Cleaning House

The old house hadn't changed much since Jack was last in it after mom's funeral eight years ago. Not the structure, anyway. The vibe inside the house now had changed for the better, of course, with his father finally gone for good. What was once a horrible place to live and an even worse place to visit had no life in it anymore...and Jack couldn't help but think that was a good thing, all things considered.

Jack knew he would have to be the one to clean it out and put it on the market. He wasn't going to ask his brother for help, of course, with everything that had happened.

Even without knowledge of what had transpired here for decades, Jack figured it would be a tough sell. While this was a house with good bones to it, as they say, the fact was, they were old bones. It was in a remote and difficult part of town and the house had long since given up trying to protect its inhabitants from the upper Midwest winters.

Since mom's death, his father had really let things go here. There was only a rumor of a driveway out in front and in this pouring rain, Jack was careful to remove his shoes before entering. No sense in tracing in mud that would need to be cleaned up. Jack stared up at the ceiling and saw the rain was making its way in after only a few hours of rain, albeit heavy. The rot in this place was probably widespread.

Jack made his way into what was his old man's room. There were more clothes in the hamper than in the closets. Was it worth it to clean these up and give them to a shelter or should he just throw them all away and move on with things?

The doorbell startled Jack out of his and he turned his head violently. Through the window, he looked straight into their eyes. Trick or treaters.

Shaking his head, Jack remembered that this was, in fact, Halloween. With the reality of the task at hand sinking in, he had forgotten that it was October 31. The irony was too obvious to him that here he was to clear out the house, and his memories, on this of all days.

Jack opened the door to let the kids, and their father, in.

"Jack!", said the father. "My God...it's been....twenty years?"

Kevin Mullaney. Jack and Kevin played basketball together in high school. Jack felt a sickening sense of nostalgia. He had shared a lot with Kevin back in the late 1980's. Kevin knew a lot about what went on in this house, though didn't know everything. Jack had also unknowingly shared his girlfriend with Kevin the night of the junior prom. Jack didn't think Kevin knew that he knew about that.

"Something like that, Kev. How are you? "

"Jeez, I'm great! I heard you are in Chicago now? I think I sent you a Facebook invite some time back.."

"Yeah...I'm in Chicago."

Kevin's next question was interrupted by a loud thunder clap. The rain was intensifying. Jack suddenly was annoyed at the entire situation. Why would Kevin come here to get candy with his kids when he knew the stories about Jack's father? What kind of man would betray a friend, even if in high school, by taking his girlfriend to the middle of the football field, after knowing what he knew about his friend's struggles? Finally, why would they be out in a middle of the rain?

Jack had long since learned about impulse control from his shrink. He followed the process in his head and calmed himself down. He was proud of his newfound ability to control his temper, his reactions.

Everything Jack did now was calculated and thoroughly vetted in his mind. A good thing too. The old Jack lost his first wife because he couldn't reign himself in.

The kids looked restless, though adorable.

"You know, guys, you've come to the right house (Jack never thought that this was the right house for anything, but today it suddenly was). I have a Halloween adventure up downstairs in the basement. Who wants to see it?"

The kids smiled...they were in. Kevin put his hand on Jack's back and said, "Great to see you again, bud."

Jack asked that they all take off their shoes. No tracking in the house.

Opening the cellar door, the lights were off. Jack led the way to the basement.

Suddenly, the ballerina shrieked at the sight of a man tied up with an axe in his head across the room, near the big screen television. Jack and Kevin laughed. As if on cue, Kevin led the kids across the floor.

"My God, Jack", Kevin said. "That mannequin looks just like your father."

Jack would have rather eliminated the kids first so that Kev could feel the pain. He was the one who took the girl from him, not these kids. And he's the one who found him here at the house. Kev could never keep his mouth shut and he surely wouldn't now.

These kids were really just caught in the crossfire of a situation beyond their control.

But, thanks, again, to his developed sense of impulse control, he took the pragmatic approach. Kev had to go first. Jack buried the axe deep into Kev's skull. He never knew what happened, unfortunately. Out of decency, he quickly finished the trick or treaters.

As Kevin wiped his hands, he noticed that his father, while almost certainly near death, was still twitching a bit like the tied up animal he was. Kevin leaned down to whisper to him, hoping he could hear him. He pointed at Kev and his children.

"See what you did, Dad?"

Even near death, the old man was causing problems. Yes, he covered for Jack when mom died, but what else had he ever done for him except cause heartache just like this.