Chapter 7
Chapter
I have no idea how to talk to my mother’s ghost. It wasn’t easy talking to her when she was alive.
I always folded before the crushing sense of disappointment wafting off her when we would sit around this kitchen table—the slump of her shoulders, her trembling lower lip.
But I lift my head, open the laptop again, and start to type.
ruby.ocampo:
How did you end up in there?
Back here?
At work??????
For a spine-tingling few seconds, I watch her type a response.
sampaguita72:
Oh, you see, they were shorthanded. They really needed the help. They sent a callout into the afterlife.
Onboarding was easy, it’s all remote these days anyway.
It’s a good thing she can’t see me (can she?) because my eyes must be the size of saucers.
ruby.ocampo:
Are you serious?!
sampaguita72:
Of course not!! I don’t know what I’m doing here either.
I have to hand it to her, she always had a sense of humor.
sampaguita72:
You should get some sleep
You have work tomorrow, don’t you?
There’s no way I’ll be able to sleep now. I want to ask her the same questions, over and over and over. How is this possible? How did you get here? What do we do?
But this isn’t how we talked to each other in times of crisis.
When Mom was alive, I’d always try to handle a problem myself first before I told her about it.
In New York, I’d dodge her calls if something was wrong, at least until I got a grip on it.
Until it was all distant enough to turn into a funny story, and then maybe I’d mention it to her in passing when everything was safely in hand, if I ever mentioned it at all.
But panic is building in my chest, and I try to take some deep breaths.
ruby.ocampo:
Mom, how are you here?
sampaguita72:
I told you, I don’t know either! Stop asking me that!
You have to calm down and go to sleep
ruby.ocampo:
How can I go to sleep when you’re in there?
sampaguita72:
I won’t answer anymore until you’ve gotten a full night’s rest
I send a few more messages anyway, but she doesn’t answer, as promised.
I push my chair back and pour myself a glass of water, drinking it down in one go to keep from crying again.