Chapter 4
Nellie
Thanks to her Voice, Nellie was now madder than ever at Sweeney. She spent the rest of her night watching him toss around on his bed while she plotted. A positively evil smile spread across her face at half-past three. This would be fun.
She couldn't help noticing how he still curled himself around the empty side of the bed where Lucy must have slept. That certainly didn't help.
Sweeney
Sweeney woke at dawn, feeling as though he hadn't slept at all. All night, dreams had tormented him mercilessly. But now it was day, and he pushed these nighttime visions forcefully from his head. He didn't have time for those irrational things that only belonged in the shadowy realm of dreams.
But these irrational things had different plans. He flipped the Open/Closed sign briskly as London began to stir, then turned to face his barber shop. Something flickered in the corner of his eye and he pivoted slowly, dread setting off a curious fluttering sensation in his abdomen...but there was nothing there. He shook his head a little, telling himself that he was only tired, it was nothing. Nothing at all.
The door tinkled cheerily and Sweeney tried to force a smile, or at least something other than the look of trepidation that haunted his features. He didn't think he was very successful.
"How may I help you, sir?" It was a young man, with an eager, puppy-dog look that reminded him strongly of Anthony. Vaguely, Sweeney wondered if this was another one of his ghosts, until the young man introduced himself as Lewis. He was proposing to his beloved that day, and wanted to look the part.
"And who is the young lady?" Sweeney asked as he spread the lather across Lewis's face and neck.
"Marjorie," said Lewis dreamily. Sweeney noted how his eyes softened and a slight smile curved his lips when he spoke the name. "But my pet name for her is Magnolia. Her skin is so pale, the exact color of a magnolia petal. It makes her hair look even blacker than it already is, and her eyes look like chocolates." Lewis laughed a little, his eyes still hazed with love. "Do I sound stupid?"
Yes, Sweeney thought, but didn't say. "No, just lovestruck. Have you got a place all picked out for you two to stay?" Why am I still talking? Sweeney finished shaving him and began to dab cologne around his jawbones.
"No, actually," Lewis said sheepishly.
Sweeney froze as Nellie's shape materialized next to him. She leaned forward, her auburn curls gently brushing his cheek and sending a strange little electric shock through him.
"Rent out my old rooms to 'im," she whispered.
"What? Why?" Lewis, assuming Sweeney was speaking to him, blushed harder.
"Dunno. Just haven't thought that far ahead, I guess," he said, while Nellie insisted, "Because I said so!"
"All right!" he said impatiently, slightly afraid of what Nellie's phantom might do to him if he refused. Then, to a confused Lewis, "I have a few rooms downstairs. You could move in there." Lewis grinned happily.
"How much?" he asked, causing Sweeney to look at Nellie, a sarcastic question on his face.
"Five pounds," she said.
"Ten pounds," Sweeney proclaimed. Lewis assented eagerly while Nellie's face turned sour. Sweeney was hard-pressed not to stick his tongue out at her like a child. He finished his work in silence, broken only by Lewis's cheery humming.
As soon as the door swung shut, Sweeney whirled to face Nellie. She was grinning triumphantly.
"What was that for?" he roared. Nellie shrugged blithely.
"One of my whims?"
"Well, I'll tell you what you can do with your whims-" he started, then stopped abruptly as Toby walked in with a broom. If he noticed the outburst, he didn't comment. Just mad old Mister T talking to himself again. He left as silently as he'd come.
What wouldn't Sweeney do to get rid of that bloody boy...
"Dunno why yer complainin', darlin', I jus' got you ten pounds a week," Nellie said, picking up where they left off.
"You know very well why I'm complaining! I hate people! I just got rid of--" He stopped abruptly, neck flushing, while Nellie admirably glossed over that fact that he had been about yo say "just got rid of you."
"Dear, you hate just about anythin'. Nothin' I can do about that." With that, she disappeared, effectively closing the conversation.
"Ahhh!" Sweeney yelled in frustration, kicking angrily at his chair. This action only served to anger him more, plus give him a sharp pain in his toe. Again, the room trembled as if an invisible presence were laughing at him.
"God, woman, do you ever shut up?" he yelled, kicking the wall this time.
Nellie
Nellie watched Sweeney's frustration with silent amusement. Thankfully, her Voice remained quiet for the moment, leaving her to wonder about Marjorie. The real reason she had wanted Lewis to bring her here.
About seventeen, eighteen years ago, Nellie had been particularly angry with Albert's lack of ardor and had caught the eye of a foreign stranger who frequented her pie shop. One thing had led to another, and soon Nellie was left with nothing but a pregnancy, a dead husband, and a vanished lover.
But she remembered that baby girl. A more beautiful illegitimate child the world had never seen, with magnolia-pale skin and raven hair that mirrored her daddy's. She's had chocolate eyes that melted whenever she smiled. Just as Lewis had described. And Nellie had dared to hope that somehow, Lewis's Marjorie was her little Marjorie too.