The In-Between and After: A Ghost's Story

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The word about the slight against the Slavs spread eastward as Bigz and his angel traveled from city to city, though it never really reached any of the higher-ups, mainly the soldiers of the gang. Most knew it only as a grudge between Bigz and someone from his stater town, hearing the story from people who heard it from people who heard it. Fortunately, the majority of the ghosts who were told weren't taking it too seriously, though it did ignite the passion of the bored, of which were many, finally now with something to do, taking the personal grudge against Bigz like it happened to them.

A ghost with black hair and a bushy mustache stepped into the Cleveland bus station with a smile on his face. He walked over to the terminal monitors and cross-checked the bus number he saw the three leave in. Buffalo. He chuckled to himself as he walked back out the terminal and toward a group of ghosts. They nodded as he approached the group.

"Jin dobri" He muttered as he walked up, his thick New York accent bastardizing the traditional polish greeting. A couple nods and a few more-or-less successful dzień dobrys greeted him back.

"Anything?" one asked as he came closer.

"Oh yeah, I got somethin'," he said smugly, as he slicked back his hair and smoothed out his mustache. The others leaned in as Templeton said what he saw and where they were going.

Templeton

"Look, Bennie, I told you! The money's on the way." Sal pleaded, as he jumped from his desk and quickly turned the lock on his office door. "Bennie C'mon. I told Soft Joey to tell you. It's on its way." He walked back to his desk and looked around. "You know I'm good for it." Sal opened a file cabinet drawer and looked inside, he retrieved a small revolver. He opened the cylinder and checked to make sure it was loaded, it was. Sal looked around again and waited for a response but was only met with someone rattling the doorknob, trying to open the door. Sal sat down at his desk. He placed the gun on his lap and quickly pulled it out, practicing the move a couple times. He stood up, the look of concern on his face.

"Just come back in an hour. I swear, it's on its way." He shouted as he walked around his office, before settling on a place at his desk. He cracked his neck and leaned back on the front of the desk, the gun behind his back, he practiced again, swinging the gun and pointing it at the door, the sudden movement caused the desk to slide back on the hardwood floor, his lamp wobbled a bit, causing his shadow to dance around the room, and a couple of glasses to tip over and fall to the floor, shattering as they hit the ground. He cringed and looked back at the door.

"Open up!" Bennie called out and pounded a few times on the door. Sal walked over to the door and pointed the gun at the door, He stood there for a second. Silence fell over the room, save for his heartbeat, beating in time with the clock on the wall. Another round of pounding, stronger this time, startling Sal, causing him to clench shut his eyes and pull the trigger. He opened his eyes, surprised by the lack of gunshot, he looked at the gun, he noticed that he hadn't cocked the gun. He took a breath, shook his head, and cocked the trigger.

"C'mon Sal, open the fucking door!" Bennie shouted from outside the door. He nodded to Jimmy who walked up to the door and gave it a good shoulder bash, but it didn't give. He tried again.

"Sal's your pal, isn't that what they say... You know I'm good for it!" Sal shouted again as he re-trained the gun on to the door. The door burst open after Jimmy's third go. The sound of the door frame busting and the door crashing against the back wall preceded the sound of Sal's gun. Sal looked as Jimmy stood there for a second, just staring at him. Jimmy took a step into the room before starting to cough and falling to his knees. Sal stood there for a second staring at Jimmy on his knees, the man now staring at him, splatters off blood from his coughs landing on his stomach and on the floor in front of him, a splotch of blood forming under his shirt just over his heart.