CHAPTER 5

Yvonne stayed where she was, not inching forward at all, worried that her son would faint for another time. But of course, Tom didn’t. He gathered himself within seconds, enough for him to look at Suzanne and whisper, “Is that my mother?”

He had memorized her face from the identification card that he retrieved earlier from the hospital. Surely this was some kind of trickery?

“It’s me, I’m Yvonne Long. I’m your mother Tom,” Yvonne said softly, speaking directly to her son for the first time in 3 decades. Relief washed over Yvonne’s face. She could finally meet her son face to face. She started weeping, wiping her translucent tears with her shimmery hospital gown. 

Tom looked at Suzanne, unsure of what to do. Here was a woman, no, a ghost who looked like his mother, crying in front of him. He never could stand seeing a woman cry, let alone the ghost of his mother. Tom instinctively reached out to comfort the spirit, only to find his hand phasing through her. He immediately retracted his hands and looked at them incredulously.

“You can’t touch me, Tom. I’m dead. But I wanted to tell you something before I leave for good.”

Tom shook his head, not following, “But you’re dead….”

Suzanne sat down beside a weeping Yvonne, “Tom, this is the real deal. Forget physics. Your mother only wants to talk to you.”

“You can’t be real….,” he was in denial.

Suzanne sighed. Her clients were usually divided into 3 groups; the first was what she called the runners. These people screamed, fainted, and peed in their pants before gaining consciousness and running out of the office, never coming back for good. The second were those who eagerly embraced the spiritual life. These people wasted no time in chitchatting away with their dearly departed, some would even try to fish for tips on how to make quick bucks. The third was the sceptics. This group required a lot of patience to deal with. Tom definitely belonged to the third group.

“Tom, you wore a dark blue robe after you showered this morning, didn’t you? And you kept the vial in the first drawer beside your bed,” Suzanne had to lay down the facts to convince him.

Yvonne had stopped crying by this time. She sniffled, “I saw a GQ magazine on his desk too.”

Woohoo, Suzanne thought. 

Tom’s eyes went wide. “You were there?” he gasped.

“I just wanted to make sure you were alright. You see Tom, I don’t have much time left on Earth. Before I leave, there’s something have to tell you.”

Tom pulled up his knees and buried his face in them, “There’s more?”

“Your father is alive,” Yvonne said simply. “Would you like to meet him?”

Tom immediately looked up. Nothing seemed to surprise him anymore.

“His name is William Banks.”

Except for the revelation that his father was the most powerful man in New York.

Tom didn’t know how to react anymore. Either Suzanne was a professional prankster or his ghost of a mum had a knack for jokes.

Yvonne sat herself down and started telling Tom of why things were….

I worked as a cleaner at his office back then. William was already in a 7-year relationship when I first met him. I guess that’s why they call it the 7-year itch. You could see it in his face whenever he came to work after an argument with Patty. I’d pour him tea and we’d start chatting, and the more I got to know him, the more I fell in love with him. Then one day, it just happened.

He never knew about you, Tom. I left before he found out. You see, Patty knew and she came to see me. It was clear though that her family ties would bring him to higher places while I would only drag him down. So I left. 

Having you was the greatest gift. But I am an uneducated woman Tom. I knew I wouldn’t be able to give you a good life. I was young and scared. So I put you up for adoption, and I am eternally grateful to your foster parents. They brought you up well. They did what I could not do.

All was silent when Yvonne ended her side of the story. Tom stood up.

“Where are you going?” Suzanne asked, standing up herself. 

Yvonne just sat there looking sad. “You’re leaving aren’t you?” she asked her son.

Tom looked down at her, “Yes.”

Yvonne’s ghostly face fell. 

“We are leaving together to find my father.” 

Suzanne had never seen a ghost smile so widely. This was an unexpected twist. She had expected Tom to either bail out or laugh it off but he looked very serious.

And extremely sexy too. Suzanne eyed Tom’s facial features all the way down to his perky butt. And boy would she have loved to give it a squeeze.

“Alrighty then, let’s go,” Suzanne said. 

Yvonne practically leapt up, filling in all the details about how she managed to see him attend his graduation and how proud she was when he was offered a position at Knewton University. If Tom was uneasy about having been stalked by his mother, he didn’t show it.

Suzanne clasped her hands together and recited a chant. The golden thread dissolved into embers of dust before disappearing into thin air. Tom looked at her with amazement but didn’t have a chance to talk to her as Yvonne chatted away.

Suzanne then led them to the doorway and opened the door, ready to escort them to find William Banks. And just as she pulled open the doorknob, there stood a little girl with red shoes. 

She was drenched and water was dripping down her shoulder-length hair. Tom almost stumbled when he saw the girl. His spell had yet to wear off, and therefore he could see what no other normal beings could not. He could see that this was no ordinary girl. This was the spirit of a dead little girl.

“Hello,” she said and held out her dripping wet hand towards Tom.