A Haunted Marriage & The Cookie Baking Poltergeist

Chapter 6: Julia Meets Her Neighbor

    "Could you pass me the syrup honey?" Julia asked as she scooted her chair closer to her husband.

    Michael reached across the breakfast table to grab the bottle and handed it to his wife.

    Julia moved her chair closer to Michael so their bodies could be physically touching one another. They were both already dressed and planned to partake in a favorite autumn activity of upstate New York, apple picking. Julia was clad in jeans, work boots and a red sweater. Michael was dressed in jeans, work boots and a flannel jacket. Michael shoved a forkful of pancakes in his mouth before gulping down the remainder of his cup of coffee.

    "This kitchen is so cozy, even with all of the boxes packed. I feel like we are living in that tiny apartment in Queens again," Julia said.

    "Yeah the studio, where I could extend both my arms and almost be able to touch the two walls. Small, but it beat living with our parents after we were married."

    Julia placed her hand around Michael's shoulder. "What good times. They seem like so long ago."

    "There are still good times to be had now," Michael said before kissing Julia on the cheek.

    Julia turned to her left before pushing her breakfast plate out of the way. She kissed Michael on the side of his mouth. Julia wiped away the lipstick from Michael's face.

    Michael stood up and took the breakfast plates over to the sink. After he washed both of them he said, "Look honey, witness your lovely husband place the sponge in its rightful resting place in the rack above the sink and not inside the sink."

    "You're learning. Sponges are full of germs. And I don't smell any funny smells now. I think we're getting used to this place."

    "Wow, our neighbor is sitting on her porch," Michael said after glancing out of the window. "We should go over to meet her before going out. The orchard doesn't open for another hour anyway."

    "I would love to meet her. I am surprised it's taken this long."

    Michael dried off his hands with a dishtowel before leaving the kitchen and heading for the front door. Julia followed him close behind. Michael locked the door on the way out. After grabbing his porch railing, more white paint flakes came off in his hand. "Don't worry, I have some paint in the basement to paint this."

    "I am not complaining. We've had too much of that lately. I can't wait to meet Mrs. Idleman. You said she was so nice. I have had too many bad neighbors in my life."

    As they descended the porch steps they noticed that Mrs. Idleman's head was buried in a newspaper. She sat in her brown wicker chair, not noticing Mike or Julia.

    "Maybe she's deaf and doesn't notice up. You said she was pretty old. Maybe we shouldn't bother her now," Julia whispered in Michael's ear.

    "I don't think she will mind."

    As Julia and Michael headed to the Honda, Mrs. Idleman's newspaper dropped from her face. She folded the paper four times before placing in on a small wood table in front of her chair. "Don't be shy, come on over," Mrs. Idleman said as she stood up from the chair. She was dressed in a blue dress, red slippers, with a black overcoat.

    "Hello Mrs. Idleman," Michael said.

    "Susan please. We're neighbors. No need to be so formal."

    Julia followed Michael up Susan Idleman's front porch. A an empty black coffee mug sat on the table next to the folded up newspaper.

    "This is my wife Julia."

    Julia extended her hand to Susan's. "Nice to finally meet my new and only neighbor."

    "Likewise. You two look like you're off to some fun adventuring today."

    "Apple picking," Michael said.

    "That should like fun. I used to love to do that. Would you like to come in for a bit? I never get many visitors?"

    "Sure," Michael and Julia uttered simultaneously.

    "I promise not to hold you up for too long."

    "Don't worry. It's still early in the fall so there should still be plenty of apples to pick," Julia said.

    Susan Idleman exhibited a slight limp as she opened her front door. A ten foot tall tan painted hallway led to Susan's living room. Both hallway walls were adorned with photos of Susan and another man. Susan was photographed at varying ages. Some of the photographs were of Susan and her late husband. Other photographs contained Susan and another woman who appeared to be in her seventies. The hallway led to a living room containing a leather couch and recliner. A glass coffee table was set in front of the couch. On one side of the coffee table stood a framed photograph of Susan and a man. On the other side was another photograph of Susan with the woman who also appeared prominently in the photos hung on the hallway walls.

    Susan sat in the recliner. Julia and Michael sat on the couch.

    "Would you two like anything, tea or coffee perhaps?"

    "I am fine," Michael said.

    "Nothing for me. We just had breakfast," Julia said.

    Julia and Michael were now only two feet from Susan. Susan's breath smelled of a mixture of coffee and mint gum. Her teeth were too perfect to be real, most likely false teeth. Susan's gray hair was set back in a bun behind her head.

    "I just want to say that it's so nice to have neighbors once again. It's been over a year since anyone lived in your house. As I told your husband, I have an aide that comes out and helps me, but it can get pretty lonely here. I have been here for fifty years and it's really the only home that I've known. My husband passed on ten years ago."

    "I am so sorry," Julia said.

    "He was a really good man. The cancer got him. He was a heavy smoker. We never had any children, but at least we had each other," Susan said pointing to her husband's photograph. "Mike here says you two would like children."

    "Absolutely. Hopefully it will happen someday. Who is that woman in the photograph with you?" Julia asked.

    The other woman in the photo had a white apron on, gray hair and round glasses perched atop a round face. She appeared to be in her late seventies.

    "That was my best friend Frances, Frances Pine. She lived in your house for years. The only little kid we had running around this area was her son Samuel. Sam is now all grown up. Sam had his own son named James. He should be about ten now. Samuel and his mother had a falling out unfortunately. Frances felt that Sam didn't let her see her grandson enough. And Frances loved her grandson more than life itself. It's a shame. She didn't get to see him enough before she died. She used to bake and bake, in your house, just for him. As I told Mike, she worked out of her basement. She used to have an oven there. In fact one time she put on a batch of cookies too long and the oven went on fire. Luckily she had a fire extinguisher nearby. But she died doing what she loved, baking. She dropped dead right in the basement. Heart attack they say, but she really died of a broken heart. Luckily her son stopped by that day. He found her body lying on the basement floor. Thank God he didn't bring James that day. What a shock that would have for a little kid."

    Julia's mouth stood open as Susan told her tale. Why the hell didn't Mike tell me about any of this?

    "I don't mean to scare you guys. You seem like such a nice couple. I really hope you stay around. During the past ten years there must have been at least four other couples who have lived in your house. They always ended up leaving. I think two of the couples ended up getting a divorce. What is it these days with divorces? One out of every two marriages ends in divorce. It wasn't like that in my day. Anyway, those couples used to complain about hearing things and smelling things in that house. I think it's a bunch of bullshit. One woman just said that as an excuse to leave her husband to get his money in the divorce. He made quite a bit of money as I understand in the stock market. Too many couples today are just a bunch of quitters. Young people need to have more fight in them. A marriage is like having an old valuable car. It might be better to fix it than to give up and buy a new car. You two look like fighters. I hope you will stay around here for quite some time. At least till I am dead and buried."

    "Don't worry Susan. We intent to stay on for quite awhile. We love it up here. And feel free to stop by anytime," Michael said.

    Julia clenched her teeth. Doesn't he let me talk or have an opinion. It's always Michael, Michael, Michael.

    "I think we best be going Mrs. Idleman. It was nice meeting you," Julia said.

    Julia stood up while Michael remained seated.

    "Would you like me to show you out?" Susan said.

    "We're fine," Julia said as she walked down the hallway. Michael jumped up from the couch to chase after her.

    "Thanks again Susan," Michael said as he followed Julia down the hallway.

    Susan Idleman remained seated on her recliner. She took the remote control out of a pouch on the side of the recliner to turn her TV on.

    Julia ran out of Susan's house to her own front door. She giggled her keys in front of her before being able to successfully open her front door. Michael ran after her and slammed the front door.

    "What the hell was that about?" Michael yelled from the front hallway.

    Julia reappeared with a wineglass full of red wine. She took a gulp before saying, "Get out of my way. I want to go out by myself. I can't believe you never told me that we actually had someone die in this very house."

    "I didn't want you to have another one of your freak outs. And by the way you're acting now I see that my decision was right."

    "Married people aren't supposed to hide things from one another. There has to be a foundation of trust. You obviously don't trust me enough to tell me about our own house."

    Maybe I should have told her what Susan told me the other day. Sometimes I am so stupid. Why would I want to piss this woman off?

    "I was going to tell you. I only learned this stuff the other day. And so what if someone died here? We can make our own history here. That stuff happened years ago."

    "Well it bothered everyone else who lived here. I can't believe the real estate agent never told us about any of this. I never liked that woman from the beginning, but she seemed to sucker you into buying this place. A place where a woman dropped dead. We should sue her."

    "You wanted to buy this place too. Remember it's our clean slate to start fresh. Don't you f*****g pin this entire thing on me," Michael said raising his voice.

    "I think we should get a pet like a dog. There is enough property in the back so it can run around. It would be like our child since we're probably never going to have a child anyway."

    "Why do you have to be so f*****g negative. I don't want a dog. They're too much work. Because I know I will be the one to clean up all of the poop in the yard and take it for walks. A dog would just be a distraction."

    "Not listening to one of my ideas again. What a shocker. I am getting the hell out of here. I smell burning again. You can check the basement by yourself. I am going to Starbucks or something to find a real friend."

    "We were supposed to go apple picking."

    "Go by yourself. Find someone that is willing put up with you," Julia yelled before taking another sip of wine. She ran past Michael and slammed the front door on the way out.

    Julia backed out of the driveway so fast that her tires screeched on the blacktop. Michael ran over to the kitchen window and saw Julia's Subaru speed away kicking up dirt in its tracks.

    "f**k YOU," Michael yelled before jogging over to the kitchen sink. He took the sponge from the metal basket and ran water over it. Michael dropped the sponge in the sink. "Let her come home to that."

    Michael left the house and slammed the front door. His adrenaline was too high to notice the sweet, burning smell emanating from the basement.

                                                                                    #

    Four hours later Michael returned home to find Julia's car parked in the driveway. He parked his car and pulled out a cardboard box with three holes set on top. Michael walked slowly up the front steps carrying the box under his arm. Upon opening the front door he yelled, "Honey, I am home."

    Michael did not receive an answer. He walked into the living room and found am empty couch with the television off. Michael went into the kitchen which was also empty. However, he did notice one change from when he left, the sponge was now out of the sink, set back into its proper holder above the sink.

    Tucking the box carefully under his arm, Michael headed down the hallway to find the bedroom door closed. Michael opened the door with his free hand to find an empty wineglass on the bedside table. Julia's right hand lay on the pillow, but her head and the rest of her body were buried under the comforter.

    Michael sat on the edge of the bed and placed the box on the floor.

    Julia's head popped out from under the comforter. She brushed some hair away from her eyes before whispering, "You left the sponge-"

    "In the sink again. This time on purpose because I was so pissed off. I am sorry. I should listen to you a little more. I brought you something to make it up to you."

    Julia pushed herself up in bed on her elbows. "Did you bring me flowers?"

    "No, but something else that's alive. Go ahead, open it," Michael said as he handed Julia the cardboard box.

    Julia pulled the flaps open to reveal a black cat. She pulled him out of the box. The cat remained motionless and purred in her arms. "He's so nice."

    "I compromised. A cat is a lot less maintenance than a dog. The shelter said he is about a year old and a male. His name was Smokey but we can give him another name. I even bought a litter box and cat food that are still in the car."

    Julia pet the cat on the head before saying, "Let's name him Bogey after Humphrey Bogart since as you know my favorite all time movie is-"

    "Casablanca."

    "Bogey is such a lap cat already. He hasn't left my side. He will probably sleep in bed with us."

    "That's fine with me."

    Julia reached over to hug her husband. "I am sorry about before too. I am sorry I can be such a b***h at times."

    "It's ok. I forgive you if you forgive me."

    "Of course I do."

    As Michael and Julia clung to each other, they didn't notice Bogey dart out of the bedroom. Bogey ran into the kitchen and stopped in front of the basement door. Bogey scratched at the door before backing up and raising his tail. Bogey hunched his back before hissing at the basement's door frame.