here.”

“Will do,” Mason said, still pondering the idea.

“Meanwhile,” Mitch was already going back inside. “I think it’s beer time!”

“Damn, Mitch,” Mason frowned. “Is all you think about is beer? It’s getting pretty old.”

“I need a shower in the worst way,” Paul said, holding his arms out to his sides. “I stink.”

“I think we could all use a shower. I feel as if I’ve lost five pounds in just water weight today,” Mason complained. “Let me just sweep up all this dust before we go. Where’s the broom?”

“Downstairs,” Paul answered.

“Fuck it.” Mason grabbed his dirty, sweaty shirt from the dining room floor. “I’ll get it tomorrow. There’s a cold beer with my name on it.”

* * * * *

T he next morning, it didn’t seem quite as hot as the day before, but it wasn’t cool by any means. Mason had grabbed a few old towels for them all to use to wipe the sweat away in hopes it would keep them a little cooler.

“Wish we had one of those big industrial fans,” Mitch said as he stepped through the front door, following Mason in.

“That would be great,” Mason agreed. “Sorry to inform you though, that isn’t in the budget, not to mention we don’t have any power as yet.”

“Slave driver,” Mitch grumped. “At least it’s cooler downstairs.”

“Not that we’re going to be down there for much longer,” Paul informed him. “We’ve got to get the outside boxes up to date and then start on the kitchen. Speaking of which, have you thought any more as to what you want to do about that, Mason?”

“Yeah, I thought a lot about it as I was trying to fall asleep last night.” Mason was about to walk into the small kitchen but stopped before crossing the threshold. “Holy shit!”

“What is it?” Mitch asked, sounding alarmed.

“Look,” Mason said, pointing to the center of the room.

In all the dust a word had been written. Francis .

“Uh, who the hell is Francis?” Mitch asked, looking over Mason’s shoulder. “Who could have gotten in here? I’m sure that we locked everything up.” He started to look around. “I’ll go check on the tools.”

Paul looked over Mason’s shoulder, then at Mason. “A friend of yours?”

Mason smiled. “Yeah, I think so.”

“A ghost?” Paul’s voice was a whisper.

“I’m thinking so.” Mason took a step into the room to take a closer look. The word was in an old-fashioned script. It was almost pretty to look at.

“Is it that woman you were talking about yesterday?” His voice a bit shaky this time.

“I don’t think so.” Mason looked back towards his friend. “There’s another one that’s been hanging around up here. A man. I have a feeling this is his name.”

“All the tools are there, right where we left ‘em,” Mitch reported. “That’s just... creepy.”

“Naw, it’s all good,” Mason said. “Let’s get this day started.”

“Yeah, we’re almost done with all the wiring. Then we can start running tests,” Paul said turning and pushing Mitch back towards the stairs.

“But what about... that name and all....” Mitch started to complain.

“I think Mason’s got that covered.” Paul physically turned Mitch by the shoulders making him face the stairs.

“What the hell, man,” Mitch said.

“We got work to do,” Paul chuckled.

“You guys are freaks,” Mason heard Mitch’s voice sounding almost shrill. He couldn’t help but laugh at his friends.

Looking around at the gutted room, Mason smiled. “So... your name’s Francis?” He slowly turned back towards the kitchen door, knowing he’d see his male ghost. Sure enough, he was standing there, smiling.

Mason could see yet more color, the sepia tones seeming to fade towards the outside of his image. “You look really good today,” he said, smiling back.

That appeared to make Francis smile even more.

“How come you can’t talk but that woman downstairs can?” Mason asked.

Francis’ face changed dramatically. First it was shock, then anger and then something that Mason couldn’t figure out. Francis was starting to fade.

“Please, don’t go,” Mason rushed to say before he was completely gone. “I want to know all about you.”

Francis didn’t fade anymore, but his face was without expression.

“I like it when you’re here.” Mason took a step towards Francis. “I just wish you could speak to me. You’re very handsome, by the way.”

That pleased Francis apparently since he became more solid looking. He even smiled a bit, then looked down towards the floor. Mason was sure that he would have been blushing had he been standing there in person. Alive and not... well, dead.

“Hey, I have an idea.” Mason started to walk towards Francis. “Excuse me,” he said, wanting to pass Francis.

Mason was startled when Francis tilted his head back, clearly laughing but with no sound coming from him. A moment passed but he did step aside.

“I’m not sure what’s so funny,” Mason said, frowning. “I just wanted to get past you.” He looked at Francis again and then it dawned on him. “Oh. I could have just... walked right through you?”

Francis nodded, smiling, and probably laughing. Mason just rolled his eyes.

“Anyway, I was wondering if you could use this?” He pulled a small writing pad and pencil down from the fireplace mantle in the dining room. He’d use it to make lists of things they needed or measurements for things. “If you can write in the dust, then maybe you could use this?”

Francis shrugged, and then slowly nodded. Then the handsome ghost pantomimed how it would tire him and take time.

“Ah, okay.” Mason shrugged as well. “Only if you can or want to.”

Francis smiled again, and then nodded towards the fireplace.

“You want me to put this back there?” Mason asked, holding up the pad and pencil.

Francis nodded.

“Sure.” Mason replaced the items back where they were. “You can leave me notes if you would like.”

Francis nodded, then looked towards the stairwell and then slowly faded away. There were only wisps of smoke, or fog, or whatever it was, remaining when Mason sighed.

“Guess I should get some work done.”

It was getting close to lunch time by the time Mason had finished everything in the kitchen area that he could do. He was about to get some water when he heard a ruckus coming from downstairs, Mitch yelling and then Paul.

Mason flew down the stairs. “What’s happened? What’s wrong?

Paul started laughing, pointing at Mitch. “He just got a mouthful of brick, but only after one fell on his foot and another nearly hit him in the head. I tried to warn him.”

Mitch was hopping around on one foot, one hand holding his ankle and the other wiping dust from his face.

Mason quickly approached Mitch. “You okay, buddy? Do you need to go to the hospital?”

Mitch glared at Mason. “No. I don’t need no damn hospital.” He then pointed to the brick wall that stuck out into the room. “That wall ain’t too solid. I should sue your ass, ‘cept you ain’t got nothing.”

Mason rolled his eyes, knowing that Mitch didn’t mean a word of it. “Just sit down and let me have a look at your foot. Paul, would you run upstairs and get a bottle of water and one of those towels?”

Paul chuckled again. “Yep. I’m on it.”

Mason looked towards the wall. He could see where Mitch had been trying to knock a hole into it to run some wiring for an outlet.

“I thought you could use a couple of outlets on that wall,” Mitch said, nodding his head to where a few bricks had come loose and fallen, causing the injury, not only to his foot, but his ego as well, it appeared.

“Thanks for that.” Mason helped his friend get his shoe off. “I’d thought of that but hadn’t said anything.”

“That wall is only one brick deep, so it’s not structural.”

Mason pulled Mitch’s sock off. He flexed the foot as he examined it.

“Ouch, that fucking hurts, ya know!” Mitch jerked his foot away from Mason.

“I’m just making sure it isn’t broken. Sorry for caring about my best bud.” Mason sat back on his heels, kneeling next to Mitch.

Mitch huffed a bit. “Okay, sorry. I don’t think it’s broken. Might be a little bruised, is all.”

“Okay, that’s a relief. Can’t afford another hospital bill right now.”

“Here’s the water and towel,” Paul said as he came down the stairs. He handed it to Mason.

“Thanks, Paul. I think the foot is okay.” Mason smiled at Mitch. “It’s probably going to be sore.”

Mitch rolled his eyes. “Ya think?”

Mason handed the water and towel to Mitch. “Here, clean up your face. You’re too pretty to have all that dust covering up your natural beauty.”

Paul howled with laughter, but Mitch smiled broadly. “Aw, I knew you loved me.”