Seeing Is Believing
03
My eyes shot open in the middle of the night because of the loud screaming beside me. The bed was sticky with sweat and the screaming was that of a man. I opened my eyes in the moon illuminated room. Zak was lying beside me, tossing and turning. I sat up, remembering his nightmares. I shook him lightly to wake him. “Zak…” I murmured, half asleep. I noticed that his face was moist and tears were coming from his eyes. “Zak!” I shook his shoulder and got him to open his eyes. Instead of speaking, he sat straight up, looked at me and pulled me tightly against him.
“Oh my God…oh my God…” was all he cold say. I moved my hand up and down his back in hope to comfort him. I shushed him as I did so.
“It was just a bad dream…shh…shh…” I murmured. “You’re okay…you’re okay…We’ve got a big day tomorrow, why don’t you back on back to sleep?” He mumbled something I didn’t hear into my shoulder and pulled me closer. “Do you want to tell me about it?” I asked.
“I—I don’t remember what it was about,” he said.
“That’s okay, here, lay back down…” Because he was so strong and whatnot, I couldn’t simply slip out of his arms, so the two of us lay back down. He was holding me close, like I was his one and only lifeline to keep him in this world. He had warned me about his nightmares and I’d had some myself that sent me into a terrified state much like this.
***Zak’s POV***
When I woke, I was only half surprised. The sheets were soaked—from my own sweat, I was sure. I must’ve had another nightmare. I always got them either before or after a lockdown. But, the thing that did surprise me was the dark haired woman lying against me. Her scent was sweet and he skin was soft. I looked around the room and realized my mistake. This wasn’t my house, this was Tennessee and the girl that I had my arms so tightly around was someone I had met two days ago. Macy Holland, she would be joining us on a lockdown tonight, and nephew, Mason, would be helping with the tech portion of it.
“If you let me up I’ll go make some biscuits and gravy,” Macy said. I realized that my grip—though it wasn’t bone crushing—was tight enough to keep her against me rather than being able to move freely.
“Sorry,” I murmured, letting her up.
“We all have nightmares, Zak,” she said, sitting up. “It’s not like you did it on purpose just to cuddle with me…Besides, you warned me anyway.”
“Still, we barely know each other and…” I trailed off, knowing that all of the girls that I did date usually ran away screaming. Not because of me in general, but my house was haunted and when I paired that with my nightmares it wasn’t a very good mix. If I did even kind of like Macy it wouldn’t work out simply because of that. I couldn’t help but feel that Nick was lucky. His wife didn’t hold all of the paranormal stuff against him.
“It’s okay, really,” she gave me a genuine smile and stood from the bed. “I know somethin’ ya can do for me, though.”
“What’s that?” I asked, ready to do practically anything, it all just made me feel bad.
“You can take my sheets and whatnot to the washer and start a load—ya do know how to use a wash machine, don’t ya?”
“Yeah…”
“Sorry, I had to ask. Ya never know with you city boys, for all I know you’ve gotta maid.”
“I don’t. I live alone and clean up my own mess.”
“Mm, good to know,” she smiled and disappeared from the bedroom.
***Macy’s POV***
I prepared breakfast for everyone and made five plates. Zak still hadn’t come into the kitchen yet and I knew very well that he was awake. So, I walked down the hallway to my bedroom to let him know it was done. My bed was stripped of its sheets and he was lying there with a very tired expression on his face. “I finished breakfast; nobody else is awake yet…”
“Okay,” he said. Something about his tone told met that he wasn’t himself. Rather than just leaving, I went over to the bed and took a seat.
“Are ya okay?” He looked at me and nodded unconvincingly. “Zak, I’ve only known ya for a few days, but you’re not yourself. You’re…different.”
“This always happens before a particularly bad lockdown. But all of the girlfriends I’ve had—not saying you’re like my girlfriend or anything but…they always get freaked out.”
“Well it’s not like ya can control it. There’s certain aspects of our lives that we have no control over an’ I think that people need to stop being picky bastards an’ jus’ get over it…It’s like what I tol’ Mason. He’s who he is an’ if kids ‘re gonna be assholes then that’s their—” I froze.
“Kids are picking on Mason?” Zak asked with his brow knitted in confusion.
“Yeah…I wasn’t ‘possed to tell anybody ‘bout that. But, that’s why he didn’t go to school yesterday.”
“That really pisses me off! I hate bullies, they’re just cowards! What the hell gives them the right to pick on one kid just because—why are they picking on him?”
“Because he doesn’t have a mom or dad, he’s ‘scrawny’, and they think he’s nerdy.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I could tell that this was a subject that Zak was very passionate about. I didn’t know why, maybe it was a personal experience or something, but he clearly meant it when he said that he hated bullies.
“I know. He’s great…I just want to home school him or something. That’s just not right. He won’t let me go down to the school—I don’t care if I’m like twice those kids’ age, I’ll kick some ass.”
“I’ll help,” he broke a smile and actually looked a little bit like himself.
“This is weird…” I said. He looked at me with slight surprise on his face.
“What is?”
“I don’t know; I feel like I’ve known ya for a long time when we only met what? Two days ago? Ya were jus’ that weird city guy that came into my diner and asked me if he could prove to me that ghosts exist. Am I jus’ weird or do ya get that feelin’ too?”
“I get it actually. You don’t seem like some girl that I met a few days ago. You’re certainly different from everybody else,” he admitted. Slowly, his hand reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I knew what this motion meant before he sat up and was close to my lips. He was planning on kissing me. Planning on. He would have, but there was a knock on my door followed by Mason’s voice.
“Aunt Macy, is one of those plates my in kitchen?” he asked through the door.
“Yes, Mason,” I replied.
“Do you want me to wake Nick and Aaron? There’s no more snow emergency…”
“Let them sleep,” Zak called. “They’ll be pains in my ass if they’re grumpy later.”
“Okay…” Mason left the outside of the door.
“I bet they think the same thing ‘bout ya,” I grinned.
“Probably, but there’s something I have to do or I will be a pain in everyone’s ass later.”
“What—” His lips were all of a sudden on mine. I had thought the moment had passed, but apparently not. It was one of those first kisses that you couldn’t forget. He was clearly the dominate participant in the kiss but I didn’t care. He was somewhere between gentle and rough, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it as his hands tangled themselves within my dark hair and mine found their way to the nape of his neck.
“I feel much better now,” he smiled at me with confidence that made my heart speed up a bit. “Don’t you?” he asked with a smirk that made me want to kiss him all over again.
“Well…” Dammit, I had to. I kissed him and he kissed me right back. “Now I do,” I said a moment later. “Come on, I made biscuits an’ gravy.”
***
“That was really good,” Zak said, patting his stomach. “Man, how did you do that?”
“It’s all made from scratch,” I said.
“Nick and Aaron are missing out,” he replied. Zak, Mason, and I all looked over at the two sleeping guys.
“Maybe we should wake them up,” I suggested.
“Nah,” Zak said. “We don’t need to head up there until about noon.”
“So what am I going to do tonight?” Mason asked.
“Well, if you want to, you can walk around with a camera and be a fifth member of our team tonight. I can show you both some of the technology before we leave.”
“Can I?” Mason asked me.
“It’s up to you honestly,” I told him. “Maybe we should watch episodes of the show before we leave…” I said. “We can look it up on Netflix, can’t we?” I looked over to Zak.
“It should be on there.”
***
Eventually Nick and Aaron woke up and ate their food. They thanked me and Zak said that we should probably leave to get showers and get ready. Zak said that he left something in my room and asked me to help him find it. So I didn’t think anything was up until he turned around and kissed me for a third time that day. “You’re a brat, ya know that?” I asked.
“No, I just…I like kissing you,” he smiled slightly and did it again.
“Mm,” I agreed. I didn’t want to think about what would happen when he had to leave in a few days. I had to just repress that for a while. But there was one question that I had to ask…I had to know. “Do ya do this everywhere ya go? Do you jus’ go ‘round an’ get girls to kiss ya then lure them into your bed?” I knew that if he said yes, then I would lose respect for him, but if I didn’t ask, I would regret it forever.
“Honestly?” he asked. I nodded. “I’ve never done this before in all of the years I’ve been doing this. You’re the first local that I’ve ever even so much as kissed. Usually I see them for an interview and that’s it.”
I didn’t say anything. I knew he was being honest. I simply kissed him again. “Ya shoul’ get goin’,” I said pecking his lips again. He nodded in agreement.
“Sadly, yeah. I’ll come back by to pick you and Mason up before the lockdown.”
“A’right,” he kissed me once more and left.
***
Mason and I spent the rest of the day watching episodes of Ghost Adventures on Netflix.
“You like him, don’t you?” he asked by the time we were on the third or forth episode out of nowhere.
“What do ya mean, Mason?”
“You. Like. Zak.” He said. “You’re so clueless sometimes, Aunt Macy. I swear.”
“Again, I ask: What. Do. Ya. Mean?” I asked, taking the same tone with him.
“I mean you want to date Zak. He likes you. There’s a mutual liking going on.”
“No there’s not…” I said. Even I couldn’t believe myself. My tone betrayed me right away.
“Oh yeah, then why were you two about to kiss this morning?” he asked.
“Wh—”
“The door was cracked. I could see you. I just want you to be careful…”
“What makes you think I won’t be careful, Mason?” I asked.
“Just…Think about it. He’ll be leaving in a few days, right? What then? Are you going to try to have a long distance relationship with him…or?”
“I don’t know…” I said nervously. I paused the show and looked over at him. “I don’t know why or how this is happening either. I’ll be honest with you. He’s different, Mason. I’ve dated other guys before—you’ve met them but—”
“You haven’t ever looked at them like you do Zak—or them at you either. I know that there’s something different going on between you…You wouldn’t have just let any random stranger sleep in your room…Let alone your bed.”
“I dunno what to do, Mason.”
***Zak’s POV***
“You look happy,” Nick noted as we sat in my hotel room, waiting for time to go by. I shrugged, trying to cover my smile a bit. “Happier than I’ve seen you before any lockdown since we were armatures. Does it have anything to do with a certain Southern Belle?”
“No…” I said.
“Really, you’re gonna try to lie to me, Zak?”
“Fine, okay. Yeah, it might have a little bit to do with Macy…” I admitted.
“Oh yeah? What about Macy?”
I explained to him about how she handled my nightmare and everything. “I know it probably doesn’t seem like much, but…I just feel this connection to her…”
“Does this seem like the girl you could maybe…marry?” Nick asked. I looked at him nervously for a moment. How could I even consider that now? I had just met her…But…
“I don’t know, Nick. Maybe. Maybe I could marry her someday, if all went well. And look at Mason…she’s practically raised him…He’s great and—”
“She would be a good mother of your children?” I could see the smirk on his face. I was the one that said that I didn’t really plan on having kids. Aaron wanted to get remarried and have children someday and Nick loved being a dad. I just was always afraid of what could happen…
“If I so decided to have kids, yeah, she would be a great mother of them.”
“Wow, look at you, Zak Bagans, family man,” he grinned. “I think it could work. And listen to this Macy Bagans,” he laughed. I pushed his arm.
“Stop it, bro. I’m being serious.”
“Me too. It works…”
***
It was about four o’clock and we needed to get up to the plantation. I called Macy to let her know that we were about to leave. “Hi there,” she said on the other end.
“Hi,” I laughed.
Aaron made a fake gagging noise as he walked out to the van. I held out the keys to Nick as he followed Aaron out. I wanted to sit in the back by Macy.
“So, what’re you doin’?” she asked with a slight giggle.
“Well, I’m just about to leave to come get you.”
“Oh are you now? What if I don’t want to go with you?” she asked. I feigned shock.
“Why wouldn’t you want to come with me?”
“Wow Zak, aren’t you being a little too forward there?” Aaron laughed.
“Tell Aaron to get his mind outa the gutter,” Macy said on the other line.
“Macy said to get your mind out of the gutter,” I relayed the message.
“Well bro, maybe she needs to get her mind in the gutter so she can catch all of your hidden meanings. Like that right there was you straight up asking her for sex.”
“What the hell, man?” I gave him a really annoyed look.
“Zak, he’s just messing with you,” Nick said. But for some reason, the words weren’t clicking. I had this sudden anger for Aaron, I just wanted to go over there and beat the hell out of him. Nick even took a step back from me when he saw my face. “Whoa bro, what’s going on?”
“Zak, are you okay?” I didn’t know if it was just timing or what, but as soon as Macy spoke, I snapped out of it.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I gave an easy smile and walked a little bit away from the guys.
“Just checkin’,” she replied.
“I’m okay, really. I was really just calling to let you know that we were about to leave to come pick you and Mason up,” I told her, finally getting to the point.
“A’right, we’re ready to go whenever you an’ the guys get ‘ere. I’m excited.”
“Oh my God…oh my God…” was all he cold say. I moved my hand up and down his back in hope to comfort him. I shushed him as I did so.
“It was just a bad dream…shh…shh…” I murmured. “You’re okay…you’re okay…We’ve got a big day tomorrow, why don’t you back on back to sleep?” He mumbled something I didn’t hear into my shoulder and pulled me closer. “Do you want to tell me about it?” I asked.
“I—I don’t remember what it was about,” he said.
“That’s okay, here, lay back down…” Because he was so strong and whatnot, I couldn’t simply slip out of his arms, so the two of us lay back down. He was holding me close, like I was his one and only lifeline to keep him in this world. He had warned me about his nightmares and I’d had some myself that sent me into a terrified state much like this.
***Zak’s POV***
When I woke, I was only half surprised. The sheets were soaked—from my own sweat, I was sure. I must’ve had another nightmare. I always got them either before or after a lockdown. But, the thing that did surprise me was the dark haired woman lying against me. Her scent was sweet and he skin was soft. I looked around the room and realized my mistake. This wasn’t my house, this was Tennessee and the girl that I had my arms so tightly around was someone I had met two days ago. Macy Holland, she would be joining us on a lockdown tonight, and nephew, Mason, would be helping with the tech portion of it.
“If you let me up I’ll go make some biscuits and gravy,” Macy said. I realized that my grip—though it wasn’t bone crushing—was tight enough to keep her against me rather than being able to move freely.
“Sorry,” I murmured, letting her up.
“We all have nightmares, Zak,” she said, sitting up. “It’s not like you did it on purpose just to cuddle with me…Besides, you warned me anyway.”
“Still, we barely know each other and…” I trailed off, knowing that all of the girls that I did date usually ran away screaming. Not because of me in general, but my house was haunted and when I paired that with my nightmares it wasn’t a very good mix. If I did even kind of like Macy it wouldn’t work out simply because of that. I couldn’t help but feel that Nick was lucky. His wife didn’t hold all of the paranormal stuff against him.
“It’s okay, really,” she gave me a genuine smile and stood from the bed. “I know somethin’ ya can do for me, though.”
“What’s that?” I asked, ready to do practically anything, it all just made me feel bad.
“You can take my sheets and whatnot to the washer and start a load—ya do know how to use a wash machine, don’t ya?”
“Yeah…”
“Sorry, I had to ask. Ya never know with you city boys, for all I know you’ve gotta maid.”
“I don’t. I live alone and clean up my own mess.”
“Mm, good to know,” she smiled and disappeared from the bedroom.
***Macy’s POV***
I prepared breakfast for everyone and made five plates. Zak still hadn’t come into the kitchen yet and I knew very well that he was awake. So, I walked down the hallway to my bedroom to let him know it was done. My bed was stripped of its sheets and he was lying there with a very tired expression on his face. “I finished breakfast; nobody else is awake yet…”
“Okay,” he said. Something about his tone told met that he wasn’t himself. Rather than just leaving, I went over to the bed and took a seat.
“Are ya okay?” He looked at me and nodded unconvincingly. “Zak, I’ve only known ya for a few days, but you’re not yourself. You’re…different.”
“This always happens before a particularly bad lockdown. But all of the girlfriends I’ve had—not saying you’re like my girlfriend or anything but…they always get freaked out.”
“Well it’s not like ya can control it. There’s certain aspects of our lives that we have no control over an’ I think that people need to stop being picky bastards an’ jus’ get over it…It’s like what I tol’ Mason. He’s who he is an’ if kids ‘re gonna be assholes then that’s their—” I froze.
“Kids are picking on Mason?” Zak asked with his brow knitted in confusion.
“Yeah…I wasn’t ‘possed to tell anybody ‘bout that. But, that’s why he didn’t go to school yesterday.”
“That really pisses me off! I hate bullies, they’re just cowards! What the hell gives them the right to pick on one kid just because—why are they picking on him?”
“Because he doesn’t have a mom or dad, he’s ‘scrawny’, and they think he’s nerdy.”
“That’s ridiculous,” I could tell that this was a subject that Zak was very passionate about. I didn’t know why, maybe it was a personal experience or something, but he clearly meant it when he said that he hated bullies.
“I know. He’s great…I just want to home school him or something. That’s just not right. He won’t let me go down to the school—I don’t care if I’m like twice those kids’ age, I’ll kick some ass.”
“I’ll help,” he broke a smile and actually looked a little bit like himself.
“This is weird…” I said. He looked at me with slight surprise on his face.
“What is?”
“I don’t know; I feel like I’ve known ya for a long time when we only met what? Two days ago? Ya were jus’ that weird city guy that came into my diner and asked me if he could prove to me that ghosts exist. Am I jus’ weird or do ya get that feelin’ too?”
“I get it actually. You don’t seem like some girl that I met a few days ago. You’re certainly different from everybody else,” he admitted. Slowly, his hand reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. I knew what this motion meant before he sat up and was close to my lips. He was planning on kissing me. Planning on. He would have, but there was a knock on my door followed by Mason’s voice.
“Aunt Macy, is one of those plates my in kitchen?” he asked through the door.
“Yes, Mason,” I replied.
“Do you want me to wake Nick and Aaron? There’s no more snow emergency…”
“Let them sleep,” Zak called. “They’ll be pains in my ass if they’re grumpy later.”
“Okay…” Mason left the outside of the door.
“I bet they think the same thing ‘bout ya,” I grinned.
“Probably, but there’s something I have to do or I will be a pain in everyone’s ass later.”
“What—” His lips were all of a sudden on mine. I had thought the moment had passed, but apparently not. It was one of those first kisses that you couldn’t forget. He was clearly the dominate participant in the kiss but I didn’t care. He was somewhere between gentle and rough, I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it as his hands tangled themselves within my dark hair and mine found their way to the nape of his neck.
“I feel much better now,” he smiled at me with confidence that made my heart speed up a bit. “Don’t you?” he asked with a smirk that made me want to kiss him all over again.
“Well…” Dammit, I had to. I kissed him and he kissed me right back. “Now I do,” I said a moment later. “Come on, I made biscuits an’ gravy.”
***
“That was really good,” Zak said, patting his stomach. “Man, how did you do that?”
“It’s all made from scratch,” I said.
“Nick and Aaron are missing out,” he replied. Zak, Mason, and I all looked over at the two sleeping guys.
“Maybe we should wake them up,” I suggested.
“Nah,” Zak said. “We don’t need to head up there until about noon.”
“So what am I going to do tonight?” Mason asked.
“Well, if you want to, you can walk around with a camera and be a fifth member of our team tonight. I can show you both some of the technology before we leave.”
“Can I?” Mason asked me.
“It’s up to you honestly,” I told him. “Maybe we should watch episodes of the show before we leave…” I said. “We can look it up on Netflix, can’t we?” I looked over to Zak.
“It should be on there.”
***
Eventually Nick and Aaron woke up and ate their food. They thanked me and Zak said that we should probably leave to get showers and get ready. Zak said that he left something in my room and asked me to help him find it. So I didn’t think anything was up until he turned around and kissed me for a third time that day. “You’re a brat, ya know that?” I asked.
“No, I just…I like kissing you,” he smiled slightly and did it again.
“Mm,” I agreed. I didn’t want to think about what would happen when he had to leave in a few days. I had to just repress that for a while. But there was one question that I had to ask…I had to know. “Do ya do this everywhere ya go? Do you jus’ go ‘round an’ get girls to kiss ya then lure them into your bed?” I knew that if he said yes, then I would lose respect for him, but if I didn’t ask, I would regret it forever.
“Honestly?” he asked. I nodded. “I’ve never done this before in all of the years I’ve been doing this. You’re the first local that I’ve ever even so much as kissed. Usually I see them for an interview and that’s it.”
I didn’t say anything. I knew he was being honest. I simply kissed him again. “Ya shoul’ get goin’,” I said pecking his lips again. He nodded in agreement.
“Sadly, yeah. I’ll come back by to pick you and Mason up before the lockdown.”
“A’right,” he kissed me once more and left.
***
Mason and I spent the rest of the day watching episodes of Ghost Adventures on Netflix.
“You like him, don’t you?” he asked by the time we were on the third or forth episode out of nowhere.
“What do ya mean, Mason?”
“You. Like. Zak.” He said. “You’re so clueless sometimes, Aunt Macy. I swear.”
“Again, I ask: What. Do. Ya. Mean?” I asked, taking the same tone with him.
“I mean you want to date Zak. He likes you. There’s a mutual liking going on.”
“No there’s not…” I said. Even I couldn’t believe myself. My tone betrayed me right away.
“Oh yeah, then why were you two about to kiss this morning?” he asked.
“Wh—”
“The door was cracked. I could see you. I just want you to be careful…”
“What makes you think I won’t be careful, Mason?” I asked.
“Just…Think about it. He’ll be leaving in a few days, right? What then? Are you going to try to have a long distance relationship with him…or?”
“I don’t know…” I said nervously. I paused the show and looked over at him. “I don’t know why or how this is happening either. I’ll be honest with you. He’s different, Mason. I’ve dated other guys before—you’ve met them but—”
“You haven’t ever looked at them like you do Zak—or them at you either. I know that there’s something different going on between you…You wouldn’t have just let any random stranger sleep in your room…Let alone your bed.”
“I dunno what to do, Mason.”
***Zak’s POV***
“You look happy,” Nick noted as we sat in my hotel room, waiting for time to go by. I shrugged, trying to cover my smile a bit. “Happier than I’ve seen you before any lockdown since we were armatures. Does it have anything to do with a certain Southern Belle?”
“No…” I said.
“Really, you’re gonna try to lie to me, Zak?”
“Fine, okay. Yeah, it might have a little bit to do with Macy…” I admitted.
“Oh yeah? What about Macy?”
I explained to him about how she handled my nightmare and everything. “I know it probably doesn’t seem like much, but…I just feel this connection to her…”
“Does this seem like the girl you could maybe…marry?” Nick asked. I looked at him nervously for a moment. How could I even consider that now? I had just met her…But…
“I don’t know, Nick. Maybe. Maybe I could marry her someday, if all went well. And look at Mason…she’s practically raised him…He’s great and—”
“She would be a good mother of your children?” I could see the smirk on his face. I was the one that said that I didn’t really plan on having kids. Aaron wanted to get remarried and have children someday and Nick loved being a dad. I just was always afraid of what could happen…
“If I so decided to have kids, yeah, she would be a great mother of them.”
“Wow, look at you, Zak Bagans, family man,” he grinned. “I think it could work. And listen to this Macy Bagans,” he laughed. I pushed his arm.
“Stop it, bro. I’m being serious.”
“Me too. It works…”
***
It was about four o’clock and we needed to get up to the plantation. I called Macy to let her know that we were about to leave. “Hi there,” she said on the other end.
“Hi,” I laughed.
Aaron made a fake gagging noise as he walked out to the van. I held out the keys to Nick as he followed Aaron out. I wanted to sit in the back by Macy.
“So, what’re you doin’?” she asked with a slight giggle.
“Well, I’m just about to leave to come get you.”
“Oh are you now? What if I don’t want to go with you?” she asked. I feigned shock.
“Why wouldn’t you want to come with me?”
“Wow Zak, aren’t you being a little too forward there?” Aaron laughed.
“Tell Aaron to get his mind outa the gutter,” Macy said on the other line.
“Macy said to get your mind out of the gutter,” I relayed the message.
“Well bro, maybe she needs to get her mind in the gutter so she can catch all of your hidden meanings. Like that right there was you straight up asking her for sex.”
“What the hell, man?” I gave him a really annoyed look.
“Zak, he’s just messing with you,” Nick said. But for some reason, the words weren’t clicking. I had this sudden anger for Aaron, I just wanted to go over there and beat the hell out of him. Nick even took a step back from me when he saw my face. “Whoa bro, what’s going on?”
“Zak, are you okay?” I didn’t know if it was just timing or what, but as soon as Macy spoke, I snapped out of it.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” I gave an easy smile and walked a little bit away from the guys.
“Just checkin’,” she replied.
“I’m okay, really. I was really just calling to let you know that we were about to leave to come pick you and Mason up,” I told her, finally getting to the point.
“A’right, we’re ready to go whenever you an’ the guys get ‘ere. I’m excited.”