Friday, August 12, 2011

The Writer and the Ghosts - 11


Linc looked in the mirror and wondered who the man was he saw there. “For sure that’s not me,” he murmured softly.

“It’s the new you,” Damian replied from behind him.

“And sexy as hell.” Giorgio grinned. “We done good.”

Linc supposed he was right. The man in the mirror wasn’t bad looking, even with the glasses. Tight jeans encased his legs. A pale green shirt, unbuttoned halfway down at Giorgio’s insistence, seemed to bring out the green in his hazel eyes. He started to run a hand through his hair and Giorgio immediately grabbed his arm.

“It’s perfect the way it is.” Putting his hands on Linc’s shoulders he turned him to face the door. “Now go, have fun, make friends.”

“I don’t want to,” Linc replied petulantly. “I have better things to do, like…write.”

Damian smiled. “Just this once you get to live life, not just write about it. So move it.”

With a sigh Linc walked slowly out of his room.

“Now we babysit to make certain he doesn’t hide behind a pillar or something,” Giorgio said as he began to fade from view. Damian nodded and followed.

At the bottom of the stairs Linc paused to see exactly how bad things were going to be. The living room held a few people his parent’s age who seemed content to just sit and chat with each other. He wondered if he could join them, maybe take the chair in the corner that no one seemed interested in and just sit and listen.

“No,” he heard Giorgio say. “The back yard’s where all the fun is.”

“And you’re going to stick like glue to make certain I go out there,” Linc muttered under his breath.

A laugh sounded as Damian said, “You better believe it. And quit talking to us, people will think you’re talking to yourself and wonder.”

“But…” Linc snapped his mouth closed. Damian was right and he knew it so he tightened his resolve and made his way to the back porch. Then he grinned to himself. ‘They can’t follow me out here. I’m safe.’  Stepping off the porch he stood and surveyed the scene in front of him.

The barbeque grill was surrounded by men, ‘No surprise there,’ he thought. The women seemed to have congregated around the tables set up on one side of the yard. A couple of them were young, around his age. He froze when one of them saw him and began to whisper to her friend, both of them looking his way then. Quickly he hurried to join his father at the grill. “Need any help?”

“Not at the moment. Everything seems to be under control as long as the storm holds off, or moves in another direction.” They both looked up at the gathering clouds on the horizon. Richard patted his son’s shoulder. “Go enjoy yourself.”

Linc was tempted to say, “You mean I can back upstairs,” but knew that was not an option. If one of his parents didn’t come up to drag him back to the party then the ghosts would.

So instead he looked around, wondering where he could safely watch unmolested. He saw three young men sitting under the large oak tree, drinks in hand as they talked to each other, all three of them casually dressed, if a bit ‘preppy’ looking. One of them glanced up, saw him and beckoned for him to join them. Reluctantly he did, stopping on the way to snag a soda from one of the coolers.

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