Page 14 of The Time of My Afterlife

As I walk Pearl back home, I think about the events of this afternoon.

Florence and I died back there and were given a second chance at life. This is madness. If I didn’t need to walk Pearl home, I would be heading to the pub as I could murder a pint.

The memory of waking up next to an unconscious Florence in that strange afterlife bedsit rushes back to haunt me. I recall my frantic efforts to wake her and the panic that she might never wake up again. Even though Florence is a constant source of irritation, frustration and anger for me, I wouldn’t want her to be seriously injured. It took her ages to come round, which made me anxious and a little emotional. I will never admit this to her.

Pearl is quiet, which gives me valuable time to think.

What do I need to do to pass this test? I recall what Hilda and Iris said. Florence and I need to change something. Okay – so what is the something I need to change?

Pearl holds on to my arm as we cross the road, and I look at her. It makes me recall what Hilda and Iris said before they explained the test. One of them said that Florence and I had been too busy arguing while people close to us had been asking for help. A little burst of excitement rockets up my spine. This is a test about helping someone.

Our conversation from earlier in the café comes back to me. Before I got distracted by Florence laughing with a male customer and the handbag thief, Pearl was telling me she needed to sell copies of Mary’s book and that Mary wanted her to track down her true love. An idea unfolds in my mind. Maybe I could help Pearl with one of these?

The latter would require a lot of hard work, and as they were the same age, the mystery man would now be in his late seventies. He might not even be alive. The thought of telling Pearl that her long-lost true love died years ago makes me feel uncomfortable. I will opt for the easier option and help her sell copies of Mary’s self-published book. Boom!

‘I want to help you,’ I say as we turn onto our cul-de-sac.

She lifts her head and smiles. ‘With what?’

‘Selling Mary’s book.’

Her face lights up. ‘Really? That would make me very happy.’

I can sell a few books. That will be enough. I don’t think I would need to make it a bestseller or anything. That’s hard enough already for any author, and Pearl admitted that Mary quietly self-published her novel with little fanfare. Still, if I’m going to sell some copies I’m going to have to put some work into it, and I don’t know where to start. I think of Florence and her book reviewing hobby. She’d know what to do, but I’m not asking her. She would take over. No, I will sell a few books myself.

‘Do you have a physical copy?’

‘Mary’s brother dropped off two at my house. He’s not read it and has no intention of doing so either.’

I cast her a puzzled look. ‘Oh – why’s that?’

Pearl shrugs. ‘He’s always claimed Mary was weird. He has, though, promised to keep her book up on Amazon.’

‘Mary wasn’t weird.’

Pearl doesn’t answer me, which I think is because she will get upset.

‘Do I get people to buy it from Amazon then?’

‘Yes, Clark.’ We stop at my house so I can grab my spare keys for Pearl’s house. Once we have those, I let her inside, and she passes me a copy of Mary’s book – titled The Habit of Goodbye.

She taps the cover. ‘Would you do me a favour and read it first?’

‘Haven’t you read it?’

She shakes her head. ‘Any mention of Mary makes me upset. If you read it, you can tell me what it’s about.’

I hold the paperback, look down at its plain blue cover. ‘Do you think it’s a romance?’

Pearl chuckles. ‘Unlikely, but she was always full of surprises. You would help me a lot if you took the time to read it, though.’

There’s that word, ‘Help’, again. Maybe all I have to do is read Mary’s book? Perhaps that would be enough to pass the test?

‘Well, I’m going home now to dive in.’

She smiles and says goodbye.

As I turn on my heel to walk down her garden path, I spot Jack from across the road sitting on the kerb with his bike lying behind him.