There's this strange arc of three storylines going on with the Another Life series. This is the present-day arc. This is the second part of Forward into the Past and Present.
Title: Forward Into the Past and Present
Characters: Sasha/Lennon/Greer
Series: What Lies Between/Another Life
Lennon stomped on the stake again wishing he’d thought to bring a hammer. He stepped back and admired the shelter he’d put up. Sure it leaned a little to the right, but it’d keep the sun off of him. And more importantly, off the laptop, he’d be working on.
With the tarp erected, Lennon set up the small table and chair, placing them in the center of the shelter so when the sun moved, he wouldn’t have to move the table. He knelt to reached into his backpack for the laptop that Sasha had given him to work on. Once the laptop was on the table, Lennon reached back into the pack for the bug spray the generous man had given him. A brand new can! Lennon wasted no time in pulling the cap off and coating himself with the repellent.
As he sat down, he looked up and whispered for the millionth time a thank you to whatever gods were looking after him. Not only had Sasha given him a job, lent him the laptop, and bought him the bug spray, he’s offered Lennon a place to stay. It was only a large camper trailer, but it was nicer than the one-room apartment he’d been paying a fortune for back in the city.
The day after Lennon had met Sasha, he got up early ready to start his new job. He walked down the street to a grocery store to get as many boxes as he could. He wanted to get all of his stuff packed up before he told his landlord he was leaving. The landlord was a bit of an ass, an alcoholic who drank all the profits he got from the rent he charged, so Lennon knew he wouldn’t get his safety deposit back. He just wanted to make sure the man didn’t lock him out before he got all his stuff.
After getting the boxes, Lennon packed up all of his clothes, his meager kitchen items, and his own aging laptop. It only took him a few hours to pack up all he owned. He did a look around to make sure he got all his possessions. Everything was mostly in order.
He put the last box in his car before walking back inside and knocking on the first door. He knocked loudly and long knowing the man was probably passed out. The door opened showing the middle-aged landlord in a dirty tee-shirt and pants not zipped.
“What!”
“Um. I’m moving out. Today.” Lennon held out his keys.
The landlord grabbed the keys. “You coulda left them in the mailbox. I was sleeping.” Then he slammed the door.
Lennon sighed. He had been worried the man would give him grief for not giving notice. But it turned out better than he expected. He'd get a new start, maybe have some kind of future.
With that hopeful thought, Lennon hurried over to his car and jumped in. He turned the key and nothing. His car wouldn’t start. He got out and lifted the hood of the car and stared at the engine. He had no idea what he was looking for. He knew where to put the oil, the windshield fluid, and water, but that was all he knew about car engines.
He pulled his phone out of his pocket and called Sasha. At least he’d be responsible and explain why he was running late. The phone call was quick and assured him he’d done the right thing by taking the job. Jumper cables in hand, Sasha showed up and saved the day.
“I think you have to turn it on.”
“AHHH!!’ Lennon yelled startled out of his memory of that day.
“EEK!” Greer screamed.
“Greer! You scared me!” He’d been so caught up in his thoughts he hadn’t noticed Greer had appeared.
“You scared me!”
Lennon started to apologize but saw the glint of mischief in the younger man’s eyes. “You’re an ass.”
Greer laughed. “I was just being helpful. You just push that button right there.”
Lennon pushed the power button on the laptop. Slowly he turned to face Greer. “So, um. You’re dead? That’s what Sasha told me.”
“I no longer live on this Earth.”
“You’re still alive?”
Greer looked at him with eyes older than the moon. “Not here. The spirit never dies.”
Lennon didn’t know what to think. He didn’t think Sasha had lied to him. But Greer was being elusive as hell. “So you are part of the afterlife?”
“Yes! Now you understand.” Greer beamed.
“No. I don’t understand. Not at all! Why are you here? Is there a God? Is there a heaven? A hell?”
Greer huffed. “You ask a lot of questions! There’s a time for every answer. You can’t move forward into the past and present until it’s time.”
“What?” Lennon shook his head. Greer wasn’t making any sense at all. “I don’t even know what you are saying!”
“Not now. But you will,” Greer assured him. “Now it’s my turn to ask questions!”
Lennon nodded, prepared to answer questions of the modern world. The other man probably had a lot of questions about computers and cars. Hell, maybe even zippers! He’d have to look up when zippers were invented. He picked up a water bottle. Sasha was right, even under the tarp, the heat was oppressive.
“Do you lie with men?” Greer asked.
Lennon choked on the water he’d just taken a drink of. “What?!”
“Do you lie with other men? In the marriage bed?”
“Um. Er. That was not the kind of question I thought you’d ask! But, um, yeah.” Lennon ducked his head to look at the laptop. He hoped Greer would think he was busy and stop his line of questioning.
“Oh! That’s great! You can lie in the marriage bed with Sasha!”
“Greer!” Sasha’s voice echoed over the field.
Lennon wanted to curl up and die. Someone like Sasha would never be attracted to someone like him. Not looking to see Sasha’s face, he blurted out, “No. Sasha has a degree. A career. He wouldn’t want a loser like me.”
“Hey! A degree doesn’t make someone a winner. Nor does not having a degree make someone a loser. You are not a loser and I don’t want to hear something like that again. Do you understand?” Sasha scolded. Then he turned to Greer. “And you! You do not ask questions like that.”
“Sasha, you are mistaken. I do ask questions like that. I just did ask a question like that. You were standing right there.”
“Greer, you know damn well what I mean. If you weren’t a ghost, I’d turn you over my knee and spank you!” Sasha exclaimed half exasperated, half amused.
“I am not a ghost! I’m a presence!”
“What’s the difference?”
“Well, a ghost wears a sheet and says boo. I’m much more articulate!”
“Impertinent. That’s what you are.”
“See the stump right over there? I want you to sit there and remember the manners I’m sure the tribe, if not your family, taught you.”
Lennon watched as Greer walked over to the stump, dragging his feet the whole way. The spirit let out a heavy sigh as he sat down. Lennon would have laughed but he was trying to figure out what was going on in his body. Sasha talking about spanking and sending Greer into a timeout was making his stomach feel funny.
“Lennon. Lennon. Are you listening to me?”
He turned to Sasha. “Um. Yeah. I mean no. What did you say?”
“I said I hope Greer didn’t make you feel uncomfortable.”
Lennon shook his head no. He didn’t feel comfortable but that wasn’t because of what Greer had been saying. It was the way his body going all wonky at the mention of spanking and t punishment. He felt excited. And trepidation. And. And. And he didn’t know what else he felt.
“Good. He can be quite chatty and doesn’t know what boundaries are.” Sasha interrupted his thoughts. “Here are some pottery shards from section C6. Could you please log them on the spreadsheet? Make sure you list color, size, and distinct markings. Like this one looks like at one time it had beads on it.”
Lennon swallowed hard and forced himself to pay attention. This was his job now and he didn’t want to be fired on the very first day.
“I’m going back to the site. Make sure you drink plenty of water. Even in the shade, you can dehydrate quickly.” Sasha grabbed a bottle of water and then turned to where Greer was still sitting. “Have you found your manners?”
“Yes, they were right here the whole time!”
Sasha shook his head and laughed. “Ok, then you can get up. I’m going back to the site. Do you want to come with me or stay with Lennon?”
“I’ll stay and help Lennon. I’ll tell him what the pieces are from.”
The rest of the day went by quickly. Lennon swore he learned more about the land and the people who had once lived there than in his years at high school. Greer explained to him why some pieces of pottery were more ornate than others, the social structure of the village, and how the people interacted with the land they lived on.
During lunch, Sasha joined them and the conversation continued. By late afternoon, the artifacts that he was logging became pieces of someone’s life, not just broken clay.
“Change is coming. Sooner than I knew.” Greer’s voice seemed to come from a distance though he was right next to Lennon.
“What?”
“A storm is on the horizon. Trust in Sasha. He’s a protector. I must go now. I’ll be back soon.”
Before Lennon could say anything the spirit was gone. He shook his head, wondering if he’d imagined the whole thing.
“Pack up. A storm is coming. I just got an alert on my phone,” Sasha said as he walked up.
“Yeah. Ok. Greer just said the same thing and left. He said a change was coming, a storm, and I should....” Lennon didn’t want to say what Greer had told him next. That he should trust in Sasha.
“You should what?”
“Um. Pack up.” Lennon turned off the laptop. The battery was about dead anyway. “Should we take down the tarp? It’s a bitch to put up, but if there’s a lot of wind, it might get blown away.”
“Yeah. Let’s pack it all up.”
Lennon and Sasha worked well together dismantling the shelter and getting everything put in the cars.
“I’m going to run by the store and pick up a few things. Why don’t you head home, wash up, and come to the house? If the storm gets too bad, you don’t want to be in a camper. We’ll have dinner and you can sleep on the couch.”
Looking at the dark clouds rolling toward them, Lennon nodded. If a tornado popped up, the camper would offer no protection at all. “Drive careful. I’ll see you back at your place.”
TBC
Read more of the Another Life series.
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