Ship of Souls

“You were a soldier—now you’re a ghost. How do we know you’re not also a spy?”
    “Keem!” Nyla steps in front of him and smiles at Billy. “Ignore him, Billy. Of course you can come with us.”
    Determined to be heard, Keem steps around Nyla. “You’re not calling the shots, Nyla. This ghost isn’t one of us—he’s one of them! Have you forgotten everything they put us through?”
    “I didn’t want to hurt you, I swear!” Billy protests. “I was just following orders…”
    “Famous last words,” mutters Keem.
    Nyla’s anger flares again. “You don’t know what it takes to break ranks like that. If a soldier did that today, he’d face a court martial.”
    “He’s DEAD, Nyla!”
    “Whatever…”
    I see the panic in Billy’s eyes and know I can’t turn him away. “He did help me, Keem—without being asked. I don’t think Billy’s loyal to the nether beings—not anymore. Besides, he’s harmless now. The ghost soldiers lose their power once they leave the park.” I turn to Billy for confirmation. “Right?”
    “Well…sort of.”
    “Sort of?” Keem repeats Billy’s words with suspicion.
    “Mostly. We’re strongest in the park because that’s where—I mean, that’s where it all happened.”
    “Where you died,” says Nyla.
    “Right. But when we leave the park…”
    “Yes?” I need Billy to tell us everything even though I’m pretty sure his news won’t be good.
    “Our spirits can join with others who are…like us. We draw on their energy—their rage.”
    “Great—a club for pissed-off dead folks,” says Keem.
    “The murder rate in New York City’s no joke,” says Nyla. “There must be dead people all over the place.”
    Billy nods somberly. “There’s a lot of misery in this land.”
    “Why did you help me?” I ask.
    Billy hangs his head so that strands of his brown hair fall forward and cover his eyes. “I had a friend like you once,” he admits, nodding in my direction.
    “You mean—he was black?”
    Billy lifts up his chin. “Color don’t bother me none. Jake was every bit as brave as me—he’d have fought alongside the rest of us if his master had let him.”
    “He was a slave?” asks Nyla.
    “Yes. He was born a slave, and for all I know, he died a slave. And there we were fighting for liberty .” Billy’s lips twist with bitterness. “Ma said it was right to fight the British. She come over on a ship as a girl, and it took seven years to work off her indenture. But at the end of it, she was free. Jake and his mama—they weren’t ever going to get that chance.” Billy pauses and then looks up at me. “You think I’ll see my mother and Jake up in heaven?”
    Nyla and Keem join Billy in staring at me. I try not to squirm before their expectation that I ought to know where the ship of souls is heading. When I asked Nuru if I would see my mother again, she said the ship was only for those who were “long dead.” Does that include Billy’s mother? Finally I say, “I don’t know, Billy. Nuru said the souls of the dead are seeking peace, and so she’s going to take them back to her realm.”
    “Is that Africa?” Billy asks.
    I shrug and hope I won’t have to answer any more questions. “We better get going. What time is it?”
    Keem checks the lit display on his watch. “Just past one a.m. No wonder I’m beat.”
    “I’m starving, too,” admits Nyla. “Can we rest for a little while?”
    “You all can rest—I’ll keep watch,” offers Billy.
    “Hmph. I know I’ll be sleeping with one eye open,” Keem mutters as he looks around for a dry section of the tunnel.
    “Shut up already,” Nyla snaps irritably.
    Keem takes the bag of chips out of his book bag and tosses it at Nyla. “I hope you don’t talk in your sleep ’cause I sure am tired of hearing your mouth.”
    “We’ll never get any rest if you two keep fighting,” I say. “We’re a team, remember?”
    Grumbling under their breath, Keem and Nyla move off in opposite directions. Billy watches them go, then turns and reverts to his skeleton self as he heads away from me and back up the way we’ve come. I decide to stay close to Nyla—partly because I’m hungry, too, and she’s got the chips. I think about what Billy told us—how other people’s rage fuels the nether beings—and wonder if it’s affecting Nyla and Keem, too.
    I push my sleeve back up and find that the light in my hand has dimmed. Maybe Nuru’s tired as well. I clear my throat and