Billie Holiday’s soft songs flooded the room, and her attractive voice surrounding the people jumbled on the white sofa. He was thirty years old, and his partner was Jezebel. In the darkened living room, they shared intimate moments together.
“This is so naughty of us!” She spoke in a whisper. “What if your wife comes home early?”
“It’s been at least a year since my wife got home early!” Herman said, “We have the whole morning.”
“The whole morning!” Jezebel spoke again. “Well, Mr. Loverman, let’s make the most of it then.” Give me a kiss that means something.
Herman threw his sweater to the side and said, “That’s not all I’m going to do. Just wait.”
They were lost in the moment when a door opened and stopped them. They were scared because Herman’s wife wasn’t expected to be back for hours.
“Who is it?” She spoke in a whisper.
Herman begged, “It can’t be my wife.” “She told me she had to work late.” Quickly get—”
It was time for the music, and the front door slammed shut.
A young voice broke the silence. “What is Herman?” Are you there?” Jake, Herman’s son, walked in with a bag over his shoulder.
“What are you doing home, Jake?” Herman asked with anger.
Jake said, “They sent us home early because of a scare.” “They thought there was a gunman in the school.” “The man, who is this woman?” Jake looked at Jezebel and asked.
Herman said that Jezebel wasn’t there. “Jake, you must be seeing things.”
Jake said, “But I see a woman right there.”
Herman made up a lie about how shocked Jake was by the school scare.
“Focus on ten and close your eyes.” The ghost can’t see you if you can’t see it. You can see that if you do that, it will go away.
As Jake did what he was told and counted, Jezebel went into the bedroom. The woman was gone when he opened his eyes.
“I made her disappear?” Jake screamed.
“The ghost is gone.” “You’re a brave young man,” Herman told him.
Jake agreed to keep what happened a secret, so Herman gave him a lot of TV time.
After Jake left, Jezebel came back into the room and told Herman he was wrong for what he did. “What did you do?” “You told your son lies?”
“Stepson,” Herman said to fix it. “What did you think?” Tell him we’re here. Accept our relationship? “I will do anything to keep us together.”
Jezebel let out a sigh. She said, “Okay, cool.”
Herman said, “That was close.” “We’ll get back to what we were doing another time!”
She said, “Yeah,” and kissed him goodbye. “See you later, Loverman,” she said in a flirtatious way.
Grace, Herman’s wife, came home after dark. As they sat down to eat, there was tension around the dinner table. Jake jumped at the chance to talk about his strange day.
“Mom,” he said, “we left school early today because they thought there was someone with a gun inside.”
“What…what happened?” Grace let out a gasp.
“The warning was not true. Jake, everything is okay, right?” Herman stepped in.
Jake said, “I’m fine.” “But when I came home, I saw a ghost.”
“A ghost?” Grace asked out of worry.
“It’s just his imagination,” Herman said, trying not to show how scared he was. “Post-traumatic stress from the school scare.”
Grace paid attention to Jake and ignored Herman. “What did the ghost look like?”
Jake said, “She was a lady with big, frizzy hair.”
“She?” Grace said it again while looking at Herman.
Herman laughed in a nervous way. “He must be shocked. I want you to watch cartoons,” he told Jake.
Herman tried to make Grace feel better after Jake left. There was still stress.
“I’ll call the school and get Jake an appointment with the psychologist,” Grace told me. “Now that you’re not working, you can take him to the appointment.”
“I’m trying to find a job!” Herman almost yelled.
“I understand. “But…maybe spend less time at that Moe’s Diner you go to a lot and help Jake more,” Grace said in a stiff voice.
Herman told her he would help her with her son but didn’t say much else.
Grace chose to talk to Jake after dinner. “Talk to the school counselor.” “Honey, it might help you figure out what’s going on, okay?”
Jake said, “Okay, Mom,” and then he wished Herman and Grace a good night.
When Herman saw that his secret affair with Jezebel was coming out, he felt terrible. He thought he could handle the affair, but it was harder than he thought.
Grace and Herman looked at each other in the living room. “Taking him to the doctor is the best thing that we can do. The safety of my boy is in danger.”
They fought, and Herman said it wasn’t necessary again, but Grace was determined and won. “I will set up a time for Jake to see the psychologist!” I’m going to take him there myself!”
Jake’s worry was clear in Dr. Warren’s office, which is good for kids. He sat down and his little hands gripped the chair.
Dr. Warren gave him a warm welcome. “Let’s talk about what happened, Jake.”
Jake was unsure what to do because he was thinking about the scary event that brought him here and Herman’s ghost trick. “Herman said if I close my eyes, the ghost would disappear.”
The doctor looked at Grace. “What did Herman teach you?” Whoa, ghosts?”
According to Grace, Herman was her second husband. Jake then said, “Herman told me that when I close my eyes, the ghost can’t see me, so it goes away.”
Dr. Warren spoke softly to Jake. “You can’t close your eyes and make bad things go away. Talk to someone you trust.”
Jake agreed, saying that he was also afraid that the ghost would break up his family. “I saw a woman. That woman scares me because she might make Herman leave Mom.”
The doctor looked at Grace. “I’m going to suggest that Jake come in more often to better understand how I feel.” “Jake,” he said to the boy, “could you please excuse us?” Your mom is going to leave soon. I want to set up a time for your next visit with her.”
Jake said “ok” and left the room.
“I got a divorce from Jake’s dad because he chєαtєd on me.” “She slept with someone else,” Grace told Dr. Warren.
The man said “yes.” “I think what’s happening with Jake is a classic case of Kleinian Projective Identification,” he told me.
“Is it true?” “What should we do?” Grace asked, having doubts about her son.
“Don’t worry,” Dr. Warren told her. The idea comes from Melanie Klein’s work in the field of child psychology. When a child does projective identification, they put their feelings onto someone else or the outside world. They often do this to make the other person feel what they are feeling, which can lead to mistaken behavior like Jake’s. We’ll take care of this.
Grace said with worry, “I just want what’s best for Jake.” “If you think you can help him, then we’ll do whatever it takes.”
“I’d like to work with Jake,” Dr. Warren said next. “He might need therapy and medicine.” “I’m here to help both of you.”
During dinner, Grace told Herman what Dr. Warren had found. “What did he call it?” It was Herman.
“Something about projecting fears onto the external world,” Grace stated.
“Is it a real issue?” Then Herman asked.
“Yes, Dr. Warren says so.” Grace answered, “Jake might need medicine.”
Herman put his head down and focused on his food. “Is something wrong?” He was asked by Grace.
He said, “Uh, no, no, nothing wrong,” which didn’t make sense. “Just thinking.”
“Tomorrow I’m taking the afternoon off and going to lunch with Jake.” I think it would be nice to hang out with him. He might tell you what’s bothering him.
“Okay,” Herman said with a worried grin.
Grace and Jake talked about the food at Moe’s Diner. Jake closed his eyes all of a sudden and said he saw the ghost from the living room.
“What is the ghost?” “Honey, are you sure?” Grace asked, being worried and scared.
Jake pointed to Jezebel, the server with the curly hair. Grace walked up to her and asked if she had had any strange events at the restaurant. But Jezebel said there were no spooky events.
Grace kept going, “It’s just that kids pick up on things sometimes, you know?” Strange feelings or events that don’t make sense. I’d feel better if I knew if there’s anything strange about this place. For the sake of my son.”
Jezebel told Grace that she didn’t need to worry because Jake had a big imagination. Grace said thank you and went back to the table.
But the woman thought Jezebel was not quite right. As the pieces of the puzzle came together, she couldn’t shake the feeling that she was the truth.
Grace didn’t say anything when Jezebel dropped the food. Jake shut his eyes and started to count again.
Grace told Jake, “Don’t worry, she’s gone now.” Jake opened his eyes and looked at his ice cream.
Grace thought of something. “Jake, should we call Herman and ask him to join us for lunch?”
Jake gave an uninterested nod.
Grace was happy and smiled. “But my phone isn’t working.” I will ask the waitress if I can use hers.
Grace went up to Jezebel and told her, “My phone is almost dead.” Could I use yours to quickly call my office?”
Jezebel reluctantly gave up her phone. “No trouble.” She told him, “Go ahead.”
When Grace called Herman’s number, jezebel’s caller ID showed “Loverman.” This was the biggest shock of Grace’s life. Grace quickly hung up the phone and went back to the table, shocked. But now everyone knew the truth.
She told Jake to finish his food soon with a weak smile.
Grace went back home after setting up a play date for Jake. She sat down on the couch, grabbed her phone, and called Dr. Warren.
“Hi, Grace. I need your help and advice.”
Grace told what had happened and said she was going to take Herman’s things away. Dr. Warren agreed with her choice.
Soon, the moving crew showed up and started packing up Herman’s things.
And Herman was shocked when he got there. “What’s going on, Grace?” “Why are these men taking our stuff?” he asked, confused.
With a sarcastic smile on her face, Grace played the trick that Herman had once done with their son.
“Herman, what you men?” There are no men around. There must be ghosts around. Just so you know, those are not our things; they are yours.
Herman’s face turned pale. Now it was their turn.
“Grace, you have to believe me,” he said in a shaking voice. All of this wasn’t supposed to happen. I—”
Grace told him to stop, and her voice was strong and steady. “Herman, you have no reason to be sorry. It’s no longer okay to lie and cheat. Do you know what you’re to me now? What? A ghost!”
Herman’s eyes got red with sorrow, but Grace was determined. She told him that all of his personal belongings were being taken to a storage unit, which meant that they would no longer be living together.
“I’ve also talked with Dr. Warren, and together we’ve filed criminal charges for emotional abuse.” The cops are going to be here soon.
Soon, two police officers with shiny badges showed up. Herman was told of his rights, and he was taken away. Justice was done.
After being proven right, Grace closed her eyes, turned to the door, and counted to ten. This was her way of getting rid of Herman’s ghost.
When she opened her eyes, Jake was there. He ran over and hugged her.
Grace hugged him. Even though they didn’t know what lay ahead, they were united and would face any problems with love and courage.