Chapter 15

SYDNEY, Loretta helped her husband at the restaurants these days. When she wasn’t teaching her dance class. 

Things were very busy.

 The restaurant was usually packed from opening until closing. The line often stretched outside the door.

On top of that, tourists stood around taking photos. Their second restaurant was doing better as well…just by association.

At their main location, they sold t-shirts. Loretta came up with the idea for one of the designs. She based it off that old movie, Poltergeist.

The shirts had a few restaurant tables, displaying the menu with the logo. Then there was a TV off to the edge and a young customer near the TV. He had a speech balloon coming out of his head."They're here!"

Another shirt had the restaurant logo and a TV. Then below that, it said, "It all began here!"

It didn't all begin here. Really. But the TV part did.

They were famous. They were a part of history.

Loretta couldn’t help but love that. She wondered what her brother-in-law thought about it. He  always prided himself on being the successful one in the family. The star. Well, now he had company in that regard.

Loretta grinned. Then she looked at the clock on the wall. It was 12:00. The twins would be appearing soon. Zachary and Hayden did a show everyday from 12:30-1:30; then again at 5:00-7:00. Those were sure things. Then to ensure that the restaurant was always busy, they popped up at surprise times. 

The show was a hit, and it wasn’t only because they happened to be dead. It turned out Zachary and Hayden had a bit of talent, mostly with comedy. They also did some singing and dancing.

Every so often, they'd get a bit serious and give an inspirational lecture of sorts. What the audience really loved, though, was the interactive parts. Hayden and Zachary could see the audience, and they made comments. They asked questions. They played around with the children. 

The show was definitely family-friendly. Though if the twins made appearances in the later hours and no kids were around, the content got a little more risqué.

William closed the restaurant now at midnight. They used to close at ten. He was rarely at home, so neither were Loretta or Mia.

Mia did her homework, at the restaurant, in the small office in the back. She changed into her pajamas around 9:00 and slept on a blow-up bed. Then when the restaurant closed, they went home, and she was carried into her own bed. 

 *** 

The restaurant was packed.

There were no empty tables.

People stood outside; some peering through the windows.

They were fully staffed. They had to hire many new people to keep up with things.

At 12:30, the TV flickered and the twins appeared. Today they wore the uniforms of the Parramatta eels. 

They pretended to play…some sport? What did the eels play? Loretta was a bit lost when it came to sports. She wasn’t into it. If she remembered, though, she’d ask William later.

Hayden and Zachary stopped playing. They greeted the audience and then singled out a woman wearing Mickey Mouse Ears. Pointing to her, Zachary squealed "We're at Disneyland!"

Hayden made a sad face. "I always wanted to go to Disneyland. Now it's too late."

"Poor Hayden," Zachary said "But to make up for it, guess who we have as our guest this afternoon! Drum roll please."

The restaurant patrons banged on their tables.

Zachary and Hayden shouted,"Walt Disney!"

Mr. Disney wouldn’t be there.  It was just a running gag. Zachary and Hayden frequently promised hugely famous dead celebrities. The most frequent promise was Ned Kelly.

Loretta suddenly got an idea. They could make a t-shirt referring to the celebrity thing. Those would sell well.

* * *

Zachary and Hayden sang a parody of the newest Katy Perry song.

When they were done, Zachary said. "See that beautiful woman in the corner…the one with the blue flower dress."

Loretta blushed. They were talking about her.

"She's a very talented herbalist. If you look at the menus, you'll notice we now offer herbal teas. Loretta will make that for you."

Some people in the restaurant glanced at her. She gave them a little wave. She felt honored but also very embarrassed.

"If you look at the insert in your menus, you'll see we have some new items. Spicy lamb curry. And for dessert, American-style S'mores. I'd tell you they're delicious, but I'd be lying."

Hayden piped in. "We can't try the food from here."

Zachary said. "That's one of the reasons we say, don't do what we did. Suicide is wrong. Do you hear me, Kids? The food here sucks."

Hayden said."Well, it's not that bad. Really. And there are good things about being here."

 Zachary gave him a dirty look.

Hayden looked guilty and clamped his hand over his mouth, as if to shut himself up.

Loretta couldn’t tell if it was all part of the act, or if Hayden had truly been scolded by his brother. There had been a slight rise in suicides lately. It wasn’t just in Parramatta, though. All over the country. All over the world. Most people, though, were choosing to live—go about their normal life.

Loretta figured, what's the rush? They were all going to join Hayden and Zachary's world eventually. 

*** 

 Zachary and Hayden were quite popular; though not everyone was a fan.

A few of the haters had shown up at the restaurant. Only one had come inside which resulted in a call to the police.

Others just hung around outside with signs. 

It's not natural!

Zachary and Hayden are to blame for the suicides!!!

 Stay off our TV's!

William had gone over to some of them once to clear up some misconceptions. Hayden and Zachary were not the cause of, nor were they connected to the other EB's who were actually interrupting national and international broadcasts. Yes, they started the TV thing but they were not to blame for those who took it much further.

People also complained on social media. Loretta tried to avoid reading all that, because it could be very hurtful. In the past, cruel people would send out death threats to those that offended them with varying beliefs and opinions. Now death was not really that big of a threat, so they gave details about their torture plans.

The details could be absolutely disgusting at times.

Yeah. There was no point in reading any of it. Loretta preferred to concentrate on the positive. And there had been A LOT of that lately.

Continue to Chapter Sixteen

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