Chapter 2

"Oh hey," Shari replied with a smile to the unknown caller.

She walked out the front door onto the porch and was on the call for hours. Jalen left and went over to a neighbor's house to play basketball, and I was all alone, as usual.

The house we moved into two months ago was more spacious than the last one we lived in.

When Ma and Paps separated, we went to live downtown, in a tough neighborhood. To win her over, Paps bought a nice car, and a nice house and apologized everyday for what he did. Ma forgave him, but I didn't, and neither did Shari.

I went to my room down the upstairs hallway to my room. It was now 7pm and I saw the kids my age on the street with their Nintendo's and skateboards. I wanted to play with them, but everytime I went there, comments I didn't like would be made.

"I've never seen black people have freckles," one said once.

" I think he's lying about being black," James mocked.

James was black too, but didn't like me. He said I wasn't "nigga enough" and anyone lightskin wasn't really black.

I had a little crush on his sister Keisha. She was a cutey. Everytime I heard Usher's Climax, I thought of her. Her pigtails, that pink backpack with the little mermaid on it. She was a year older than me, the big 1-0.

I always told myself I'd stand up to James when I'm ten, but I just turned nine, so I had 355 days to go.

I saw Shari walk in the house, and she called for me, but I didn't want to talk to her, or Jalen either. I locked myself in and switched off the bulb so that I could do shadow puppets.

The red torch was on my bed, and the best show Mr Cupcake watched was about to begin. First was my ninja figurine fighting the dinosaur vampires.

"You will not take away my kingdom!" said the ninja

"It is my kingdom and you are just in my way!" said the dinosaur vampire.

"Mr Cupcake! Mr Cupcake!" the ninja called. Mr Cupcake was the waffle kingdoms last hope.

I looked behind me to see where I put Mr Cupcake. He was a teddy bear that was handed down from Shari to Jalen to me. I saw him on the bed, right on my pillow, . Maybe I was just imagining him being there.

I got my torch to check under the bed, but I didn't see him. I flashed it left then right, then left again. And he was there, as if he had just been put there.

I reached out to get his leg, and pulled him, but someone, or something was also pulling. Strange innit?

I got my sword and used it to push him closer, but now someone was grabbing my sword.

" Jalen not funny," I said pulling Mr Cupcakes leg.

I thought it was some sick prank Jalen was pulling. A part of me knew it wasn't Jalen. It couldn't be him, because there was no one under my bed. I switched on the lights to try making sense of what was happening.

Then I felt a presence.

Someone or something was with me, and Shari made me watch too many horror movies, so I knew what would happen next. The lights started flickering, and shadows of figures on the wall. Laughs and screeches and howling noises.

"Shari!" I banged the door, hoping she would come laughing her lungs out.

"Shari!" I heard an unfamiliar voice from above me. The voice gave me chills, it was masculine, hoarse, old, and had an evil laugh to it.

"Who's there?" I panicked.

"It's me," I heard the voice from behind.

"I go to church! Leave me alone,"

I swang the sword in the air. After a few moments, the lights went back to normal, and I took a deep breath. It was over, or atleast I thought it was.

"Hello Luke," greeted a grey headed senior citizen seated on my bed.

"Jalen, Shari!" I crept to the door.

"Jalen, Shari," the man mimicked and smirked.

His round glasses sat on the bridge of his snub nose,and his grey curls fell to his cheek. He looked like me. So much like me, it scared the pee out my bladder.

"I wet myself too," the man said.

His tone, calm and his hand was a cigarette half done. Mr Cupcake was on his lap. Now my heart stopped racing as fast as it was.

" Who are you," I stepped forward.

" You don't want to know," he blew out smoke.

" Luke," Shari knocked aggressively on my door.

The old man( if at all he was a man) put his index finger on his lip. I knew he wanted me to not say a word.

I opened the door, wondering if Shari could see him too. Jalen was standing behind her, he looked cleaner than he was when I saw him.

"Yes," I said without looking in her eyes.

"Jalen and I are sorry. We've been calling you for ages,"

"Yeah man. We even came in here looking for you_"

"You're lying," I said.

"They did come looking for you," the old man suddenly appeared besides me.

"You're not real," I said, scared.

"Are you okay?" Shari asked putting her hand on my shoulder.

"I think he just needs to sleep," Jalen said looking concerned.

Was I sleepy? Seeing a ghost that looks exactly like me? Hearing him speak and hold Mr Cupcake?

"Let me just_" I turned my head around.

The toys were all packed, as if I was never playing with them. Then I knew deep down in my heart, this was bad, real bad.