There was a sharp rap on the door.
“I think she's here. Take care of her, Katie. ” Travis smiled ruefully, then opened the door.
Jenni stood there, hands on her hips, her head down. Her face was obscured by her hair.
“Hey, Jenni,” Travis said, and brushed past her quickly.
Katie could tell he did not want to upset Jenni anymore than she already was. Another reason why she adored him so. He always was considerate of others.
Jenni stepped into the room and slammed the door behind her.
“Jenni?”
Her friend looked up, her face streaked with tears. With a small cry of despair, Jenni launched herself into Katie's arms and clung to her.
“Oh, Jenni! What is it? What's wrong?”
“He can't see me like this! He can't! He doesn't know how I used to be!”
Katie held her tightly and could feel her friend trembling violently.
“Jenni, what is it? What is it?” Jenni's tears were soaking her neck and shoulder. Katie stroked Jenni's dark hair soothingly with one hand.
There was no answer for a minute or two as Jenni wept. Then, at last, she raised her head and wiped at her soaked cheeks with irritated hands. Jenni struggled to get her breath, then regained some of her composure. “I think Lloyd is haunting me. ”
Katie blinked and ran Jenni's words through her mind one more time. “Huh?”
“I think Lloyd is haunting me and trying to kill me. ” Jenni's dark lashes glittered with tears and she fastened her red eyes on Katie defiantly. “And I'm not joking!”
Katie could see the anger, desperation, and fear in Jenni's face. She was not about to argue with her. She had suffered her own struggles with the past and couldn't judge her. “Why do you think that? What happened?”
In a voice that trembled with emotion, Jenni explained the events of the day. Katie listened in silence, taking in the words,
watching Jenni's expression. It was obvious that the seal Jenni so painstakingly kept clamped over her past had been ripped off. She was trembling and afraid. Instead of looking like her usual rough and tough self, she appeared emotionally shattered. She resembled the woman standing on the front porch of her home in her pink bathrobe watching tiny dead fingers pressed under the door.
“And Juan cannot see me like this! He can't! He loves the new Jenni. Not the old one. I hate being the old Jenni! I hate it! I don't like feeling this way! I don't like being weak! I thought I was past this!” Jenni flung herself onto Katie's bed in a dramatic finish.
Katie slid onto the bed and gently rubbed Jenni's back. “It's okay, Jenni. It's okay to have a bad day. We all have them. It doesn't mean you're the old Jenni. It just means that something happened today that really upset you. I told you about the dreams I used to have about Lydia. I still struggle with that guilt. I struggle with the knowledge that I did not kill the thing she became. Hell, I struggle with the guilt that I did not put your children and Lloyd out of their misery. ”
Jenni gave her a fierce look over her shoulder. “I don't give a shit if Lloyd wanders out there forever. I hope he rots slowly. I hope his soul is still in his body! I hope he's aware of what he is! Fuck him!”
Katie slightly smiled at this tirade. It sounded more like the Jenni she knew now. “Okay. So if you feel that way, why let his memory-”
“His ghost,” Jenni corrected.
“Okay, his ghost. Why let his ghost upset you like this? Why let him make you weak and scared? You know that…” Katie hesitated, then plunged on. “You know Benji can't get out of the house. He couldn't be there today. As for Lloyd and Mikey, they are hundreds of miles away. Even if his ghost is here, he can't hurt you. ”
Jenni sat up and looked at Katie fiercely, her dark eyes burning with raw emotion. “He wants me to die so I will be in his power again.
That is what it is. ”
Taking Jenni's hand gently in hers, Katie said softly, “Then don't let him. You have a life here with Juan. We're about as safe as we can be in this world. You have Jason and Jack. You have friends. You have so much. ”
“He wants to take it away,” Jenni whispered, and fresh tears fell.
“You can't let him, Jenni. You can't let him have power over you from beyond death. You're more than he ever imagined. You know that, right?”
“He said I should die and be with the boys,” Jenni said in a low voice.