Suzie’s House 111: Meanwhile, Back at the House

Ben came out of court firmly established in his mother’s household, considering his father ended up in jail. Suzie, Ben, and Drew are on their way home now.

Miranda slammed into the kitchen at a quarter to five. She had her briefcase under one arm, a box of promo materials under the other, her cell phone in her teeth, and no idea what she was going to cook.

Pizza? But Ben had said something about not liking pizza anymore. She couldn’t say she blamed him considering the way his father served it for every meal.

Today was the court day too, wasn’t it? Whatever the verdict, no one would want pizza today. She done Chinese take out too often, too. There wasn’t a restaurant in town she could rely on today, and she didn’t have time to make her specialty – pasta salad. It was going to have to be one of Suzie’s pre-made deals.

Miranda dumped her loads, including the cell phone, on the table. It didn’t seem nearly as big and out of control there. Good enough. She turned to the refrigerator, checking out both the fridge section and the freezer.

No muffin batter. Shoot. They weren’t going to be having muffins tonight. Nothing in the way of left overs either. The freezer didn’t look much better. They were down to one last Pyrex container of spaghetti sauce. How had Suzie let it slide so far?

Of course. It was because of everything Suzie had been dealing with. Why hadn’t Miranda noticed before?

Because in the past Suzie dealt with her tension by cooking. Lately, she hadn’t been. She’d had a man to help her ease her worries. Miranda wanted to help.

But not in the kitchen. Everyone knew Miranda wasn’t good in the kitchen.

She pulled out a good sized pot, and a stack of ramen noodle packages. Four? Or Five? Better make is Six, just in case. No, wait. If she started it now then it would be nothing but mush by the time everyone came home. She put the pot back, then brought it out again.

If not ramen noodle soup, how about refrigerator soup? It worked for Suzie. Miranda filled the pot with water, then started tossing stuff in. Beans, rice, potatoes, left over brats, frozen spinach. This could work. It really could.

She was eyeing a sweet potato when she heard the knock at the door.

She hesitated. There was no one else home. What if it was Joseph O’Connor? Would she be able to take him out the way Suzie had gotten his brother Sean? Just to be safe Miranda pulled out the biggest frying pan before answering the door.

“Gene!” It was Ben’s friend. He looked at the pan in her hand and almost smiled. If it weren’t for the damage done to his face he probably would have laughed. She put the pan down quick. “Gene, what happened to you?

“Nothing.” He pulled away from her fingertips, tucking his head down as if doing so would hide the black eye or the swollen jaw.

“You can’t tell me that’s nothing.” Miranda grabbed hold of his arm and dragged him into the kitchen, closing and locking the door behind him. “Tell me…” She stopped herself. Much as she would dearly love to ask for all the gory details, she knew it would do no good, just as she knew he had most likely been knocked around by his father. Ben hadn’t broken any confidentialities, but he’d hinted around enough for Miranda to figure it out. So she bit her tongue. She knew what it was like to have parents you couldn’t talk about.

“I said it’s nothing. All right? It’s doesn’t mean anything.”

“All right. So what do you think?” She gestured toward the soup on the stove. “Edible?”

He shuffled close to it, leaned over the pot, looked at the glop out of the corners of his eyes, and sniffed loudly.

“Doesn’t look good, but it smells all right.”

“It doesn’t look good?” Miranda’s pride rose, but before she bit his head off, she looked in the pot herself. He was right. It didn’t look all that appetizing. “Think you could choke it down anyway?”

“Maybe.” His lip tightened, but he still looked hopeful, like he’d actually like to eat it.

“Well, then you might as well stay for supper. Actually, you can probably stay the night, though Ben isn’t back from court yet.” She managed to sound pretty casual, which was a good thing. Nothing would send a kid like him running faster than a do gooder.

“Even on a week night?” He eyes her dubiously.

“Didn’t you stay over most of last week?”

Gene looked away guiltily. She knew for a fact he’d spent more time at Suzie’s house than at home.

“Don’t worry about it.” She slugged his arm gently. “Suzie will understand.”

Gene’s smile wobbled, but stayed, and filled with gratitude and relief.

“There is a price, however.”

There, the smile flickered out in a quite little death. Miranda didn’t worry. It would be back.

“You have to help me cook.”

“All right.” The grin came back and the words rushed out with relief. Taking it for permission, he opened the refrigerator and poked around. “You know something, Ms. Bailey? You’re pretty cool.”

Miranda grinned. He was just a kid. Still. It was nice to be appreciated.

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