Demonspawn (7 page)

I didn't want to look at her too long and
make her feel self-conscious, but I could tell Cindy was crying.
She wiped at her eyes with her hand as I sat next to her. I knew
Cindy better than anyone, and I knew more than anything she
probably wanted to be left alone. But I wanted to make sure she was
okay first.

I sat next to her without talking for a
minute. She wouldn't look at me. I made sure to keep my
distance.

“Daryl and I broke up.”

I wanted to make a joke just to hear her
laugh. But that would have to come later. Now was serious time.

“Probably a good move.”

“What kind of an idiot am I?”

I looked at her. “What?”

“He told me he's
in love
with her.”
She rolled her eyes. “That he was tired of waiting for me. That he
had
needs
. He
needs
to get his ass kicked. I'm a
smart person, aren't I?”

The one thing about Cindy I haven't really
touched on yet. She's
very
intelligent. When she wasn't
running track or hanging out with me, she was studying. Hell,
sometimes she'd study over my house. She wanted to be an
accountant, and work in her father's accounting firm.

“You're the smartest person I know,
Cindy.”

“Then how the hell didn't I see this coming?
I thought we...would be together for a while.”

“Bottom line, Cindy, Daryl is an asshole and
you can do a lot better. Hey, at least Tiffany will have a nice
black eye tomorrow.”

“Yeah. This is definitely a Homecoming I'll
never forget.”

Cindy laughed for a moment, but that laughter
turned to crying. I felt my heart breaking along with hers. I
scooted closer and wrapped an arm around her. She leaned her head
onto my shoulder and cried for I don't know how long. I'd seen her
cry before. But this was definitely a bad one.

“You want some alone time?”

Her answer surprised me. “No. Hang out with
me for a while.”

After a few minutes she calmed down. I took
that as my cue to get my arm off her and scoot away. She leaned
back and looked up at the moon. It was a beautiful night.

“I guess I'll live, right?”

She tried to smile. I just nodded.

“You'll be fine.”

“That's cause I got friends like you.”

My turn to smile.

“How the hell did you know what was going on
up there anyway?”

I frowned and looked away. I thought back to
ten minutes ago up in the classroom. Still so surreal. Standing in
the middle of a school classroom and talking to two ghosts.

For a brief moment, I thought about lying to
Cindy. I never lied to her before, but the truth sounded so
strange, even to me. I wasn't even sure I could say the words.

“A, uh,
ghost
, told me. Can you
believe that?”

She was quiet. I looked at her to read her
face. She was studying me, trying to figure out if I was
joking.

“At Tammy's house, I helped a ghost. I don't
have a clue how, but there was a ghost trapped in Tammy's house.
And she showed up at the damn dance tonight to tell me what was
going on, as a favor.”

I regretted opening my mouth. Cindy stared at
me for a few seconds, and those few seconds ate at me. Would she
laugh? Would she walk away? Would she simply not believe me?

“Is that why you freaked out for a few
days?”

I nodded. “Ghosts are real, Cindy. So are
demons. And I can see them both. It kind of freaked me out.”

She put a hand on my shoulder. Her face
didn't show any humor or disbelief, only concern.

“You could have told me,” she said. “I
believe you. You know that, right?”

I smiled and nodded, but that was an
understatement. I was so relieved. Even when she didn't try or was
upset herself, Cindy found a way to lift me up.

“Are
you
gonna be okay?”

She managed to smile. “Hey, Daryl's mistake.
Not mine. Besides, my best friend sees ghosts. How cool is
that?”

“Let's find Alicia and Tom and go do
something.”

“Sounds good.”

It was definitely a night I'd never forget.
Alicia and Tom did become a couple for a few months. It was a while
before Cindy was completely over Daryl. I'm not sure if she missed
him directly, or the fact that she was cheated on.

We eventually let Alicia in on my wonderful
little secret. Her only response was “Cool”. I never did tell Mom.
I'm not really sure why. I didn't see her much, and I guess I just
didn't want our few conversations to be about ghosts.

Actually the next few years of my life were
what you would call “normal”. I didn't wake up in the middle of the
night to see ghosts all over my room. I wasn't like that little kid
in that movie who saw dead people, seeing ghosts everywhere he
looked. In fact, I started to believe my experience with Susan and
Richard was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. Maybe I couldn't
see ghosts or demons or whatever. Maybe I'd never see another ghost
again.

If only.

It was a week away from my twenty-third
birthday when my life changed forever. I had an okay job that paid
the bills working at a warehouse shipping dock. Not the best job in
the world, but better than nothing. Cindy was graduating college
with a degree in accounting. I was so proud of her. She was full of
motivation and intelligence, two qualities I lack. Alicia was a
senior now in our old high school. It's amazing what happens
between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Alicia grew up fast. She
definitely didn't need me to watch out for her anymore, even though
I still did.

It was a Saturday. I went through my morning
routine of waking up and stumbling into the shower. While I was in
the bathroom I heard the front door to my apartment open and
close.

“Is that you, baby?”

A soft, familiar voice responded. “Yeah.”

Julie, my girlfriend. We'd been dating for
almost a year. I have absolutely nothing bad to say about the
woman. We met one night while I was out running around town with
Alicia, Cindy, and a group of our friends. We traded numbers and
hit it off pretty well.

After a shower I walked into the living room.
She had her roller-blades in the corner. Every Saturday morning she
roller-bladed on the nearby bike trail and came over my place.

She looked great. She was showing off her tan
legs with a pair of white shorts and a tank top that hugged every
curve.

“Hey,” I said. I looked her up and down. “You
can grab a shower if you want. I'll dig us up some breakfast.”

“Okay.”

“We still heading over your parents tonight
for dinner?”

“I guess so.”

Three short answers in a row, and no eye
contact. Something was wrong.

“Julie? You alright?”

She finally looked at me. Sadness filled her
eyes.

“We have to talk.”

I don't think a good conversation has ever
happened that started out with those words. I wasn't wrong this
time either. Basically, in her words, “We're not working out.”

I don't remember everything she said. She
gave me a bunch of reasons about why she was breaking up with me.
She apparently felt it coming on for the past few months. Weird,
because we just had sex in the middle of the week. How did that
work? Was she thinking “I wonder if we should break up” while we
were naked in bed?

I said some things back. I can't remember,
but nothing nasty. Then she cried a little, and left. She said
she'd be back in a week or so to get her things.

I sat on the couch and didn't move. Shock, I
guess. It took a year to build up our relationship. To get to know
each other and become a part of each other's life. It took about
twenty minutes to end all of that.

We were supposed to have dinner with her
parents. Now I didn't know what I'd do. I didn't know what I'd do
the next day either. Or the day after that.

I was desperate to do anything to keep my
mind busy. I started cleaning my apartment. It was overdue anyway.
I had a simple one bedroom apartment on the top floor of a three
story building. The kitchen was bare, but it worked just fine.
There was a dining room, but as a male bachelor, had no need for a
dining room table. I kept my weights there instead. In the bedroom
I had a full-sized bed with a small dresser. The living room, of
course, had the entertainment center with a computer in the
corner.

Normally Alicia or Cindy would stop by on
Saturday to see how I was doing, grab lunch, whatever. They didn't
that day, and I was actually glad. I knew Alicia spent the night
over one of her friend's house, and was probably still hanging out
with her. Cindy was spending the day helping her parents with some
yard work. I thought that was funny considering she lived right
next to me.

Cindy snatched up the empty apartment next to
me about a year after I moved out. I don't know how the hell she
did it, having to work a job, and go to school full time. I know
her parents helped her out with money sometimes, but I know I
couldn't handle it. I loved having her next to me. Our friendship
hadn't died any at all since high school. We still saw each other
almost every day. Living next to each other definitely helped with
that.

She called around six o'clock. I'd just got
done watching a DVD. She was surprised when I answered the
phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey. I thought you were having dinner with
Julie's folks?”

I closed my eyes tight. I hadn't been upset
since that morning, but hearing her name made the heart jump.

“Nah,” I said simply. “Why the hell you call
then?”

“To leave a message on your machine, dumbass.
You guys want to come out tonight? Dave and Tina are heading out to
Lumbermill's in the city. It's eighteen and over, so Alicia's
coming too. You guys in?”

I thought about it for a moment. I didn't
really want to drive to the city to go to a club. Staring at
attractive women certainly isn't a bad way to pass the time, but
I'm not really a club guy. I don't drink or dance. So basically I
give up fifteen bucks to go stand and hang out with my friends.

But if I didn't go, I'd dwell on Julie all
night long.

“Yeah, sure.”

“Cool. We're gonna head out around nine.”

“Gotcha.”

She hung up.

It didn't take long to get ready and look
halfway decent. Just a pair of jeans and a short-sleeved shirt to
try to show off the arms. I was watching TV when I heard someone
knocking at Cindy's door just outside my apartment. Then there was
a familiar voice.

“Yo Cindy! You in there?”

It was Dave, one of Cindy's friends that
she'd met in college. No doubt his girlfriend Tina was with him.
About ten minutes later I heard someone else knocking at her door.
Looked like the night was getting started.

I locked the front door behind me and walked
into Cindy's apartment. We never knocked on each other's doors. We
just had a rule that went unspoken. If the door was locked, it
meant naked people were usually inside.

Dave and Tina were sitting on the couch.
Jenny, another of Cindy's friends, was in the kitchen getting a
drink. She was the only other black friend that Cindy had. Cindy
was nowhere to be seen, probably in the bedroom still getting
dressed.

“Hey Alex!” Dave said. “What's up, man?”

Dave and Tina were alright. Always happy and
smiling.

“Hey, how's it going? You two getting drunk
tonight?”

“I'm gonna try my best, if Tina lets me.”

She elbowed him in the side and laughed.

Jenny waved from the kitchen.

“Alex. Long time no see.”

“Hey, Jenny. How's it going?”

“Are we all here?”

“Everyone except Alicia.”

Almost like she sensed her name, Alicia gave
a quick knock on the door, then stepped inside.

“Hey, everybody.”

Cindy's voice came from the bedroom.

“Leese? Is that you?”

“Yeah.”

“Come in here and tell me if I look
good.”

I laughed. Definitely funny cause Cindy
always looked good.

We did some small talk for a few minutes
until Cindy and Alicia came out of the bedroom. Cindy wore blue
jeans and a half-shirt. She'd have no trouble getting the attention
of the guys at the club. I always noticed a pattern in the way she
dressed. If she showed off her upper body, she wore jeans. If she
showed off those legs of hers, then she covered up top. It was
always a half and half thing with her.

“Everybody ready?” Cindy asked, then looked
right at me. “Hey Alex, where's your woman? Did she finally get
smart and dump your ass?”

Despite Cindy throwing a dart and hitting a
bulls-eye, I didn't flinch or anything. I just threw on a poker
face.

“Eh, she couldn't make it tonight.”

Dave pointed at me from the couch. “Listen,
if you two ever do break up, let me know. I'd drop Tina for her in
a second.”

“Like hell you would, asshole,” Tina said.
“You've never had such good sex.”

“Whoa. Too much info,” Jenny called from the
kitchen.

I could have won an acting award. No one
suspected anything.

Except, of course, for Cindy and Alicia. I
caught the two of them trading looks, then Cindy stared right at me
while Dave and Tina were elbowing each other. I could see the
sadness in her eyes. I gave a small smile and shrugged.

“Okay, we ready to go? Who's driving? The
Teague family again?”

Alicia and I drove the few times we headed
out. Alicia wasn't old enough to drink, and I simply didn't
drink.

“That sounds fine to me.”

“Cool. Me and Tina will go with Leese so we
can make out in the back seat and gross her out like last
time.”

Everyone started filing out of the apartment.
Then Cindy spoke up.

“Oh, Jen, we'll be out in a second. I need
Alex's help with something.”