Chapter 14 - Early spring of 2020

The weather was surprisingly pleasant for late February, enough so that Marco could stand out on the back deck comfortably, wearing but a light jacket for added warmth. Drafts of wind blew in from the mystic Lake Michigan, brushing coffee steam against Marco’s face. The sun crept up above silky streaks of cloud, her shine turning calm morning waves into displays of her glory. 

“Aren’t you cold?” Asked Lexi, who’d crept up behind Marco without him noticing. 

“Not really. It’s pretty nice out.”

Lexi’s sister, Esther Jane, chimed in to ask “Did you sleep alright?” She had curly blonde hair kept at shoulder’s length. Her mossy green trousers flowed with every step, and matched her eyes to a tee.  

“So-so. I always sleep weird during my first night anywhere.”

”I do too. Have you had any breakfast?” She asked. 

”Yeah I made myself toast just now.”

”Mom!” Yelled a young boy as he ran out the sliding glass door. 

Esther Jane turned her attention to the child, who couldn’t have been any older than six. “You need something, Eddie?”

”Yeah,” the child huffed. “Dad told me to tell you that Rory is fussing, and he needs you to deal with her.” Rory was Esther Jane’s other child, a very opinionated one-year-old. 

As if all the energy had exited her body, she sighed, “Ok. I’m sorry guys, I gotta go deal with my baby.”

”No problem,” assured Marco. “See ya.” The boy stared up at him with concern painted over his face. 

“Who are you?” He asked.

”This is uncle Marco,” Lexi introduced.

”Since when have you been here?” Eddie asked through his lisp, looking nearly offended by this newcomer. 

“You were probably asleep when I arrived last night.”

The boy wiped his nose over the sleeve of his his construction vehicle pajamas. ”My mom says that getting shots at the doctor is good for you. I don’t think that’s true at all, because they make my arm feel really sore. But she says that they keep diseases away, which-which I guess that’s good, but I still don’t like shots.”

Marco nodded his head in agreement. “Me neither.”

”Do you still have to get them even though you aren't a kid anymore?”

“Um, sometimes. Definitely not as much though.”

”Well you still should get boosters,” Lexi noted.

“Right, but it’s not like you’re getting them every time you go to the doctor the way that kids do.”

“That is true, I guess.”

“What’s your favorite color?” Eddie asked.

”Oh, gosh. I haven’t had to think about having a favorite color in a long time. I guess I like green, but all the colors are nice.”

”I like sky blue,” Lexi said, pointing to her headband which happened to be that shade today. “Which is your favorite, kiddo?”

”My favorite color is orange because it’s… that’s the color of construction cones. When I’m your age I will be a builder. What are you gonna be?”

Marco rubbed his eyes, and to Lexi he whispered, ”Jeez, is this kid really gonna make me think about the job market?” Back to the child, he said, “I don’t really know. I don’t have a job right now, but I’m trying to get one.”

Eddie didn’t seem to notice that Marco said anything at all. ”I will get breakfast now,” he stuttered as he stumbled away. 

“I’m so sorry,” Lexi giggled quietly.

”Psh, no. I like kids. Ya just never know what they’ll do next.”

”Seriously though. If somebody makes you uncomfortable, let me know, ok? I’ll give ‘em a talking to.”

“Your family has been great so far.”

”Yeah, yeah.” Lexi still seemed stressed. “Just-”

”I’m having a great time, and you should too.”

Lexi folded her arms and matched Marco’s leaning. 

“The lake is wonderful,” he said.

”That it is.” 

Their mugs came together in a bright clink. Water brushed over the sandy shore rhythmically. The sound of waves pulling back over small pebbles carried pleasantly through the air. Marco’s eyes drifted, until they were drawn to a disturbance in the natural pattern. Though his contact lenses didn’t fail him, Marco couldn’t figure out what he was looking at. It seemed to rise and fall independently from the rest of the lake’s current. The mass rose high up on shore, above where any waves could reach. It’s shape darted over grasses, and bobbled up the boardwalk. Marco’s ear began to ring as the shimmering silhouette shot before him, and for a split second, he could make out a face. Marco should have known better than to think that he had seen the last of Hudson. 

“You alright love?” Lexi asked.

”Hmm? Yeah, sorry. I was just zoning out.”

”Man, I’m freezing. Let’s go inside.”

”Good idea,” Marco said without looking back.

Juniper took a large bite from her ham and cheese sandwich. She stared at the puzzle table with (as the name of the game suggests,) a puzzled look. Older women whom she had been introduced to one time worked piece by piece without a word passed. After the border had been knocked out, taking only about fifteen minutes, everyone broke off and each lady began working on her own section. At this rate, the picture would be complete before 1:00. Juniper wasn’t sure how to insert herself into the assembly line, so she simply ate her sandwich and watched. Junie knew she would be far too slow for the group and would fall behind anyway. 

One lady stretched her arms above her head, and wiped her glasses clean with the fabric of her shirt. She smiled at Juniper and asked, “Is that sandwich good?”

She shrugged. ”It’s alright. It's a ham and cheese. Actually, I think it might be turkey. Same dif.”

”Did Gloria make it for you?”

”No. She offered, but I declined.” Gloria was who would be Junie’s grandmother, if her dad were to marry into the family. She was a rather eccentric lady, with a taste for saving money and a great big heart.

”You know you can join in if you’d like.”

”Oh, no thank you. I’m not huge into puzzles anyhow.”

”You’re Juniper, right?”

”Yep, that’s me. I apologize, but I don’t remember any of your names.”

”That’s fine. I’m Cathrine, Gloria’s sister. Here to my left is my daughter, Anja. And that’s my niece in law, Fiona.” Both ladies waved hello pleasantly. “I assure you that nobody here will be offended if you ask for their name, alright? Everyone just wants you to be comfortable.”   

“It’s very matriarchal up in here. I like it.” Junie shifted in her seat to a more comfortable position. Everyone was being so gracious, and yet she still felt strangely outcasted. She wasn’t in on any inside jokes, or aware of all the dinner etiquette. Juniper didn’t understand how her father could blend right in to the group, yet she herself still stuck out like circus performers at a funeral, left feeling zany and clownish. She supposed that this feeling would wear off, since this would one day be her family. For now, she kept to herself and ate her lunch in accompanied loneliness.

In the dark of evening, there was solitude for the tired mother of two. Esther Jane sat underneath the sheltering branches of some stubby pines along the beach and cast her eyes over the water. She heard footsteps crunch over cold sand. Without any care left to react, she listened to the situation play out. The person soon revealed himself to be good Mr. Marco. He seemed to be having a phone conversation of some kind�"a heated one, at that. 

“I don’t know how to make it more clear to you that I need to live my own life,” he said. Now Esther Jane was intrigued. She made her breaths quiet in order to listen hard. 

Marco paused for the other person to say something, then he continued speaking as he sauntered down the beach. “I’m trying to be diplomatic with you. Scratch that, I’ve been trying to be diplomatic with you. Clearly you don’t listen to any of that.” “I want to believe that, but your actions say otherwise.” “I’m having a good time with her family and-“ A long pause took place. “even if it’s just for now, kapish? Do whatever when we’re back in Wisconsin, just let me have this,” he pleaded. 

As he argued, Marco wandered into Esther Jane’s line of view. His posture was closed and threatened, with arms crossed over his chest. Both arms. He wasn’t having a phone call. Suddenly, he flinched back. He took cautious steps away from where he was previously standing.

”Go on, scram!” he hollered. “I dunno who you think you are. You can’t make me do s**t!” “I don’t care,” he said as if interrupting somebody. As Esther Jane observed, a cough began to stir in her throat.

”Get away from me!” 

Esther Jane squinted in discomfort as her throat itched and simmered.

Marco stormed back in the direction of the house. 

Esther Jane coughed. 

Like a deer in the headlights, Marco stared in her direction, but seemed unable to pick out where she was hiding. 

“I’m sorry,” Esther Jane said as she crouched out from under the branches. “I didn’t mean to listen in.”

Marco glanced around him frantically. His eyes looked like he might cry, or run, or combust on the spot. 

“Stop,” Esther Jane said firmly, before he started doing any of those things. She approached him slowly and steadily. Marco seemed like he couldn’t move. “I’m not angry,”

“I don’t know what seemed to be happening,”

”I’m only worried.”

”I swear to you, it isn’t as it looked.”

”Okay,” Esther Jane said like she was speaking to a child. “If you want to tell me what was going on from your point of view, I will only listen.”

”I appreciate it, but that would only make it worse.”

“How so?”

Marco lowered his voice to a whisper. “He really can’t stand when I talk about him to the living. He’ll do all kinds of things when I do.”

”Who is “he”?”

”His name is Hudson. He’s a ghost I met a couple years ago.”

Esther Jane nodded as she took mental notes. ”He does bad things to you?”

”Oh yeah. All the time. Well, usually he’s just verbally terrible, but now and again he gets upset and promises to hurt my loved ones. I guess he realized that hurting me doesn’t do anything.”

”How long has…”

”Hudson.”

“How long has Hudson been around, exactly?”

”About two and a half years now.”

”So this hasn’t been a lifelong issue,” Esther Jane confirmed. “What does he look like?”

”Kind of skinny, greasy black hair, always dressed in something baggy.”

”His appearance is static. Okay…”

”What are you doing?”

”I want to make a note of your symptoms.”

Marco’s brow was troubled. ”Why? He’s just a ghost, that’s all Hudson is.”

”I believe you, but I think that more than one thing can be true at once.”

“What are you saying? What does that mean?” Marco questioned sharply. “I am not the issue.”

”No, but-”

”Goodnight, Esther Jane,” Marco said as he stormed away.