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“I can’t stay in this fuckin’ house any longer!” he yelled, gesturing wildly around the foyer. “Not with a dead nigga who still thinks he’s running shit!”

I folded my arms. “Think?”

“See! That’s exactly what the fuck I’m talking about!”

Willow burst out laughing that time, no longer able to hold it in.

Lakelyn shot her a glare.

She bent forward, hand over stomach. “I’m sorry, sis. But what the fuck?!”

Yonas stared at them in disbelief and pointed back toward the stairs. “Y’all think this shit is funny!”

Willow straightened as best she could. “No. I’m sorry. Keep going.”

“I’m leaving! And if y’all had any sense, you wouldn’t stay another minute in this house with a nigga floating around the hallway like he pays HOA fees in the afterlife!”

I nodded. “And looking good doing it.”

Yonas screamed again. “He’s still fuckin’ talking! I don’t know why y’all can’t hear or see him, but he’s standing right there!”

Willow tipped her head toward the ceiling. “Caspian, if that’s you, would you please stop scaring this man before he pisses on the floor!”

I smirked.

Lakelyn immediately grabbed Willow’s arm and pulled her closer. “Stop talking to the house. You’re no better than Yonas right now,” she whispered.

Yonas probably didn’t hear her, but I did.

My hearing had gotten a hell of a lot sharper since dying. Lakelyn could’ve whispered that shit into a pillow from three rooms away and I still would’ve heard every damn word.

“Girl, I’m trying to help!” Willow said.

Yonas reached the door and grabbed the handle, but it wouldn’t move. He pulled harder, tried again, and finally shouted at the top of his lungs.

“Open this mothafucka!”

I leaned against the wall. “What’s the magic word?”

He spun around. “Please!”

I smiled. “Please what?”

“Please let me out! I won’t step foot here again!”

Willow came down the last few stairs behind Lakelyn and stared at him wrestling with the door.

“Whoever is holding this man hostage, please release him,” Willow called out toward the house. “Signed, a very tired woman who does not get paid enough to be part of whatever foolishness this is. And for the love of God, keep it down. Granny is asleep, and if y’all wake that woman up, I’m telling her every damn body in here did it except me.”

Yonas yanked on the handle again. “You heard her!”

I released it, but not because of his plea.

I could’ve kept fucking with Yonas until sunrise, but I was ready for his ass to go, and I didn’t need Granny Liz coming out of her room in a robe and house shoes ready to beat somebody’s ass for disturbing her sleep. I loved that woman, and the last thing I needed was her blood pressure going up because I was terrorizing a grown man for entertainment.

But knowing Granny Liz, she wouldn’t even care about the ghost part. She’d probably look at Yonas standing there in his drawers, ask why the hell he was hollering in her grandbaby’s house, then everybody to shut up and go to bed, including the ghost: me.

Yeah.