CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 

Morning came far too quickly. Mariah woke to a loud pounding coming from downstairs. She sat up trying to figure out what was happening, only to realize it was her front door, and someone was beating on it as though their life depended on it. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she stood and made her way down the staircase. Mariah flung the door open, but no one was there. The pounding sounded again, it was coming from the side door, in the kitchen.

“I’m coming, hang on!” Mariah yelled as she slowly drudged herself through to the kitchen. She could see now that it was her mother.

Oh boy, she thought, this should be interesting. Her mother never just shows up. She thought for a moment then she realized her phone was upstairs and she forgot to plug it in last night; it probably died. Her mom gets paranoid when she doesn’t answer calls right away. One of the unfortunate but understandable side effects of her father’s car crash.

“Hi momma,” Mariah said letting her mom in, and drudging over to the coffee pot to make a hot cup of mocha coffee. “You want some?” she asked behind her. She knew the answer but thought she should ask anyway.

“No ladybug, I had my smoothie already. Where have you been? I was trying to get ahold of you all day yesterday. The news has been reporting the death of that boy on your roof all day and night. It’s only a matter of time before you have press or creeps poking around. I want you to get some pepper spray, maybe a gun. You never know with people these days.” Her mom looked completely serious.

Mariah shut the pod into the coffee maker and walked to the fridge for some cream, trying to ignore her mother’s excessive paranoia.

“Mom, I’m fine. My house is locked up tight and I even made a new friend that has been helping me out on her days off. Not to mention there are going to be all kinds of contractors hanging around over the next few months. I can’t be carrying a gun around with me. I don’t even know how to shoot.” Mariah rolled her eyes as she stirred her coffee and walked over to sit at the table across from her mom.

A gun was a horrible idea. She might be able to get behind pepper spray, but even then, what good would that do? Oh, hello creepy person, hang on right there while I get out my pepper spray and get you with it. Can you hold still please so I can get this in your eyes? Mariah giggled at the thought, accidently snorting some coffee into her windpipe, and sending her into a fit of coughing. Her mother looked on in awe of her daughter’s weirdness. Mariah sat up, still coughing but laughing all the same.

“You know mom, you worry too much. My new friend that lives in the attic thinks I’m doing just fine,” Mariah said, and let out a loud snort followed by a fit of laughter.

The look of horror on her mother’s face was priceless. Maybe laughing about the girl in the attic would alleviate some of her worry about the possibility that she might actually be going crazy.

“Who is living in your attic?” Her mother stood her, voice quaking slightly. “Are you telling me you are seeing things, or seeing people in this house Mariah?”

Her mother was getting ready to go full-blown crazy. Mariah needed to wind this down if she had any hope of making it through the day still in possession of her house, and possibly her freedom.

“I was joking, it was a joke. Geeze mom, take a joke.” Mariah rolled her eyes in a very dramatic fashion, then gulped down the rest of her coffee.

Her mother slowly sat back down shaking her head at her daughters’ cruel humor. She didn’t find joking about hauntings funny. Hauntings called for a priest to come in and help rid the house of whatever terror was there. She had already suggested that path to Mariah but was brushed off as usual. She believed in ghosts though, good ones and the nasty spirits that want nothing but to cause trouble. She’d seen enough movies about possessions and otherworldly things that there was no way she was going to take that risk.

“I’ll call our priest, I know you aren’t religious but it would give me some peace of mind, especially after that boy just killed himself on your property,” her mom said.

She said it so matter of fact, Mariah almost agreed. She sounded sincere, and Mariah knew her heart was in the right place, but there was no need for her house to have any kind of ceremonies, much-less an exorcism. A priest being summoned to the creepy old Oakley house that was recently purchased at an incredibly low price by that silly twenty something girl that thinks she can rehab it and then make some money on it, would definitely get people talking around town. Afterall, men are the ones that are supposed to buy houses to flip, women should just decorate and look pretty on the side. Nope, that was not happening. Mariah was determined to flip this house, with only the help she needed to hire out for permit purposes.

“No. Mom the house is great. I have an exterminator coming today.” Mariah looked around for the time, her phone was still upstairs, dead. “Crap, what time is it, mom?” she asked.

Glancing at her cell, her mother told her it was almost nine thirty. Mariah stood up, and rushed into the laundry room off the kitchen, she opened the dryer and threw on the first reasonable thing she saw. A sleep shirt would be inappropriate for the pest guy. She walked back into the kitchen with the sole goal of getting her mother out the door. She didn’t need her to hear about any kind of infestation going on in the house, or she would surely drag her back home with her and Mariah would never be allowed out again.

“Mom, I have an appointment arriving at ten. I’m fine, my house is fine. Do you want me to come for dinner tonight, or tomorrow?” Mariah helped her mom up, pretending to be a doting daughter but really just trying to push her mother out the door a little faster.

She didn’t know why, but she was getting incredibly agitated, whether at the situation or at her mother, she wasn’t sure which. Trying to push aside her aggravation, Mariah walked her mom back to the side door, but her mother was having none of it. Mariah watched as her mom pushed herself back into the kitchen and began to walk into the next room.

“You haven’t even showed me around your house yet, Mariah,” she said boldly.

Mariah slapped her hand to her forehead.

“Mom, this is not the time. We can do dinner here if you want but I HAVE to be able to handle the contractors that will be here soon.” With pure exasperation Mariah grabbed her mother’s hand and again began pulling her to the door. Again, her mother pulled away. What is her goal here, Mariah wondered?

“MOM! What is going on, seriously you have to go, I. Have. An. Appointment. Coming at ten. I still need to brush my teeth and throw my hair together. Not to mention plug in my phone.”

The agitation was really showing now and it was obvious that Mariah’s mother could see it clearly. Her eyes beaded with tears and she choked back a sob.

Fantastic, now she would have to console her mother’s hurt feelings. Good gracious Menopause has really gotten to the woman, she whispered in the quiet of her mind.

Just as Mariah was about to graciously resign and give her mom a tour, the front bell rang. Her mom stood straight and wiped her face on her sleeve. Good as new. Mariah huffed, and turned to go open the front door, supposing her mother would just have to accept that the house was infested with some kind of rodent, and spiders, of course.

Mariah swung the door open and standing there on her doorstep was her mother’s Priest. Behind him was a nun, and behind her was the exterminator. This was looking like a bad scene from ghost busters. She hoped to all that was holy there were no cameras nearby. Crying internally, Mariah stepped to the side and ushered the odd group of people into her house. Side stepping to her mother as she went, she whispered, “You have some explaining to do,” and she closed the door.