Suzie’s House 177: A Ticking Bomb

Vin had one knee between Suzie’s legs and a hand on either side of her chest. If Miranda had seen this a couple of months ago, she’d have ripped both of them up one side and down the other. Now, she simply tilted her head, and considered various possibilities, including that the two of them were doing something perfectly innocent.

“Hey, Miranda. Did you want to see how Teflon tape works, too?”

“What kind of tape?”

The combination of Suzie’s cheerful and guilt free voice along with the way her head and shoulders disappeared under the cabinet below the bathroom sink and, yep, there it was, the bright flash of silver from a pipe wrench, all lead Miranda to one conclusion. Suzie was an idiot.

“I’ll pass. And so will Vin. Right Vin?”

“Oh. Right. I’ve seen enough.” He scrambled to his feet looking embarrassed, but not really guilty.

Actually, he looked at her as if she were a ticking bomb already past its explosion date. He didn’t used to look like that. Not when they first took up with each other. Was this what she’d done to him with her jealousies and insecurities? If this was some kind of mirror being held up to her, she didn’t like it much.

“So…,“ she said carefully, not wanting to light any fuses, not even her own. “What’s going on?”

“Suzie’s doing a little plumbing.”

“Mmm-hmm,” Miranda said encouragingly. She could already see the plumbing thing. “I didn’t realize the sink was broken.”

“It wasn’t. Tracy lost her ring down it. I was just fishing it out.” Suzie shoved herself out from under the sink with a grunt. She happily turned the water on, then bent over to check her handiwork, still oblivious to how she looked.

“Um. Tracy. Yeah.” Miranda refrained from saying anything more about the girl. There was something unsettling about Tracy. Miranda couldn’t quite put her finger on what, but she found herself more and more uncomfortable around her.

“Vin was just helping me out.” Suzie gave the pipe a little more wrench action, then glanced over her shoulder at Miranda. “Actually, maybe you could help, too.”

“I don’t do pipes!” Miranda held her hands up defensively, though it looked like Suzie already had the job done.

“Not that.” Suzie felt the pipe, then ran water again, then touched the pipe again. “This is done anyway. No, what I need help with is figuring out what to do about Gene. His father has been trying to lure him out with lies about his mother coming back. Gene says he doesn’t care, but I can tell he really does. I just can’t figure out what I should do to make him feel more secure.”

“Well, that’s obvious,” Miranda said with a snort. “Adopt him.”

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