I Must do It - III

I’ve finally been able to talk with Zack normally, he still communicates only by nodding his head from time to time, but we have been together for enough time to have some respect for each other, after going to his parent’s house we had to wait five days until my next free day, today we must go to Nidia, we’re going to give her the rings, maybe this will be the last time we’ll work together, it’s kind of weird, who would say that after living one week with this ghost guy we would become friends, not like we suddenly loved each other, but at least I would say that we are way closer than just a spirit and the crazy guy who happened to be able to see him, more than a deceased young guy and the man who failed to save him.

“Zack, are you sure about going today?”

“Yes, Nidia must be so mad; you know that I would have gone instantly, but well… I doubt that she would even be able to see me…”

“Yeah, I know that this must be hard, but at least you are lucky that you have a friend like me!” – Wow, I didn’t know that using the word “friend” could feel so good.

“Probably, but if there is a next life after this, I hope that any spiritualist I get to meet avoids sleeping as much as you do”

We started laughing, I’m not going to lie, I think I’ll miss this guy…

“Well, will you be the guide today as well?”

“Of course I will, it would be so weird if you suddenly knew where my girlfriend lives, I wouldn’t be able to trust you anymore” – I’d assume that this is the kind of joke that a friend would do, last time someone joked with me like this was with the people at the hospital, Lisa and Tony, but aside from those two… I should make more friends, or at least try to make more friends.

Just like the last time, we walked out of my apartment and decided to just walk there, apparently, this place was way farther than Zack’s parent's house, once again we could take the bus, but now it was different, we wouldn’t do it not because I thought that I may look crazy while talking to him, but because this could be the last time I would be able to talk with this friend.

After two hours of some tiresome walking we finally did it, a small house was waiting for us, nothing compared to Zack’s house, let’s not even talk about what the Sound Group could build, the Forte family definitely had way bigger things used as random warehouses, but this house was only a bit bigger than my own apartment, even then it caused a weird feeling in me, something like it was a way friendlier place, where I would like to be there way more often, this was a special place, and not only from what I could feel but just looking at Zack’s face anyone could realize that this was a place that made him a happier man.

I rushed to the door, even if I didn’t want to lose this weird friend that I made during the last week, I knew that he would be happier if we could go inside, but as soon as I started knocking on the door, a little boy came out.

“Lucas is here! What do you need tall man!?” – He was really noisy, like the kind of person who would jump on a table during a party to be noticed, quite charismatic for a kid who can’t be older than thirteen.

“Lucas! How many times do I need to tell you that I’m the one who opens the door here?” – A girl who must be in her twenties came out

“Are you Nidia?” – I had no doubt, her voice seemed like that of a good person, and as soon as I saw her I knew it, this was who Zack loved so much, my friend had a good eye, I’m not going to lie and say that she wasn’t pretty, but the most important part was her eyes, a weird greenish-blue that looked perfect with her light brown hair, it wasn’t only that they made her look prettier, but that alongside hew warm gaze made her look like the kind of person that anyone would love to have around.

“Yes, do I know you?”

“Oh sorry, let me introduce myself, my name is Adam, I work at the local hospital, and I am Zack, your boyfriend’s friend”

As soon as I said his name her face should turn to a complete smile; that was what I thought until I realized how her warm gaze turned to pure anger like her eyes were burning out of pure hatred.

“Don’t mention him again, that treacherous scum”

Zack couldn’t believe it, he loved her so much and, according to what we had during the last week, she also loved him as no one else could. Why would she talk about him like that…?

“Don’t say that sister!” – Lucas, who had been hiding behind her until now came out.

“You know that Zack is a good guy, he will come back!”

“What are you even talking about? He must be with some other girl right now, that idiot couldn’t dare to disobey that demon of a father, he wouldn’t even give it a try for himself, why would he even act as he cared about us in front of them!?”

Lucas and Nidia were shouting at each other way angrier than two siblings who really care about each other would normally do, but I couldn’t do anything, I didn’t really know them and Zack was too shocked, but at least I noticed that he also came to the same realization as me, these two, Lucas and Nidia, they didn’t know about Zack, about his death…

“Please, make them stop… Adam, could you tell them about it?” – Zack was demolished, he had failed in the most important thing ever, making the person he loves the most a happy person.

“Nidia, Lucas, could you stop it?”

They stopped their bickering for a second, Lucas was deeply sad, while Nidia was almost exploding in anger, even if she didn’t care about trying to hide her tears, then I started talking, explaining to them what had happened, who I am and why I was here, I obviously omitted everything about watching and hearing ghosts, not like a guy saying “I see dead people” could help them, not like that could help to calm them, little by little, their faces started changing, from two persons who were deeply mad at each other just a few seconds ago, they turned to a mess, nothing but tears and pain, they finally knew that the person who they loved so much was dead, they couldn’t bear the idea of not saying a final farewell to him…

After some time Lucas fell asleep, even if he was a show-off of a kid, he still was just a child, it must be tiresome to cry so much, I brought him to his bed while Nidia was preparing some tea. Zack was on my side, he sat down on his bed with nothing but remorse of not being able to tell him that he was there.

“You don’t know how much I love these two” – Said Zack while trying to touch the face of the young kid.

“I can see it, could you tell me a little about it?”

“I would love to, but I’m not the person who should talk here, could you go talk to Nidia?”

I went to the kitchen where she was, she couldn’t stop crying completely, but at least she was trying her best to fix how much of a mess her face was just a moment before. At that moment I noticed how small her house was, a kitchen, bath, and a room for Lucas and Nidia, nothing else.

“Nidia, do you live alone with Lucas?”

“Yes, we aren’t actually siblings, we are just two abandoned kids who happened to be adopted by the same person, but she died two years ago…”

“I see, so both of you are alone now”

“That’s right, but you could say that Zack was our third wheel”

“He was just boyfriend, right?”

“You are right” – Her face was trembling like she tried to avoid crying more than she already did.

“Zack was a regular client at the store where I used to work, we started dating after he asked me around ninety different times” – She laughed a little bit, for the shy guy that Zack ended being, he surely was quite persistent, but who could blame him.

“We were dating for around three years, he became a part of our little family, at least until I wanted to meet his parents, his father thought that I was nothing but a dumb girl who wanted a bit of their money, while the mother insisted that I was the kind of girl that would go out with every nice-looking guy”

Yeah, I already knew that they were idiots, this almost seems tame for the likes of those two.

“We wanted to marry, so Zack insisted, but they told him that, if he ever were to make me a part of his family, he should forget about them. I was with him and Lucas that night, he tried to convince them that all of that was stupid, but they insisted, so he finally stood up to them, took our hands, and said that we were his family, that he loved us more than nothing else, after that we started living together…”

“How long ago was that?”

“Around two months, then he decided to go talk with them, he told me that he would come back with a special gift as well, after that he never came back”

“Would you like to know what happened?” – I said while looking towards Zack, he nodded and accepted to talk through me.

“Do you really know why he didn’t come back?”

“I said that I am his friend, didn’t I?”

So I started repeating everything that Zack was saying to me.

“Nine days ago, when he went to his parent’s house, he actually went to invite them to a wedding, he wanted to marry you, and he already had the rings”

Nidia’s face still was that of a wounded girl who lost one of her most beloved persons, but at least now she knew that she was in love with a good guy, not just a traitor who would abandon her and Lucas.

“His mother was happy to see him, and so was his father, but none of them wanted to accept it, they wanted him to go back to the house and he wasn’t to accept it, they started a discussion with no one wanting to lose it, no one could win on that situation… Zack took the rings, his motorcycle and ran away, but he didn’t want to come back here that late just to cry by your side. Zack decided to go look for a gift for the two of you, then early in the morning he was coming back; An idiot who shouldn’t be allowed to drive anymore ran over him, I tried to save him, but it was impossible, then Zack died and gave me this” – I extended my hand and showed her the box.

“He wanted you to know that he would always be with you, and wanted me to deliver the message, I went to see his parents and told them how stupid they were, they wanted you to forgive them”

She was painfully hurt, but she nodded like she accepted to forgive them.

“I also told them about your pregnancy”

“But, how do you know about that? I didn’t even talk about it with Zack”

“He loved you more than anything, obviously he noticed” – Zack was right next to her, he had finally accepted that he couldn’t touch her, but at least tried to embrace the mother of his future child.

“They accepted to help you with anything”

Zack obviously helped here, even as a spirit, he knew how to move his parent’s hearts, even if a little late, they couldn’t bear to fail him again.

“Take these rings, they’re yours now”

“You… Adam, thank you”

“There’s no need for it, I’m just following the last will of a close friend, trying to help the people that he loved”

She started crying again, her face turned into a mess of tears once again, but this time a smile was mixed there.

“I truly loved him, more than anything else, but I should have said that more often, I- I should’ve said that to him that last day”

Her tears were overflowing, I went next to her and mopped her tears mimicking what my ghost friend was doing, then once again proceeded to say what he was saying to me.

““You don’t have to worry, I always knew…” That’s what Zack would say” – I told her while mimicking his bright smile.

Zack was shining; he hugged her one last time trying to calm her.

“He wanted both you and Lucas to live, to be happy” – I repeated his actual last words.

I took one last sight of my newly found friend; he was smiling at me, waving his hand while letting his tears freely move alongside his big bright smile.

“Thank you, Adam, farewell”

His body went away little by little until his smile was the last glimpse of a friend who could finally rest in peace.

“Take care Zack, farewell dear friend…” – This was the last time I saw this dear friend of mine who I came to know in such a bizarre situation…