Suzie’s House 351 : The Decomposing Composure of a Gaunt Connection

“Gene?” Suzie could not have been more surprised. Instead of finding Drew on the stairs creeping up to her room, she found Gene trying to slip into his room in the dead of night. “Where have you been?”

“No where.” He sounded grudging as he hunched over, his dark silhouette hulking.

“This late at night?” Her voice rose despite her intentions. She shoved past him to reach the light switch.

“So what? Before you dragged me into your house …” He squinted, raised a hand and turned his head away from the light like a vampire. Recovering, he put his chin out. “Before you took me in, I used to come home even later all the time.”

“Yes, but there isn’t an abusive father that you have to avoid here. Right? You don’t NEED to stay away.”

“So what? I have to tell you every little thing?”

“Yes. Maybe. I am acting as your mother, you know. I care about you.”

“Yeah? Well you aren’t my mother.” His voice took on even more volume and a hard edge.

Stung by his flat denial, Suzie blinked away a prickling in her eyes. She didn’t know what to say, only that something needed to be said right now.

“What’s going on?” Drew stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“You’re back.” The look Gene gave Drew was positively vile. It put goose bumps on Suzie’s back.

“I hope so,” Drew answered with an equally serious expression.

“Does this mean you expect me to give up my room?” Now Gene turned his narrowed eyes on Suzie.

“No. Of course not.”

“Good.” He put his back to her, stepped through, and closed his door in her face.

“Gene! Wait, Gene.” Suzie grabbed the door knob, but it wouldn’t turn.

“Just leave him.” Drew came up the stairs. “Deal with it in the morning. The mood he’s in now, you won’t get anywhere with him.”

“But…” Suzie sputtered as Drew put a hand on her shoulder and turned her toward own room. Before she knew it, she was walking up the hall with his arm wrapped around her.

He did it so easily, as if there had never been any kind of break in their relationship. As if she could rely on him to take care of everything for her. As if nothing mattered except that she get back in her own bed.

“You know I’m trying to adopt him,” she told Drew as if that explained everything.

“Yes. You mentioned that.” He guided her right into her room and unerringly toward her bed.

“It’s my responsibility to make sure he doesn’t get into serious trouble.”

“If he was in serious trouble I doubt he’d have made it back.” Drew said it as if this simply made sense.

Visions of broken bones, or arrest, or worse flitted through Suzie’s mind. What Drew must have been through to have that attitude. Trouble so serious you couldn’t go home had to be devastating. Suzie didn’t want to think about it.

“Here we go.” He gently pushed her into the bed, then lifted the covers over her. “I’m sure he’ll be a lot easier to reason with in the morning. Then you can find out all about what went wrong. So get some sleep now.”

He patted the covers into place, then turned toward the door.

“Wait. Where are you going?”

Drew paused with his back toward her. He glanced nervously over his shoulder, and cleared his throat.

“I’m… I’m trying to do what’s right. I know I have to start from scratch with you after the way I messed everything up. I know there is no way around it. So… please don’t make this any harder than it already is.”

He gave her a minute, as if hoping she’d do something to change his mind, then stepped into the hall.

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