Suzie’s House 163 : Friends, Plus a Little

As heartbreaking as her problems with Gene might be, her problems with Ben frightened her more. She hurried down the hall to Ben’s room. Sure enough, his door was closed. If she’d heard the tinkle of laughter, she would have felt better. But no. Not a sound.

Suzie raised a hand to knock, then let it fall, then raised again, then let it drop again. She’d always respected Ben’s privacy. Even when he was quit young, she’d shown the courtesy of at least knocking before walking in.

That was before Lisa came along.

Suzie went ahead and knocked, but didn’t give Ben time to respond before shoving the door open.

Inside she found Ben and Lisa together by his desk. For a moment, she thought they were kissing. Lisa’s upper torso was masked by Ben’s. It wasn’t until they shifted to look at her that Suzie realized Lisa had been leaning over the desk, not twisted to face Ben.

“What are you doing?”

“Lisa’s reading the story I wrote yesterday. I’m going to show it to Mrs. Audrey, if Lisa thinks it’s good enough.”

“Oh.”

Innocent. Everything was perfectly innocent. Except Lisa’s shoulder still bumped against Ben’s, as she looked at him with naked adoration. Maybe the weren’t kissing this time, but Suzie was pretty sure they had been a couple of weeks ago. She cleared her throat uncomfortably.

“Ben, could I talk to you for a minute? In private.” She gestured toward the hall.

“Sure, Mom.” He came out, looking at her with the eager perplexity of a puppy learning to play fetch.

“Ben, from now on when you have a girl over, I want you to keep your door open.”

“Why?”

“Because it would make me feel better.”

“Oh. Okay.”

That was too easy. She didn’t trust his response. “And maybe it would be a good thing if Lisa came over with other people. I think maybe that would make Gene feel better.”

“How come?”

“Because right now he’s probably feeling a bit like a third wheel. That may be why he didn’t join the two of you.”

“No. It’s because he’s already seen this story.”

“But still.”

“No. Really. He said so.”

“Just… humor me. Please?” Suzie closed her eyes in exasperation as much at herself as at him.

“Yeah. Sure, Mom. No problem.” Ben said all the right words, but when Suzie glanced his way she found his brow wrinkled in puzzlement and his eyes troubled with reluctant suspicion.

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