EMPLOYEE: Hi, welcome to Drake's. Just one tonight?
EZRA: Uh, I'm actually with a group... uh...
I'm sorry, I don't see them...?
EMPLOYEE: Ha ha, you with the ghosts?
EZRA: Uh
EMPLOYEE: This place is their 'haunt', so Drake started callin' em ghosts. Cute, right?
They get together on the back porch every Tuesday night.
EZRA: Oh
Uh, yeah, that sounds like them. Thank you!
EMPLOYEE: Don't mention it.
You need a menu?
EZRA: Oh no, I'll be okay. Thank you.
EMPLOYEE: Well, if you want something just come inside and let me know, alright?
EZRA: Okay, thank you!
.
chips shuffling
MAN WEARING SUNGLASSES: -so I was thinking, I could keep tabs on 32nd and Washington tomorrow, and that way Starr can make xyr gig at the coffee shop.
PERSON IN HOODIE: sick
LONG-HAIRED WOMAN: That's fine, but then who's watching your usual spot?
I fold, by the way.
ALYSSA: Oh hey, mopey! Over here!
EZRA: Um, hi
ALYSSA: Your new recruit, ma.
LONG-HAIRED WOMAN: Oh, no need to put pressure on them, we don't even know them yet.
MAN WEARING SUNGLASSES: Watch out, if she offers you tea she's going to dragoon you.
LONG-HAIRED WOMAN: Christopher! Please.
chips shuffling
MAN WEARING SUNGLASSES: I call.
River is...
a 6 of diamonds.
ALYSSA: Ezra, come sit down.
EZRA: Hi.
ALYSSA: Y'all, this is Ezra, ma's latest catch.
Ezra, meet Lycosa, Utah's finest undead: On my left is Chris
taps table
CHRIS: Present.
ALYSSA: next to him is Star
STAR: yo
chips shuffling
ALYSSA: the lovely lady is Ms. Dvorak
DVORAK: Pleased to meet you, Ezra.
ALYSSA: and I'm Alyssa Roberts.
EZRA: Glad to meet you all.
chips shuffling
CHRIS: Call.
Let's see it.
ALYSSA: Three aces, damn!
CHRIS: Nope
DVORAK: Great job, Star!
CHRIS: Nope.
Straight wins. 6-7-8-9-10.
DVORAK: Oh
ALYSSA: Boooo!
STAR: >:P
ALYSSA: You suck.
I told you not to let him shuffle any more, ma.
chips shuffling
CHRIS: Cry harder. Your tears fuel me.
laughter
ALYSSA: You're the worst, man. You're the worst.
Tell him, Star.
STAR: the worst
DVORAK: Anyway, listen. Who's going to watch Christopher's post tomorrow?
CHRIS: I told you, there's construction on the whole block now.
Might as well not bother with it for the time being.
ALYSSA: He has a point.
Not gonna be a lot of creepies crawling out of the broken asphalt.
DVORAK: Well, I'd rather be safe than sorry.
CHRIS: She's about to cancel your set, Star. Brace yourself.
STAR: eat my shorts
ALYSSA: Why don't we have the newbie do it?
DVORAK: Ezra doesn't even know what's going on yet, that's not fair.
I gave all of you at least one week before bringing you on.
EZRA: Huh?
ALYSSA: Ain't as many of us as there used to be, ma.
Besides, I think it'll be good for her.
Sense of purpose and all that.
EZRA: Now hang on.
I came here to get some answers, and I have even more questions now than I did this afternoon.
DVORAK: Alright, I'll give you the talk.
Oh, have a potato skin, hon. They're divine.
EZRA: I can eat?
I thought Alyssa was joking about that earlier.
CHRIS: You can eat, but you don't have to.
I would eat these though, they're no joke.
STAR: chefs kiss
DVORAK: So, you're a ghost now. Since you can still interact with the material world, you can keep living a semblance of a human life, if you so choose.
We all do, to some extent. I work light hours at the hospital, Star is a musician... we all have our connections.
But the reality is that lots of people don't want ghosts around. The reactions of the living are unpredictable, but other beings of the afterlife are pretty much unifed in their desire to... restore the natural order, as it were.
So we keep it a secret, and over the years we've formed a sort of secret organization of spirits, working to keep ourselves and each other safe and happy.
Lycosa is our home right now, and part of our work is a weekly watch schedule. Creatures of the night are wont to come out, well, at night, so on Wednesdays we stay up late and sweep our designated areas.
There's no pressure for you to formally join up with us right now, Ezra. This is a lot to take in.
But I should put you in our group text while I'm thinking about it.
ALYSSA: I'll do it, ma. What's your number?
DVORAK: Thank you, dear.
EZRA: Well I
I can't just go... making overnight plans willy nilly. I still have a job, don't I?
CHRIS: Do you?
EZRA: I
I guess I don't know.
Okay, I'll do it. I'll keep an eye on the... asphalt tomorrow. But I'll need someone to drive me.
And I'll look into my job in the mean time.
tap tap tap
ALYSSA: I'll drop you off before heading to my spot and then pick you up after.
DVORAK: Well thank you, both of you, that's so sweet!
CHRIS: You want in, Ezra? I'm going to shuffle again since none of these clowns are doing it.
ALYSSA: Yeah, yeah, whatever, poindexter.
EZRA: Um...
Yeah, I'll play. I like poker.
CHRIS: Then we'll get along fine.