Categotry Archives: Suzie’s House
Suzie’s House 262 : Novice to the Searing of the Flesh
“I’m so nervous.” Miranda stood in the kitchen with a spatula in her hand. It wasn’t like she’d never done this before, but the chances of messing up were high enough to make her sweat even in the middle of winter. “You’ll be fine.” Vin gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll be with you the whole way.” “All right.” She swallowed hard. “Let’s do this.”
Suzie’s House 261 : Navigating the Rocky Shoals of Finance
Suzie ripped the check out of the checkbook and stuffed it in the envelope along with the tab from the bottom of the utility bill. She licked the envelope, glanced at the clock, then winced. The mail man would be coming any minute, and this bill was already overdue. Lately her finances had been as steady as a newborn fawn.
Suzie’s House 260 : Old Faithful
Drew followed an old couple from the parking lot/visitors center area to Old Faithful. One gray haired, the other probably balding under the brimmed hat, they looked a bit odd as they held hands and bumped into one another like a couple of green kids. Drew blinked a few times, but they didn’t seem to be any kind of hallucination. Maybe people in Wyoming were a little different. Then again, this place brought them in from all over the world.
Suzie’s House 259 : How to Kill Your Darlings
“This was bugging me all night,” Ben complained as he stepped into my house. “I don’t think I want to kill any darlings.” I giggled. “Let’s go sit in the kitchen before we talk about it.”
Suzie’s House 258 : A Look at “I Am From”
Ben brought a poem of sorts over for me to critique. I actually have some university training in poetry, though it’s been long enough that I couldn’t tell my limerick from my canticle. All right, I’ll admit I’ve got my limericks down pat, but you know what I mean. It’s not my focus. Then again, neither are a teenage boy’s homework assignments.
Suzie’s House 257 : When the Truth Broke Loose
“Would you quit being so pissy already?” “Ben?” Lisa and Tracy both looked at him like he’d just grown another head. Gene didn’t bother to look at him at all, just kept walking. Then again, he was well ahead of them on the sidewalk, so maybe he couldn’t hear. Or he just didn’t want to hear. “What? Don’t I have a right to get fed up with him? Weren’t both of you just complaining about him?”
Suzie’s House 256 : Math Teachers vs Social Studies Teacher
“Ron,” Mr. Foster, the math teacher, nodded as they passed in the hall right after third period. “Chris,” Mr. Gordon replied. He didn’t notice at first that Mr. Foster had something more to say to him. “A word, if I may.” Mr. Foster held a hand up, stopping him without actually touching. “It’s about Tracy Martin. I believe you have her in second period?”
55 – “I Am From Poem” by Ben
Ben’s English teacher assigned a series of writing assignments to the class. This is Ben’s first effort. In this one, he was supposed to write a poem that begins “I am from” (For those who don’t know, Ben is a fictional character in the Suzie’s House series.) I am from a dad who tried to kill somebody and ended up in jail and a mom who is more interested in adopting my best friend than in making my birthday cake. […]
Suzie’s House 255 : Math vs Social Studies
“How come Gene’s all scary-moody again?” Tracy sat in the Math classroom, but had her Social Studies book open. Lisa had never seen her act so studious. Tracy paused to wave her pencil in the air. “I mean, just because he’s got his nose all bent doesn’t mean he has to growl at me.” “Um… Tracy? Math is going to start soon. Are you sure you should be working on that?”
Suzie’s House 254: To Jostle a Remnant of Memory
Gene thought about hiding so Mrs. H. wouldn’t catch him watching, but then his jaw got tight and his back bunched up. He told himself he wasn’t mad, but he didn’t hide at all. So right after kissing that guy, that lawyer guy, she turned around and there he was, standing in the window with his arms crossed, looking right at her.
Suzie’s House 253 : The Mistaken Impulse
Jeff liked to think he was diligent in his attorney-client relations, house calls to Mrs. Hammacker not withstanding. He nurtured his business relations carefully, often at the expense of anything resembling a private life. His focus on family law tended to put him in awkward positions. So he was used to acting as an amateur psychologist. He liked to think he handled it well. This he wasn’t handling well at all.
Suzie’s House 252: On Her Own
“Jeff, this has been very helpful. Thank you for coming over. More soup?” Suzie grabbed the ladle in the tureen of chowder. Grateful to her lawyer for making house calls, she wanted to show her appreciation however she could. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. As long as you feed me this well, I’m glad to give what advice I can, but for a professional opinion, you’ll have to come in to the office.” He held his […]
Suzie’s House 251 : Customs Agent
Some deviant walked into the airport in Juarez, Mexico with a black suitcase in his hand, but instead of checking the bag, he carried it straight to one of the rooms in emigration set aside to search for contraband. Even before security caught up with him he was unzipping the case. “Here’s the….” The man, a gringo by look and the fact he spoke English, stared at the ordinary contents as if amazed. “Huh. It’s nothing but clothes.” He moved […]
Suzie’s House 250 : Luggage
“Huh. Well, look at that. It’s my suitcase.” Drew stared at the black bag sitting in the middle of the floor. Sitting in the middle of the first floor of what had once been a grand department store with sunlight streaming through the broken out front doors as if to spotlight it, his FBI-suitable case had a sadly forlorn look to it. “Was it there before?”
Suzie’s House 249: Across a Sea of Asphalt
Everything here stretched and contracted like elastic. Drew knew for sure the grimy bakery window wasn’t really a rippling stream and the grit riding on top of the cracked sidewalk wasn’t really quicksand. He wasn’t sinking into the ground. He wasn’t. As to the two men speaking Spanish, he suspected they were real, but until this episode passed, he couldn’t be sure.
