First Soul

Chapter Twenty-One

We sat in silence around the small mound of blazing wood. I could feel my toes again so that was something. Another shocking development was the food, we were eating fried chicken wings. The zingy, crunchy breadcrumbs hit my taste buds, making my mouth water. This combined with the heat of the white, juicy chicken was heaven. I'd gobbled three in quick succession and was now on my fourth.

Phillip grinned at Deyna as juice leaked down his chin. Deyna was a little more lady like, she sat picking and ripping the meat with her fingers, but I could see that she was holding back the urge to demolish the meat with her teeth. It was amazing how food could make most things feel great. I knew that the happy feeling that came with a full belly wouldn't last long.

Thinking of the food made me think of Lester, without him we wouldn't have any. I looked at the man responsible for delivering such fine food, food he couldn't enjoy because he was a ghost. Lester looked like he was struggling to swallow some sort of rock which told me that something was wrong, it wasn't hard judging by Lester's expression. Or maybe it wasn't hard for me.

Lester had done something for us, something that had cost him. Would I ever find out just how much? Lester's shoulders were hunched, his eyes sadder than before, if that was at all possible considering they always expressed deep sorrow and grief.

I wiped my mouth with my coat sleeve as Lester continued to watch me. It was now or never really. "Lester—"

"You're going to ask about the murders again, aren't you?" Lester sighed.

"You can hardly blame me. When you told us what happened I get the sneaky impression that you only told us what you wanted us to hear. What's the rest of it? If you didn't murder them, then I will ask the question again, who did?"

Deyna pushed her food to one side. She had never questioned the man's innocence and right now she looked like she was about to jump to Lester's defence. I loved that quality about her, that was one of the many reasons we were friends, but I needed to be harsh to get the answers.

"Deyna, I need to know. You can't help him right now."

She opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when Lester held up his hand.

"He's right. I did only tell you part of it but there is very little I can tell you... it's forbidden. You must come to that decision...."

"You found his body, correct?" I asked.

"Yes, I've told you this. I found Lee's body at the front of my shop."

I recalled Lester's tale. There were holes everywhere in it, I just didn't have enough information, or I hadn't asked the right questions to fill them. I wanted the information because I wanted to know for damn sure that Lester was innocent, I wasn't sure what we could do to help him, the man was dead already.

"You said you couldn't sleep on the morning of the murder. So you made your way down to the shop. Did you hear anything whilst you couldn't sleep? A noise?"

"No," Lester said, shaking his head.

"You didn't hear a noise. Okay. What did you do when you entered the shop?"

"I began my morning routine which consisted of making a cup of tea that I took into the shop and walked around making sure things were in place for opening."

"Did you do any stock taking?" I wanted to see if I could make Lester slip up.

A small smile quivered on Lester's lips as he looked down at the floor.

"What are you smiling at?" Phillip asked Lester, a smile of his own playing on his lips.

"I'm smiling at Stephen."

I looked at my friends before resting my gaze back on Lester. "I didn't say anything funny."

"It's your mannerisms that make what you say amusing. Have you ever thought of becoming a police officer?"

Startled, I started laughing. Now that was funny. The sound of it echoed around us. "Me? A police officer?"

Deyna started giggling. "Lester, you don't know Stephen very well. He's always getting into trouble. He fights, he swears, and he drinks. He even set fire to the school once, well, a part of the school anyway."

"Deyna, now is not the time to—" Phillip hissed.

"No, she's right," I agreed, cutting Phillip off. "I do all those things... I don't drink that much to be fair, and the school burning was an accident."

I'd been playing with the Bunsen burners in the science department. Things had escalated from there. Apparently trying to set fire to my trainers had been a step too far because the sole had nearly melted to my hand. The warning from the police had been far more enjoyable than the fists my father had thrown at me in a drunken rage.

"I'm not proud of what I've done but I believe I've learnt from them—"

"Have you?" Phillip asked, one eyebrow shot up in question.

"I hope I have," I mumbled.

"You don't take things seriously, Ste. You think life is one big joke. You have to make some decisions."

I knew I had to make decisions, I just didn't know if I would amount to anything. I didn't have the type of father figure that I could look up to. I wasn't making excuses, but Phillip and Deyna had such a stable, loving family. It was easier to have aspirations. My biggest fear in life was the realisation that I would become my father, someone who was stuck in a small hamlet with only the bottle to get you through the day. "Yeah, well, I've had... listen, I've had a different upbringing."

"We've all had to face rather difficult times, lad. It's what you do now that counts."

I shook my head. What did the here and now have to do with anything?

"You chose to do all those things Deyna speaks of, yes?"

I nodded, feeling more ashamed of everything than I had in a long time.

"So, now that you've really come to understand yourself, and this place will do that to you, what do you choose to do now?"

"Do you mean like a job or something?" I was becoming more and more confused by this conversation.

"No, lad, listen to me. Your actions, what you do in the face of a difficult situation, it shapes who you are as a person. This place will bring out the real you. You're faced with this situation." Lester lifted his hands and looked around him. "So, what do you plan on doing about it?"

My head hurt. I'd never really thought about it before. I knew I would eventually have to think about everything, but I'd been so good at pushing it to the back of my mind. Now that I was thinking, and apparently taking advice from a ghost, I really had a chance to prove that I wasn't a waste of space.

I had to congratulate Lester for expertly turning the conversation around so that I wasn't at the centre of it.

"So, you're not going to tell me who committed the murder then?"

Lester laughed, it was a delighted burst of laughter which had Phillip and Deyna looking like they'd stopped breathing with shock.

"You don't give up, do you?"

"Nope."

Lester nodded his head. "Good. When you figure it out, let me know."