(18) mangetout

(18) mangetout

     Riley and Saint followed the ghost lady into the dining room. The little girl was already sitting at the table, which had been fully set. Little cakes, half sandwiches, cookies and all other manner of tea time goodies. There was nothing inherently creepy in it, but something about the ambiance felt forced.

     Before either of them could find their footing, the ghost lady chided them, the same as their grandmother would have.

     “It’s impolite to hover.”

     Riley nodded, “Of course.” And took a seat. Sweater set filled up the tea cup in front of her. Seemingly out of reflex Riley reached down and popped back the cup of tea.

It was even still warm. She went pale. Not from the tea but from fear, and she looked at Saint with a face that asked- what did I just drink. And why did it taste vaguely familiar.

     Saint leaned down and asked in an aggressive whisper, “What are you doing?”

     At the same time the ghost lady, firmer this time, “Didn’t I tell you to sit, young man?”

All the while the little girl was humming a happy little tune to herself oblivious to everything going on around her. Saint eyes the ghost lady with apprehension and sits down next to Riley. His tea cup gets filled, and politely ignored.

     Riley, still clearly harboring some aggravation towards Saint, ignored him and tried to engage with the ghost lady.

     “Where are my manners. We haven’t been formally introduced. My name is Riley, and you are?”

     She tried her best, using her absolute best manners. But she didn’t get any answer. The ghost lady finished the rounds. She filled up the little girl’s cup, then her own, and took a seat across from Saint.

     The little girl giggled, and gave Riley a sort of answer. “Mom doesn’t like talking to the people who come into the house.”

     Not ominous at all. But the tea hadn’t poisoned Riley yet. There was no crash of thunder, the house hadn’t moved again. If it wasn’t everything with this place it was nothing.

     Riley redirected, and nodded at the little girl as if everything made perfect sense.

     “Of course. Thank you for letting me know. I am glad you are talking to me. As I said my name is Riley. What’s your name?”

     The little girl laughed, but did not answer. Riley mumbled, “Great stuff.”

     Saint had so far been ignoring all of the insanity around them and has been locked in on Riley.

“You were right earlier about the house. I should have been less worried about Carter and more involved.”

     Riley looked at him, waiting for the rest. But there is no more. That was all.

     “You really think that is the only mistake you have made?”

     Saint slammed his fists down on the table, clattering all the tea cups, and saucers. He hollered, “Fuck, Riley. What do you want from me here.”

     Riley froze. She was startled. This was new behavior from Saint. It seemed he was struggling more with Victoria being gone than he had let on.

Riley looked at the ghosts, expecting some reaction from them. Sweater set had stopped in the middle of a bite of tea sandwich. She gave a reprimand via shake of the head, and that was all. The little girl laughed, telling Saint, “You are silly.”

     Riley looked at Saint. “Ok, then.”

     Even Saint looked relieved that his outburst didn’t start a bigger issue. More calmly, but with no more kindness he continued. “I wish I could, but I can’t fix the issues between you and Carter.”

     Riley looked at him slack jawed. “I don’t feel like that is what I am asking you to do.”

     The little girl interjected, repeating herself, “You are silly.” This time she added again to Saint, “You should drink some of your tea. It would help.”

     Saint waved her off, but Riley was still focused on her own goal.

     She asked the little girl, “So this house is pretty wild, right?”

     The problem was she was a little girl. She responded in the most matter-of-fact tone. “This house is silly. But it’s where I live.”

     Riley responded, dejected. “Yeah, sure seems to be.” She looked at the mom who was eating her finger sandwiches, drinking her tea, and ignoring them. Although she was clearly keeping a close eye on her daughter.

     Riley tried one more time with the little girl. “I live in the town outside this house. Does that make sense?”

     The little girl looked at her, “Obviously. The house moves around and eats houses…”

     The mother interrupts her daughter. “No, no.”

     The daughter looked to her mother with a giggle. She turned back to Saint. “You really should drink some of your tea.”

     Saint looked at the little girl and took a deliberately loud slurp of his tea. He set the cup down, more firmly than necessary and then gave the little girl a there-are-you-happy face.

Then he was right back on Riley. “I am sorry. But you aren’t the only one who is sad right now. I lost someone, and so did Carter. The truth is that I think Carter needs me more right now than you do.”

     Riley looked heartbroken. It was a visible experience watching the realization dawn across her face that this is how Saint really saw her. Maybe he always had.

     For whatever reason, Saint’s mouth kept going. “I am sorry if I have been harsh with you in our lives. I have hated being stuck in the middle. I miss the way we used to be.”

     Riley shook her head, rejecting the idea physically. What did they even used to be?

     “I miss how I used to see you, too.”

     Saint looked around, confused. “That’s not what I said…”

     But Riley had already gotten up, and was heading out of the room. She remembers herself, politeness ingrained in her even if it probably didn’t matter. Riley turned back to the little girl, “Thank you for the lovely tea party. But if you wouldn’t mind excusing me.”

     For just a beat she stands, waiting in motion, just in case this is the moment that the scary finally boils over and they aren’t allowed to leave or something that would be expected from ghosts. But no. The little girl just offered Riley a wave, and told her, “Come back and play with me, ok?”

     “Of course,” and then Riley tailed it back into the living room. Unfortunately, Saint was right behind her.