Page 2 of The Ghost of You

There is another test coming up in March, and I finally took the leap and applied. But I wouldn’t be working for the city anymore. I want to work for the county to gain the experience in hopes to one day work for the city. If I pass and get hired, I’ll miss the guys I’ve worked with for years, but I know it’s the best move I can make for myself. And I need to do this for me.

I look out the window and see the burning orange sky on the horizon, the sun just beginning to rise. I shut my laptop and make my way to the stairs. Brutus follows behind me and flops onto his dog bed as I close the blackout curtains in my room. It’s the worst part of working the swing shift, balancing your daytime and night. I strip my clothes off and lay in bed, forcing myself to sleep.

* * *

I wakeup to Brutus licking my face, an odd occurrence. He rarely ever jumps in my bed. I have trained him well. I roll over and notice it’s after four in the afternoon. I hardly sleep that long. My body trained to wake me up between noon and one so I can prepare for the night.

I push Brutus off me and hear my front door open and close. I jump out of bed and am halfway to my closet when my brother walks through my bedroom door.

“Dude, you are starting to look like a vampire. Maybe you should head to the tanning salon. You are almost transparent. I can see straight through your balls.”

I sleep naked. And in my hurry to the closet to get my gun in case of an intruder, I didn’t think to pull on pants. “You scared the shit out of me. I thought someone was breaking in.”

“Well, I guess that is one way to scare off an intruder. Ghost balls.”

“Shut the fuck up, Carson.”

“Why were you still in bed? Aren’t you usually up by now?” Carson asks.

I grab a pair of sweats from inside my closet, putting them on before I answer my brother. “Usually. But I tend to sleep late after my last shift. Refreshes my mind.” We work four on, three off at the police department so when it’s my first day off, I sleep in.

Carson squats down in front of Brutus who is happy to get the attention. “Well, let me refresh your mind about tonight. It’s Asher’s twenty-first birthday. We are supposed to be meeting him in an hour for dinner before we get him shitfaced and throwing up before midnight.”

I laugh. “I don’t think you know Asher very well. He has been drinking since he was thirteen. That little punk can hold his liquor.”

“True. At least you don’t have to turn your head to your brother anymore if you see him underage drinking.”

I walk toward my bathroom door. “You gonna hang out in my room while I shower? Gossip with me about the family?”

“Fuck off, Noah. I only came up here because you didn’t answer your door after I knocked for five minutes.”

“Sorry, man, didn’t hear you.”

He shrugs. “Don’t worry about it. I know you’ve been working hard.”

“Can you let Brutus out when you go downstairs?” I ask.

“You want me to water your plants too?” he asks sarcastically.

I shake my head and walk in the bathroom, shutting the door behind me without answering. I love my brothers, but some days they are too much to handle.

I get ready and meet Carson downstairs. “You ready to show Asher what a good time actually looks like?”

We both laugh as we head out the door. We’ve been planning Asher’s birthday for a few weeks. And it’s not just dinner and drinks. He’s got a whole lot in store for him tonight.

“Fucker doesn’t know what’s coming.”

2

Anna

I yawnas I flip the sign on the door to open. I got a whopping four hours of sleep last night. I can feel the bags under my eyes, I don’t need a mirror to tell me they are there.

I sip on my coffee, wishing we had an espresso machine at the studio. But my boss and best friend says, ‘yoga is meant to wake up the mind, not espresso.’ It’s a load of horseshit if you ask me. I love being a yoga instructor but never has yoga woke me up the way coffee does. It was hard enough to get her to agree to put a coffee machine in the office. But she eventually caved when she hired on a third instructor who felt the same way about me on the necessity of coffee.

I pull my yoga mat out of the office and turn on the soft relaxation music as people start to come in. I say hello to my regular students and welcome in any newcomers, explaining the daily cost and punch cards we offer.

Once the clock hits eight o’clock on the dot, I start the class. My body is feeling it this morning as I go through the movements with everyone. I should really switch this time slot out with my boss, Seraphina. Yes, she is a hippie but that’s not why she has that name. Her parents are super religious, bordering on cult status and they thought she was the chosen one when she was born, an angel meant to bring down fire to those who have sinned. I think that’s why she became a hippie, the complete opposite of what her parents are like.

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