Chapter 8

By the time December rolled around, Annie and I had finished the inside of the house. In my humble opinion, it was awesome! I didn't have guests very often but when I did, they generally went on and on about it and had to have the full tour. I even had a couple of requests to help with some interior decorating, but I declined. I passed the compliments on to my partner, but I'm sure she'd heard every word anyway.

Then one sunny Saturday morning, a surprise guest showed up. I was having coffee and reading the paper in the kitchen when there was a sharp rapping at the front door. I found it a bit irritating because there was a perfectly good doorbell right in front of them. When I opened the door expecting to have to dismiss someone handing out copies of 'Watchtower', I was caught completely off guard. There stood Daisy Jefferson from across the street in a blue overcoat and matching hat with a veil. She'd been hammering on the doorframe with her cane.

"Mrs. Jefferson! This is a pleasant surprise. What can I do for you this morning?"

"You kin ast me in."

"Uh, oh, of course! Please come in."

She stepped in the door and shrugged out of her coat, hanging it over my arm like I was the butler. Without a word, she took off on an uninvited tour of the first floor, shuffling from room to room and emphasizing her passage with the steady thump of her cane on the polished oak floor. I could do nothing but follow.

When she'd inspected every room and arrived back at the foyer, she nodded her approval and pronounced, "Ah lak it!" Tilting her head toward the stairs, she added, "N' Ah wooden mahnd seein' up da stair, but my laigs ain' up to it."

The hint wasn't exactly subtle. "I'd be happy to carry you up if you'd like."

"Ah'd be 'bliged."

Mrs. Jefferson couldn't have weighed more than eighty-five pounds, so it wasn't much of a strain. The moment I set her down on the landing, she took off down the hallway poking into every room and closet, then came back to stand in front of me, waiting.

When I didn't catch on fast enough to suit her, she nodded at the stairs to the third floor and said, "Watchu waitin' fo'? Less look at da ress'"

When the tour was completed, I carried her down the stairs and deposited her back in the foyer. Assuming she'd accomplished what she came for, I offered to help her on with her coat.

"Ah ain' goin' 'til ah sees da haint! Wheah she be?"

I remembered our first and only conversation from last summer. "What 'haint' are you talking about, Mrs. Jefferson?"

She was having none of it. "You know da one Ah's talkin' 'bout!" She looked around and shouted out with surprising volume for such a tiny lady, "Wheah you at, girl? Git out heah n' show y'self!"

"Mrs. Jefferson, I can assure you there are no ghosts in this house."

She poked a bony old finger in my belly and insisted, "Das a lie n' you know it! Now, wheah she be? Ah know she heah 'cuz Ah got da giff, n' Ah kin feeeel her!"

"Please, Mrs. Jefferson, there..."

"I'm right here, Mrs. Jefferson." I was caught unaware because Annie didn't do her normal chocolate entrance.

Daisy Jefferson didn't seem the least bit frightened or even surprised. She looked Annie up and down for a few seconds and said, "Jess lak Ah 'membuh! Why girl, you still purdy as a pichah! What dat nasty ol' woman do wit yo' body, anyways?"

Annie pointed a finger at the floor and said, "Basement."

"Yeah, das what Ah figgah. But dem po-leese, dey don' listen' t' no black lady. So how come you still hangin' 'roun heah afta all dese yeahs? Why ain' chu gone on t' wheah you b'long?"

"Because I like it here, Mrs. Jefferson. And I like Steven, too. I'm not ready to move on yet."

"Well but chu don' b'long heah! Ain' da way God mean thangs t' be!"

"I don't believe in your god, Mrs. Jefferson, but even if I did, don't you think he could come and get me any time he wanted?"

"Why, dass jess crazy talk, girl! If dey ain' no God, how come Ah's standin' heah talkin' to you aftah you been daid fo' mo'n sisty yeah? Tell me dat!"

I could hardly believe the conversation going on right in front of me. "Excuse me! Mrs. Jefferson, Annie, can I squeeze in an opinion about all this?" I didn't wait for an answer. "Look, nobody would ever believe any of this, but since either it's real or all three of us are nuts, I'd like to get my two cents in. Obviously you have some sort of 'gift', Mrs. Jefferson, or you wouldn't be here arguing with a spirit. That being the case, I can only say that even though you have some ability to sense things that others cant, it probably isn't what you think it is. But I guess that makes no difference since I can't offer a better explanation. Anyhow, here's the gist of it; Annie and I are very happy living – well, being – in this house together and that's enough for me. Staying or going is completely her decision and I don't believe there's a thing you or I can do about it."

Daisy leveled her eyes at me, then at Annie, then relented. "Hmm, guess it ain' fo' me t' say what God do wit chu, but it still don' seem raht. Soon's Ah git t' church, Ah'm gonna commence t' prayin' n' make sho he know dis girl ain' wheah she s'pose t' be. Dass all Ah got t' say. Now hep me wit mah coat!"