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Most of us have or know someone who has a ‘crazy’ aunt or uncle who is at the very least eccentric. Such was the case of my childhood friend Celia. Celia lived a few houses down from us and her ‘crazy’ aunt at the end of the street. Aunt Marie was very old and very rich although no one in the family could account for the reason. Aunt Marie simply arrived from Europe one afternoon in the late 1950s ready to establish herself in the good old USA with plenty of money to bear. She had never been married but was said to have entertained many fine gentleman of means which led some family member to think she was a woman of ill repute but that simply was not the case. Her favorite pastime of which she made no bones was gambling and card games.

Her home was technically a mansion and was filled with the best furnishings and expensive objects d’ art. She more or less stayed to herself restricting herself to her household staff and a few relatives she could tolerate but for some reason she took a shine to Celia. She would buy Celia little gifts and feed her petit fours and tea during visits. These visits lasted an hour or two on Saturdays and I remember I would always have to wait for Celia to come and play. She never said much about Aunt Marie except to say that she was “really, really nice.”

One day however, Celia came over after visiting and was quite giddy about her visit.

“I found out why Aunt Celia is SO rich but you must SWEAR never to tell any grownups!”

Now for two eleven year olds this was a big thing. A ‘secret’ family secret so to speak. You know one if those mysterious happenings that must never be spoken about to anyone ever! So I waited with baited breath to hear it.

“Aunt Celia is rich because of Black Jack,” said Celia.

“The game?” I queried.

“No. Black Jack is a guy.”

“A boyfriend?” I giggled.

“No. He is a spirit. An old riverboat gambler.”

“Oh come on!” I chided.

“No. I even saw him.”

With that some chills ran down my spine and the hair on my arms stood up. Thirty seconds later my rational mind kicked in.

“No way,” I said as I shook my head. “She has a lot of money and is playing a trick of some kind and is probably laughing because you got sucked in.”

Celia grew perturbed.

“If I could I would show you so you’ll have to take my word for it. I SAW HIM. She called him and out of nowhere this guy pops up over by the window.”

Having come from a family of psychics myself and being accustomed to seeing all kinds of loonies from the family vault of 70s strangos and Timothy Leary world, I just had to venture further.  I decided to question my friend and get to the bottom of it.  After all this was the 90s.

“What did he look like?”

Celia grew excited.

“Well, he was dressed in a black jacket and white fancy shirt with an ascot tie. He had black hair and a black hat. In his jacket pocket I could see a jack of spades playing card poking out. Aunt Marie said that was his “signature” and he always carried it. There was like a cloudy mist around him.”

I rolled my eyes.

“Did he speak?”

“No he just smiled at me and then Aunt Marie told me to leave before I could say or do anything else.”

“Well how did he make her rich?”

“He would go with her when she went to gamble and since no one could see him but her, he would tell her how to bet and win.”

“I don’t know C, I think she is messing with you.”

“She says they play cards every evening from midnight to half past.”

“Where?” I asked.

“In the sitting parlor where I visit her.”

Being a quietly mischievous child (the best way not to get caught) my brain began to plot.

“I think we should find out.” I said bravely.

“How?” Celia cowed.

“Let’s sneak out tonight and look through the window. You said she rarely closes the draperies.”

Celia’s eyes popped out of her head.

“What if we get caught?”

“Well I guess then we’ll have to truth up and take the punishment.”

Celia was at little risk – her parents being free expression liberal types. I on the other hand would be getting the hard hand of parental law if caught. At any rate, little by little I talked Celia into it.

The plan was to dress darkly with hoodies and meet halfway down the road then proceed through a few backyards until we reached the “window” destination. At that time I was living in New England and our street which was considered affluent had widely spaced out properties backed by woods. No one was ever “hanging around.” So the plan was set.

We met at 11:45 PM which gave us plenty of time to navigate the backyards of which I was very familiar having gone on lots of excursions with my older brother in the past. (Hey, what can I tell you – there was not much to do in Maine at that time). He even had my back covered in case we got caught outside before our mission was accomplished. My big brother was a master of diversion.

So, there we were bustling through the backyards until we reached the thick hedges behind Aunt Marie’s house. There was enough of an opening for two skinny kids to push through and no security alarms to worry about. We could see the sitting room window aglow with soft lighting. There was definitely someone in there.

We sidled closer up to the window keeping our heads low but so we could still see. It was almost midnight. We could see Aunt Marie setting up a card game at a small table in the corner. Suddenly the clock inside the room struck twelve. A strange mist began forming in the middle of the room and slowly a figure began to take form. At that point Celia and I were hanging onto each other with our mouths gaping open trying to scream yet not a word squeaked out.

Finally a manly figure stepped out of the fog and walked over to the table and sat down. He picked up the cards and began to shuffle.

Celia and I were frozen where we stood.

For an instant the man picked up his head and nodded it towards the window alerting Aunt Marie.

And that was it. Celia and I took off like two scared rabbits.

Out of the corner of my eye looking back, I saw Aunt Marie get up and close the draperies.

I could swear she was smiling with the biggest grin I had ever seen.

After that, our ghostbusting days were over.