Page 4 of Ghost

M itch sighed and rolled his eyes. “Listen, Mason, you can’t be up on a ladder with your head doing a disco ball impersonation and I can’t do it by myself.

Paul is willing to help out for free as long as he gets the same deal as me.

Free beer and food.” Mitch put a small plank over the hole where the broken step had been.

“Besides, he’s really happy to get away from his ol’ lady and them four kids for a week. ”

“Four kids!” Mason leaned against the wall, the world tipping just a bit. “I didn’t think he was that old.”

“He isn’t.” Mitch tapped in a few screws to hold the board in place. “He’s only like thirty-two or something. Not much older than we are.”

“Maybe you should have a talk with him and explain how all that works. You know, the birds and the bees talk? Or at least buy the poor guy a box of condoms.” Mason snickered at the thought of Mitch talking about some other guy’s dick.

“Yeah, yeah... laugh it up. Anyway, he’s gonna be here anytime now. You might want to tell him to pull his truck around the corner. They allow parking for workers during the week I found out.”

“I wish I could pay him something for his work,” Mason said. “It isn’t fair that he work for nothing.”

“He’s not. Remember, beer and food.” Mitch laughed. “He can drink me under the table, and you know how big he is.”

“Maybe I should just give him money then. I might come out on the better end of that stick.”

Mitch pushed the extension ladder into place on the same step caused Mason’s fall, now covered with a plank. “You just might,” he chuckled. “Hold the ladder for me. We don’t need to have both of our heads bashed in.”

It didn’t take but a few minutes for Mitch to take out the old fixture and free up the old wires so that they could be pulled out.

While Mitch was up on the ladder, Mason noticed that a huge chip of paint had fallen off the wall, probably where the leg of the ladder hit when he’d crashed it.

Looking a bit closer he could see that there were many layers of paint, but in the center of the gouge there was some colored print.

He leaned in and instantly knew it was wallpaper.

“I think I hear a truck outside,” Mitch said as he stepped off the ladder and bent over to see out the front door. “I think I see Paul.”

Mason had also squatted down so he could also see out the front door. “Yep, that’s him.”

“Paul, pull your truck around the corner,” Mitch yelled out.

Paul Meadows, whom they’d both worked with before on other projects gave them a thumbs up and turned back towards his beat-up old Ford truck.

Mason snickered. “I guess you’ll be the one up in that crawl space. There’s no way Paul will ever be able to fit up there.”

Mitch looked at Mason and scowled. “You fell off that ladder on purpose, didn’t you? You just didn’t want to have to get up in that crawl space and get all hot and dirty. I know you did.”

“Yep, guilty as charged.” Mason shook his head. “Getting my head bounced down a bunch of steps was sooo much easier.”

“Hey, you guys,” Paul said as he entered the house.

“Damn, this is some place you got here, Mason. Good to see you. Oh, and thanks for giving me a call. Glad I could help, but damn, them kids are driving me nuts with them not in school.” Paul put his hand out to shake. “Nice to have a little bit of a break.”

“Thanks for helping out, Paul,” Mason said after shaking the big man’s hand. “I’m really sorry I can’t pay you for your time.”

“Don’t worry about that, Mason. Like I said, I’m glad to have a working vacation,” he said laughing. “And I know if I were needing some expert carpentry work, you’d help me out.”

“Right, well it’s about quitting time,” Mason said as he reached into his back pocket for his wallet. “Why don’t you and Mitch run down and get some beer and food?” He handed Mitch a wad of cash. “I’ll lock up here and meet you back at the apartment.”

“Sounds like a plan to me,” Mitch said. “Anything in particular you’d like to eat? How’s the stomach?”

“I think I can eat just about anything.” Mason rubbed his stomach. “I’ve not felt sick much at all today.” He rotated his shoulder and wrist. It was sore but not too bad. Must have a slight sprain when he fell on top of dislocating his shoulder, which hurt like a son of a bitch.

“Yeah, sorry to hear about your fall,” Paul said.

“But I’m lucky to be able to come down. The last big job I was on ended and the next one isn’t scheduled until week after next and like I said, two-plus weeks with the kids at home was more than I could handle.

Love my kids but they were driving me nuts! ”

“Come on, Daddy,” Mitch said, pulling on Paul’s shirt. “Let’s go get that beer and something to eat. I’m starved and ready for some suds.”

Paul scowled at Mitch. “ You do not get to call me that. I hear enough of that at home.”

Mason laughed as the two electricians walked out the front door and down to the sidewalk, then he turned and began picking up the few tools they’d used and put the ladders away.

As he walked down the hallway towards the back of the house to make sure that the back door and windows were locked, he thought he saw movement out of the corner of his eye in what had once been the dining room.

He turned and saw nothing. Shrugging his shoulders, he went about locking up the house for the night.

* * * * *

W orking out the sleeping arrangements took a bit of being forceful on Mason’s part. He insisted that Paul and Mitch take the king-sized bed while he slept on the sofa. He was used to it, and since he was the smallest of the three men, it made perfect sense to him.

They’d eaten fried chicken and shrimp for dinner. While Mitch and Paul drank half a case of beer, Mason thought it best if he abstain and just have Coke. While his stomach seemed okay, he was still feeling a bit dizzy now and again.

It was funny watching the two of them and listening to all the jobs they’d done, adding in some of his own stories of the renovation and handyman work that he’d done while living in Atlanta.

It amazed them all what some homeowners asked for, and they laughed till they cried over some of the stuff they’d done.

The next morning, they all worked hard and made great progress. While Mason kept both feet firmly planted on the ground, working on all the electrical outlets and light switches, Paul and Mitch finished removing all the old light fixtures and the outdated wiring from the attic and second floor.

They broke for lunch and had sandwiches from Kroger’s grocery store’s deli section, sitting on the front steps of the house enjoying the summer day.

There was a breeze blowing that brought the smell of the ocean and a scent of jasmine.

I’m going to enjoy having those smells around me.

So much better than in Atlanta where all you could smell was car exhaust.

Mason looked down the street. The old oak trees with Spanish moss dangling from the limbs, fluttering in the slight ocean breeze, made him smile.

The street was littered with red crepe myrtle petals.

Mason imagined that Mother Nature had just blown him a kiss.

He closed his eyes and tilted his head back, enjoying the feeling of the sun on his face and the smell.

“We gotta hit the beach,” Mitch said with his mouth full. “Need to get some rays.”

Paul nodded his head. “Yeah, man. Gotta do that.”

“How about if we get all the old wiring pulled out today, we take tomorrow off and go over to Tybee Island?” Mason suggested before downing the rest of his Coke. “I could do with some sun myself. I think if I have another day of not doing much, I’ll be over having dizzy spells.”

“You won’t go wearing no Speedo, will ya?” Mitch asked, his eyes squinted. “I don’t know if I could handle seeing all your stuff.”

Mason threw his head back and laughed. “No, I’ll spare y’all that,” he said. “Just cutoffs for me.”

“Good.” Mitch stuffed the rest of his sandwich into his mouth.

“I’ll second that,” Paul said, nodding.

“Well, if we’re going to take tomorrow off, I suggest we get a move on.”

The rest of the day was busy. They had a goal and they all moved towards it.

Mason continued to remove all the old electrical stuff, leaving the kitchen till last, since they were going to remove the entire thing back to the studs.

He made his way down to the lowest level, the only part of the house that didn’t seem to have too much renovation needed.

Mason sat on the floor to take out the plugs when he saw a flash of movement to his right. He turned his head too fast and felt the room keep turning, but he saw...something. It was like an old, sepia tone photograph, but moving, although only for a split second.

“I’m losing my mind,” he mumbled to himself.

He worked his way down the exterior wall that faced the street and then turned the corner and continued working on the exterior wall on the side of the house. Mason finished up the main room and then moved on to the next one, which had been converted into a tiny bedroom.

“I’ll be knocking this wall out,” he said to himself, seeing that it was cheaply and poorly done. He noticed that there were no outlets or any wiring to remove from that part of the exterior wall, which seemed odd to him. He shrugged and thought nothing else of it.

By the time that he’d finished all the outlets and light switches it was almost the end of the day. He heard Paul and Mitch coming down the stairs.

“Hey, everything upstairs is done,” Mitch said as he and Paul stood in the first room. “How many overheads are down here?”

“Only six,” Mason answered. “I’ve got all the other stuff done. That’s the last of it.”

“Cool,” Paul said. “It won’t be nothin’ to just pull the wires as long as there are no problems.”

“Yeah, but some of that old knob-and-tube stuff will be a problem,” Mitch sighed.

“Naw, we’ll leave all that and just make sure it’s all disconnected. As far as I can tell, it was only in the attic, anyway,” Mason said.

“That will make my life easier,” Mitch said. “I didn’t relish having to spend a lot of time in that attic in the middle of summer.”

“Yeah, I wasn’t either,” Mason quickly agreed. “As long as none of it is connected, I don’t see why we can’t just leave it alone. Cut out what we need to and call it done.”

“What about down here?” Paul asked. “See any issues?”

Mason looked around the downstairs. “Um... I don’t think so.

” He pointed to the wall that he knew he wanted to take out.

“I’m going to demo out these two walls there and prob’ly another one towards the back.

It’s obvious they were added later, and not done well.

It will also open up this whole space. It will then just be one big room. ”

Mitch looked around. “You know, if we concentrate on this downstairs area, we can make it into an apartment like what you’re in now, only much bigger.

It has the same footprint as the rest of the house.

That way you can move in once the city approves the electrical and not have to pay rent over there.

Hey, maybe even use it as a rental to bring in some money when you got more of the upstairs done! ”

“That’s a great idea,” Mason said. “That would save me a lot of money and I could work at my own pace on the rest of the place.”

“I think it is really doable,” Paul agreed. “If we really bust our asses, we might even be able to get all the wiring done by the end of week, if we work long and into the weekend.”

Mitch groaned. “Man, what are you trying to do to me? I was hoping to get laid at least once while I was here.”

“I was just saying,” Paul laughed.

“Hey, I’m not getting laid either,” Mason interjected.

“Fine. Fine. I hope you know how much I’m sacrificing here, Mason,” Mitch huffed.

“Hey, we’re still going to the beach tomorrow and there is this really cool seafood place I want to take you guys to. Best I’ve ever had and it’s cheap, too!” Mason beamed at the other two sweaty men.

“Okay, then let’s get this finished up so we can have that day off. I’m ready for some good seafood!” Paul hitched up his pants. “I’ll get the ladders.”