The Last Handful of Clover - Book 2: Gifts Both Light and Dark

2.01 Beautiful Dreamer

"Yes. I started following you when I saw you at the Park. After what happened in the playground."

Richard wanted to ask him exactly what had happened in that playground, but Billy was already walking away from him. There was a panel van in front of them from RC Wiley Furniture. The back bumper had a low step, and on either side of the big roll-up door was a handle to help you climb inside. Billy stepped up onto the back step of the van and grabbed the handle on the left. He looked back at Richard, as if he would know what he was to do.

Richard did. He climbed onto the bumper at the right.

"This is safer than walking. Or running." Billy said.

"I prefer a roof rack," Richard said, tightening his grip on the handhold. He was about to ask again about the playground, but the light changed, and the truck was heading west down 17th South, and all he could do was concentrate on hanging on.

The route to Valley Fair Mall was not a direct shot from downtown. Over the next hour Billy led Richard on a bewildering array of routes, sometimes on foot, and often with the help of a convenient delivery truck or van. Finally, Richard was able to shout over the sound of traffic, "What happened at the playground? Who was that little girl?" But Billy's reply was cryptic.

"A very wise and kind old woman once told me I needed to have patience, and I waited more than a hundred years to find out what she meant. You can wait a little longer for your answers, Richard Pratt."

The little shit was really starting to annoy him. But he decided he'd wait to ask any more questions until they got to where they were going. And to be honest, Richard was getting a bit of a childish thrill from hopping on and off bumpers as they sped across town. It was something he'd never been able to get away with, either as a kid or as an adult.

I guess being a ghost is like being a kid again in some ways. Except you never again need anyone's permission for anything.

Another realization was also dawning on Richard, and the more he thought about it, the more it made his mind spin.

I am not alone.

The knowledge that there was somebody sharing this world with him, and it was somebody with real flesh he could touch, and a real mind he could talk to, was finally sinking in. He had just started to accept that his existence as a ghost would always be solitary. But if there was one ghost like Billy in this world, there had to be more. And if that was true, then maybe he didn't have to be alone. He could find companionship, conversation, tenderness, perhaps even passion.

But what if this Billy is the only one? The only one who can see me. The only one who can... touch me...

Richard looked at the boy. He looked young, but his mind was clearly much older than his body. He talked like of one of the professors in the philosophy department—quiet and thoughtful. Richard had no trouble imagining the boy with a pipe and slippers, holding court next to a roaring fire.

Still, it was possible...

The thought crossed his mind: No longer do I need to ask anyone's permission. Or forgiveness.

Immediately disgusted with himself, he pushed the thought from his mind. He liked younger men, but not that young! He'd never been attracted to someone Billy's age, and he wasn't about to start now. But the thought kept coming back to his mind...

What if he is the only one?

After a better part of an hour zigzagging their way through the city, while avoiding the freeways and the busiest roads, they eventually found themselves in the parking lot of Valley Fair Mall. They both leaped off the bumper of an Econoline van with the J.C. Penney logo on the side, as it pulled into the mall parking lot. Billy immediately made a beeline for the theater entrance.