The Good Brother by E.L. Chen

Author:E.L. Chen
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: ChiZine
Published: 2015-06-30T19:06:37+00:00

CHAPTER 11

Firestarter

“YOUR BAG MADE A NOISE,” Vicky said.

I struggled off the sofa where I’d been watching cartoons with the ghosts and plodded over to the dining table. My shoulder bag sagged on a chair. It rattled again and I fished my phone out. I’d called in sick to work, so it was probably Frances checking up on me.

But it wasn’t a call from Frances, it was a text message from Egan. You ok?

My stomach did a somersault. I typed, Not feeling so good. Think I got food poisoning from my family dinner.

I pressed Send and waited. “Who is it?” Vicky asked. I didn’t answer.

Another message appeared. Hope you feel better. You missed the fun yesterday. Cops showed up.

Really?

They wanted to talk to you but I said you didn’t see anything. What WERE you doing to the books?

My stomach flip-flopped again, but for a different reason. I typed the first answer that came to me. Egan would have noticed a hesitation.

Nothing!

Do you have special powers that make books combust? Are you a firestarter? Cuz that’s cool. :)

I swear I just went over to check it out.

You didn’t get hurt?

No.

Good to hear. Got to get back to work now. See you soon? :)

Maybe tomorrow.

Miss you. Frances breathing down my neck all the time. :S

Before I could second-guess myself, I typed, I miss you too.

I stared down at my phone for another five minutes until I conceded that he’d probably gone back onto the floor.

“Who are you texting?” Vicky asked, skittering off the sofa to stand behind me.

“No one,” I said. My eyes lingered on Miss you and then I hurriedly deleted the entire conversation so Vicky couldn’t read it over my shoulder.

“Tori,” whined Mui-Mui, “I’m bored.”

“Find something to do,” I said. “You’re a big girl. You don’t need me.”

But she did. She was a ghost and as subject to the whims of her living relations as I was. At that age I’d also been powerless, dependent on Seymour and Ma-Ma to oversee everything that I did. I hadn’t been allowed to step out of the house on my own, not that it would have ever occurred to me to leave.

“I want to go back to the store,” she said.

“You know we can’t.” We both instinctively looked over our shoulders for Seymour. He’d been lurking behind mirrors all week, emerging to eat and watch TV with us. He seemed placated, like a normal ghost should’ve been. He even behaved when the repairman showed up to replace the mirror in the bathroom, and flickered in and out of the glass afterward like he was testing it. “Not until I feed him some more.” Some more food, or my unhappiness.

Finally on Saturday morning we left the condo for the first time in days. Mui-Mui had been excited at first, but quickly lost her enthusiasm when she learned I was walking to the ferry docks. Egan had wanted to meet at Union Station but I’d told him I had an errand to run. I didn’t want to take the subway, even for him.

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