My Name Must Be Trouble by Edward G. Chandler

Author:Edward G. Chandler
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-01-25T15:30:29+00:00

Chapter VII

That house is Haunted

It didn’t take Shorty and me long to understand that the old Sichol house was haunted. My older sister ‘Boy’—you know Abbie—and Shorty’s brother Allen told us it was haunted.

An observation about their relationship: when they speak, they stand with a funny look on their faces. When they notice me watching them, my sister yells, “Get out of here, Trouble!” Wonder if I will ever have that look on my face when I get older.

Julie Sutton rode up on her bike while I was riding around the neighborhood. She asked if I would like to kiss her again. My thought was that I didn’t remember kissing her before. Then I remembered when she came up and put her lips on mine. It was weird, and I didn’t think anything special about it. She told me that a kiss would make me brave. Really? Okay then, let’s try it again!

We laid our bikes down on the ground.

She said, “Come with me into the bushes.”

That’s when I remembered my sister coming out of the bushes at Shorty’s house. I hesitated with that memory, then walked forward, looking around for my sister at the same time. Once Julie and I were facing each other, she moved close, grabbing my shoulders, puckered her lips, closed her eyes, placed her lips on mine. She didn’t back off, just kept her lips on mine.

I had my eyes open, not sure what I was supposed to do. She opened her eyes, moved back and said dangerous words that I had heard my mom say to my dad after dinner.

“What do you think? Did you enjoy it?”

I started to panic. My mind was racing. I started to speak, then stopped and smiled.

She smiled back, saying, “I knew you enjoyed it just as much as I did.”

I just stood there.

She got back on her bike and rode away. I got my bike and rode towards home. I must admit I did feel something, kind of a tingling in my skin. I don’t think I want to keep doing that. I’ll have to watch Abbie and Allen closer to see if there is something I’m missing here.

Arriving home, ‘Boy’ was in the kitchen when I walked in.

She looked at me and said, “What have you done now, Trouble?”

I shrugged my shoulders then ran up to my room and closed the door to my cell.

I was thinking about a conversation that had taken place two days prior. Allen’s friend Johnny Taylor told Shorty and me we wouldn’t last three minutes in the Sichol house.

I said, “Sure, no problem!”

I told Shorty we could close our eyes, hold our breath, and plug our ears for three minutes. Johnny dared us to go inside the Sichol house. Allen’s friend Freddie Smith said everybody goes in there. They all crossed their hearts and hoped to die if they lied. That was good enough for me for the time being. Something I learned later in life; how interesting it is—everyone tries to impress each other by what they have done and not who they are.

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