“She wanted to call you Demonyo Antonio, which I vetoed.” Kayla also suggested Ghost Daddy, which I vetoed harder. “What time did you get back?” I ask Pa.
He glances at the clock atop the elevator. “Around noon?”
“You’ve just been waiting here?”
“I went up to the unit,” he says. “Then your Auntie Baby visited and I thought they wanted privacy since Marie-tres night was always your mom’s girls’ night.”
“What’s he saying?” Kayla whispers.
“Something about a girls’ night…” I pause and realize the date. Tuesdays are always Ma’s mahjong night at Auntie Baby’s.
“What time do our moms finish mahjong?” I check with Kayla.
She shrugs. “I’m always asleep before my mom gets home.” Then it dawns on her. “How are we going to ask Auntie Beth’s advice about the forty days?”
“What forty days?” Pa turns to me.
“We have this theory that your ghost only has forty days to wander the Earth.”
Then Kayla follows up with another question. “What does Ghost Dad think of the theory?”
And Pa asks, “Why are you making up theories about me?”
Okay, just because I canseeghosts doesn’t mean I’ve agreed to be the interpreter. “One question at a time,” I say, urging my best friend and Dad to chill.
The elevator pings at the lobby, and while both sides keep giving me more things to say to the other person, I focus on the situation at hand.
“My mom thinks I brought you to Bible study!” Kayla protests when I push the button for Auntie Baby’s floor and tell her we’re going to crash their mahjong session.
“Well, if Auntie Grace asks, you can say Ididread the Bible today,” I say in my defense.
“That’s not how Bible study works!”
While Kayla freaks out about my lack of biblical understanding, Pa is questioning Ma’s superstitions.
“How did you find out about the forty days?”
“Ma told us that your soul would go up to heaven on your fortieth day.” I fix my eyes on the elevator floor when the hot feeling rises in my throat again. On Pa’s last fortieth day, I remember Ma sobbing so much when all the visitors left. It was the most I had ever seen my mom cry. She sat in front of Pa’s picture and murmured how she wasn’t ready to say goodbye.
Stop it! Why are you bringing back those memories when your dad is here?
I shake all those thoughts away and smile at Pa. “I know it’s a reach, but what if the forty days applies to your ghost too?”
The elevator doors open and I lead Kayla and Pa toward Unit 3H.
“Superstar, I don’t think we need to bring your mom into this—”
Pa gets cut off when Seph opens the door.
“Is my mom here?” I ask him.
Instead of answering my question, he leans his arm on the doorframe, blocking the unit’s entrance. “Sorry.” He raises his shoulders and places his hand above my head. “Must be this tall to enter.”
Pa hovers and inspects Seph without him noticing. “Is this Baby’s son?”
Unfortunately.
When I try looking over his right shoulder, he adjusts his stance to the right. I go to the left and he moves to obstruct my view.
