The Between Years

ask Randy if he'd seen anyone. He'd admitted that he'd seen a man in the hall, but he didn't understand why Denise had crumpled up against the wall and thrown her hand over her forehead.

    Years later-on her deathbed, in fact-Denise had retold the story to him. Randy traveled back in time far enough to remember the event clearly. He'd told her that he remembered having seen a man venture down the hall and enter the middle bedroom, but that he'd thought the man was just a person. Given his new information, Randy wondered where the man had come from and where he'd disappeared to.

    His Nana had not been completely oblivious to unusual activity in the house. She herself attested to having seen a mist travel through the dining room table. In her later years, she liked to ask what ghosts were, and particularly liked to suggest that they were lost souls. Randy had always listened to her attentively, but he no longer cared what they were. They'd taken Kenny with them and had made him live with them inside the walls.

    Randy huffed. He was done playing games and meant to have this problem taken care of. If Kenny got mad at him, then so be it, he decided. That was nothing more than a lesson from Fatherhood 101 as taught by his own father. Though he'd learned how much his decisions had shaped his life, he still felt helpless as Kenny was concerned. Nothing he could say or do would be sufficient in his eyes. The boy had too much power over him as did Carol and the house. Now was the time to take that power back, he decided.

    When he checked his watch, he saw that the time had reached 10:30, which meant he was already a half-hour late for work, and he wasn't even close to being ready to go anywhere.

    Shit.

    He decided that he would phone the library and tell them that he had a fever that had caused him to oversleep. If Diane sounded the least bit concerned, he would assure her that everything was fine. Granted, that meant that he would have to lie with Kenny technically within earshot. He would never condone lying directly and would admit that he had done something wrong if confronted about it.

    A final decision was on the horizon, he realized, and he meant to be the one who made it. His own decisions had landed him in this predicament and he meant to use them to climb out of it. And when he did, he would be in charge like his own dad expected him to be, just like he was in the old days.

CHAPTER 23
    Randy crawled into bed around noon so he could close his eyes and recharge his batteries with a power nap. Sleep enveloped him almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. But by the time his eyes opened, the time was past five o'clock and he couldn't explain where the time had gone. He'd been sleep-deprived, but this was ridiculous! He pounded his fist on the mattress to vent his growing frustration. When he sat up, his head felt like it had been filled with air, and he worried that he could fall asleep yet again. Then he sucked in a deep breath and decided that there was no use in being upset over something he couldn't change.

    He stomped downstairs, determined to have a glass of water to wash the gunk out of his mouth, when he saw three cars pull into the driveway. That he was now blocked into the driveway was bad enough, he thought. But his heart sank when he saw his father and aunt and uncle step out of the cars and start up the back sidewalk.

    Shit! He thought and scrambled around the kitchen when he saw the knob to the back door turn. Like a man caught with his pants down, Randy stiffened up and scratched the back of his head. Just move on, nothing to see here, he thought, but decided that the routine would fool no one. His dad stomped through the door with Chinese food in tow and wore a broad smile. Randy relaxed, took the food from him and set it on the kitchen table.

    “ So, how's the living arrangement working out for you son?” Dad asked.

    His Aunt Robin, Uncle Herb and Uncle Stan filed through the door with the remainder of dinner, and began to caterwaul before he could answer. He decided not to bother and let them take over, which he felt was the typical coarse of any family visit.

    “ Just getting in from work?” Dad asked.

    “ Didn't go in today,” Randy answered. “I've been under the weather the last few days and figured I should rest up and let my stomach settle.”

    “ Well, we've got plenty of Chinese food here if you're hungry.”

    Randy tended to his stomach, which actually was turning now.