Suzie’s House 23: The Forgotten One

Ben waited by the front door for as long as he dared, but neither his mother nor Andrew came down to send him off to school.  If he waited any longer he’d miss his bus.
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Yesterday his mom had slept in because she’d been up so late waiting for Andrew.  Andrew had been at the hospital watching Vin, but he got up early to make sure Ben was all set for school.  Not that Ben needed anyone’s help.  But it was nice.  Ben’s dad never bothered.  Andrew did a good job of it.
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Then something happened at the hospital.  It sounded like Vin tried to come home, but couldn’t make it to the bathroom.  Ben wasn’t exactly sure what passing out on the way to the bathroom had to do with coming home.
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The banjo clock on the wall in the downstairs hall chimed.  Ben couldn’t wait around any longer.
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“Bye Mom!”  He shouted at the stairs.
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He tried not to feel left out, abandoned, and ignored.  His mouth tugged down as he closed the front door behind himself with no response from any of the grown ups in the house.  He tried to make his lips stop acting funny by pressing them together, and made it worse instead of better.
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Ben wanted to see Vin in the hospital, but he wasn’t allowed because he wasn’t family.  Everyone else got to see Vin just not him.  It was because he was a kid.  No one every cared about how kids felt.
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He wasn’t sure because no one would tell him anything, but it sounded like some creepy guy was after Vin.  Well duh.  It wasn’t like Vin shot himself.  Could it be the guy who liked to hang out across the street from the bus stop?
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Taking the bus wasn’t much fun anymore.  First there was the creepy guy.  Then Ben’s best friend Mark moved to a different neighborhood and didn’t take the bus with him anymore.  It was hard enough to put up with the bus driver when Mark was around.  Now Ben got yelled at almost every day.
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Things weren’t going too well at school either, but did anyone care?  Did his mom even ask any more?  Not since Miranda moved in.
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Ben would have been jealous, but he liked Miranda.  And Andrew.  And Vin too.  If they quit acting like he was invisible, he’d like them even better.
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He had to run the last few yards when the bus arrived before he did.  He paid his fare, then plopped down in a seat by the door.  Through the window next to him he saw some guy walk up to the weirdo who always watched the bus stop.
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The weirdo was a tall, thin, red-headed man.  They guy who walked up looked a lot older.  He had silver hair, anyway.  The two of them talked for a minute, then went off together as the bus turned the corner so Ben couldn’t see them anymore.
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Something about those two men made him uncomfortable.

The previous was Suzie’s House 22: Should Something Arise

This is Suzie’s House 23: The Forgotten One

Next is Suzie’s House 24: A Mother’s Love