by Aki_kaze
Before Keith went to bed, Sam came to him with the list like he’d told. Keith put the mark on the third entry of the list then took a photo of the almond milk smoothie and the brownie.
Since he learnt about Sam’s past, he’d started to take the meds again. The boy didn’t want to mix the spirit’s past with his. He dreaded his own mind. As a result of taking the pills, two days went by without a nightmare.
“Stuffed.” Keith rubbed his tummy, eying the empty glass and the empty plate on the table. He took a photo as proof.
“Playing arcade games. They still exist these days?” He leaned back on the chair, but the seat’s design didn’t include that purpose. His hands flew to hold onto the table edge tight. He was safe.
After he had enough rest, he began his quest for the arcade games, starting from the first floor of the building. It was true he already came here once, but it was impossible he took in every detail. When the first floor searching went in vain, he took the escalator to the second floor.
“Is there really any here?” He got discouraged as his search attempt was to no avail. He wondered if the spirit had fooled him. “Oh!”
Keith stopped when he saw a group of teenagers emerging from a narrow passage he didn’t notice at first it was there. The passage led him to an average arcade zone, which housed more than ten arcade cabinets. Many arcade games were available, fighting, shooting, or sports.
He stood there for a moment, reminiscing his past moment when he used to play the arcades with his friends. The play zone was near the house. That place was smaller but gave him the same feeling.
He took a look around and decided on the zombie shooting one. He fished out a coin, a smile bloomed on his face when he got one. After inserting the coin, he picked up the gun. The game was two-player playable. He thought it was shame Sam couldn’t get to play it with him.
His first thought was that he would go for just a round, but he got hooked up. In the end, he got his name on the highest score player list; he ranked third. He promptly took a snap of it.
“Hey. Can I join?” a boy of his age greeted.
“Sorry, I’m leaving.”
“It’s two-player playable,” he said, inserting a coin. Keith then had to follow suit.
The two picked up the gun, getting ready. The other lad was no less good at it. With their skill combined, they could clear each stage much easier. They were defeated by the boss though.
“We almost had it.” The other boy gave his gun a smack. “You’re also very good at it.”
“You too,” Keith replied, “I have to get going. Bye.”
He left the arcade zone. His eyes trained on the last of his list. He didn’t know how he could do it.
Smile to a stranger.
“Smile to a stranger. Seriously?”
He was positive this must be Sam’s joke. Apart from the spirit, he hardly gave anyone a smile, not even his family members. There was no reason for him to do it.
He gazed up into the afternoon sky. Many people walked past him. The thought of doing it made him cringe inside.
“Four should have been enough.” He drooped his head. He put on the earpieces and played the music as he walked to the bus stop.
He usually walked with his eyes fixed on the ground. But there was a moment he looked up and found a blonde boy coming his way. He didn’t know why, but he kept looking at the other’s face and thought the other would smile at him. As he was in his thought, the blonde’s eyes shifted, and their eyes met. He smiled at Keith, and Keith naturally smiled back. When he came to think of it, not any of that made sense. It was just two people walking past each other.
“Do you find it strange?” Keith asked after he told Sam the smiley incident.
“Hmmm…” Sam didn’t comment on it.
“It was totally weird. I thought he was going to smile. And he did. Weird. And funny too.”
“Aha.”
“You don’t believe me?” Keith crossed his arms. “I really smiled to a stranger. But to ask him for a photo was a bit creepy. Don’t you think so?”
“I believe you,” he said before bringing up another subject, “anyway, your hair…”
“Slicked back hair makes you looked more like an adult.”
The spirit raised his eyebrows.
“What? You don’t like it?”
“Of course, I do.”
Keith went stiffened, his heart skipping a beat.
“Much easier for me to flick your forehead.” He didn’t just say it but really carried out that action. It didn’t hurt; the boy felt but a passing chill. He still raised a hand to rub it though.
“You’re being childish.” Keith grumbled while the spirit laughed heartily.
It was also weird how a face which always shone bright with a smile could completely conceal such an agonizing past.
“Go eat your dinner already. I think Diane’s making steak today.”
“That Brazilian food has stuffed me fine.” He eyed Sam who was about to leave, “you’re not staying?”
“You need me to stay with you all the time?”
They stared at each other before Keith waved him off. He flopped down on the bed, but, when his eyes fell on the ceiling, he quickly averted them.
That night, Keith took the meds before going to sleep. He hoped it would be another peaceful night.
Chapter Twenty Eight
Pink Carnation
Saturday morning, after Keith had finished his breakfast, he went to the house front to water the plant. Sam stood by the open door, watching him. They had learnt that as soon as Sam took a step out of the house, he would vanish into thin air and reappear in the bedroom a few minutes later. Keith couldn’t fathom what confined Sam in the house, but he could comprehend the reason the spirit would reemerge in the bedroom. It was where he died.
“Look where you go, dude!” Sam’s shout drew his attention back to the front door.
John was leaving the house, carrying his new sport backpack Hector bought for him. The boy spent his summer break practicing basketball. He applied for the school basketball club and aimed to be a regular in the future. Keith was impressed by his determination. He wondered what kind of sport he himself liked.
John turned back to the door and rubbed his arms, his eyebrows knitting.
“Do you see something around here?” he asked.
“What do you mean?” Keith asked back.
His cousin threw a look at the door one more time before leaving, shaking his head. Keith assumed the other just walked through Sam and suddenly felt chilled.
“You okay, Keith?” Hector called from the veranda, his hand holding the second cup of coffee of the day.
Sam wasn’t at the door anymore. Perhaps he was annoyed people kept walking past through him.
“Yes,” he replied then returned to watering the plant.
His mother liked gardening. So, he thought perhaps he might find himself enjoy it as well. But when he gave it a try, he didn’t feel eager or find it that interesting. If anything, he felt tired. It was scorching and he sweated like mad. Not to mention that most plants shed leaves, which meant it required constant clean-up. It sounded a rather tedious task if you weren’t a plant lover.
Hector eyed him for a while then walked back into the house, leaving the door open. Sam turned up again.
“Don’t forget the plant over there!” the spirit shouted at Keith. It was obvious from his voice he was having fun bossing around. “Well done. Now move to over there.”
Keith terribly wanted to turn the hose in his hand towards the spirit. But he could not, or else the door front clean-up would become another task. A person shooting water at the door without reason might also be a weird picture to see. The same reason restrained him from yelling back.
“Easy, Derringer,” he mumbled to himself.
“Hey, young man! Over there too.”
Keith threw him a glare. He soon finished the job while Sam simply stood pulling an innocuous smile.
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br /> The boy went back inside the house. He picked up the vacuum cleaner and walked up to his room.
“Keith’s going to clean his room, Diane! Keith’s going to clean his room.” Sam made a racket, feigning shock of the boy’s current action. Keith wouldn’t have it anymore. He knocked the spirit’s head with the vacuum head. It hit nothing, naturally, but seeing a frown on the spirit’s face was satisfying enough.
“Not nice at all,” the spirit grumbled.
Keith put down the device. His eyes darted around the room as he decided where to start.
“If you’re going to clean your room, you should wash the pillowcase and the sheet as well.” Sam suggested next to him. “After you’re done with the floor, you need to clean your desk and the window. And the bathroom needs cleaning too.”
“What about you? Had you ever done that?” Keith shot back, his voice a bit annoying.
“Me? Never. Dad hired a housemaid.”
The boy squinted his eyes at him before letting out a sigh.
The young spirit got another chance to supervise Keith. He checked every piece of furniture, in and out, to make sure that no dust was left. When Keith vacuumed the floor, he would stand nearby giving support.
“Move. I can’t go there.” He gestured Sam away. The spirit complied and drifted over to the bed.
“By the way, what spurs you to do this?” Sam’s voice could not reach Keith as the vacuum cleaner noise was deafening. Sam tried to lock eyes with the other, but the boy kept looking downward.
When he finished cleaning his room, he was satisfied with the result. It was as if he got a new bedroom. He stretched himself, bone cracking. Diane who walked by the room gave him a compliment.
“Wow! You did it all yourself? Impressive.”
“Ummm. Yes.” He replied sheepishly, hand rubbing his neck.
“What do you want for dinner? I’ll make it for you.” Her voice sounded happy.
Keith spent quite a time to search for the answer.
“I want buffalo wings.”
“Oh?” Diane was surprised by a rather typical choice of her nephew. “Well, I’m going to the city today. Do you want anything else?”
“That’s all. Thank you,” Keith replied. But before he closed the door, he called Diane again.
She walked back to him.
“I also want a flower. Pink carnations. To decorate the room.”
She eyed him, curious, but gave him a nod. She placed a hand on his shoulder before leaving.
Keith closed the door and walked to the desk. He was determined he was going to do all his homework.
“What a diligent boy.” Sam’s tease came up as soon as he opened the notebook.
“I want to finish everything,” Keith said, not looking up from his homework.
“Can I ask for songs? Do you find music distracting?”
He pulled out his phone and played the list. He placed it down a bit away from himself, turning the speaker outward.
“Thanks.” The spirit walked away from the desk but was still in the room.
Keith stole a glance at him and saw that the spirit was by the window. Perhaps that was what trapped Sam in the house: he was still waiting for that boy to pass by. The thought of Sam waiting for someone else made his heart clench. He tried to concentrate on the work before him, dismissing other thoughts.
In the evening, Diane came to his room with a bunch of pink carnations. She gave it to him with the vase which Keith remembered it was from the warehouse.
“Dinner will be ready in half an hour. Be there soon.”
“Thank you very much.”
His two hands were both occupied with the floral bunch and the newly obtained vase. His eyes scanned the room to find a perfect spot. He checked the window, but the sill was too narrow. So, he chose the desk instead.
“Flowers?” Sam popped up out of nowhere. Keith was slightly taken aback.
“They are the same as those I once found at your grave. Someone laid them there.” Keith didn’t dare say that that someone was Sam’s parents. He didn’t want the other to know he’d met them.
“It was Mom,” the spirit said it himself, his face showing no glimpse of sorrow.
“Well… I offered this flower to my parents as well,” Keith said, hands arranging the flowers, “I wanted you to see the real thing rather than the picture.”
“Thanks.”
He could strongly sense it that Sam was right behind him. He started to get nervous, trying to focus on the arrangement he was doing.
Sam’s hand reached out from behind to graze the pink flowers. Keith looked at the spirit sideways, trying to decipher the meaning behind that smile. When the spirit turned to him, their nose brushed.
Keith shifted away instantly, crumpling the paper wrapping in his hands.
“D… dinner. L… let’s go downstairs.”
He didn’t wait for answer. He dropped the paper ball in the bin and rushed out of the room. He met Alice who was about to walk down the stairs.
“You’ve been acting strange lately.” She mentioned when he reached the same step.
“Strange? How?”
“Well, your hairstyle for one. And, Alice doesn’t know, many things else.”
“It’s not good?” he asked back.
“It’s not that. It’s good if you’re happy. And if you’re happy, so does Alice.”
A faint smile tugged at his lips. Without saying further, he went into the kitchen together with his cousin.
Everyone was in their seat, even Sam. The spirit sat on the vacant chair next to Keith. The boy had to suppress his smile seeing how serious Sam was with this dinner joining.
Apart from the requested buffalo wings, Diane also made cheese macaroni, nachos, potato fries, and coleslaw. When Sam saw that Keith shunned the vegetable, he complained about it. The boy paid it no mind as he couldn’t talk back.
“But I want to eat it.” Sam’s voice was somehow different. Keith made a quick glance at him, afraid that other members might notice.
“Alice, pass me the coleslaw please.”
She eyed him in surprise, her eyes growing wide, as if she had just heard something crazy.
“You want to eat it?” She pointed at the blue bowl before her.
“Yeah.”
She passed it to him, still confused.
“Many good things happen in school break, right?” Diane said, her voice proud. She turned to look at John, then Keith, and finally Alice. “John plays sport. Keith’s getting more cheerful and even helped water the plant. You should find something to do, too, Alice.”
“I’m still a kid,” she said in an innocent voice.
This might be the only time when this cousin of his admitted being a kid.
“Oh right. I got some tickets for a baseball game tomorrow. Shall we go? All of us.” Hector looked at his children, both of whom did not reject the offer. He then turned to Keith.
