Suzie’s House 142: The Punch

“Things are going to change right now. Beginning with you.” Mrs. H said it with that straight-up-honest, kind, mother type way of hers, but Gene knew she didn’t mean to be comforting.

Good thing too, because her words put a chill down his back like having someone you really didn’t like staring at you too much. Gene swallowed hard, and waited for the punch.

“You’ve been feeling as if you didn’t belong lately, haven’t you?” She pulled on his arm, moving him toward the chair.

Instead of letting her sit him on the hard chair like a bad little boy, he sat on Drew’s bed. Suzie sat on the chair like it was her idea to begin with. It didn’t seem to bug her at all.

“Have you ever considered that at least part of your feeling is simply you thinking the wrong way?”

“No.” Gene got stiff. “You aren’t going to blame me for not having any place to put my stuff or anything.”

“No. It’s my fault for not thinking ahead. But feeling like you belong is about more than where to put your belongings. It’s more than having someone welcome you every time you walk into a room. It’s about giving yourself permission.”

“I don’t get it.”

“Think of it this way. If you want to watch TV and Vin is in the den, what do you do?”

Gene shrugged, feeling uncomfortable. What he’d do is go away, but he wasn’t going to say that to her because it felt like a trap and saying it was falling for it.

“I’m guessing you would simply leave. But you shouldn’t. You should tell him what you want to watch. Most of the time he’s sitting there with the remote, flipping through channels because he isn’t sure what else to do. I suspect he will be out of the house a lot more soon anyway.”

“Huh?”

“He’s taken on a couple of clients. He’s going to be busy working, though the hours will be odd, so you still might run into him in the den. The point is, if you don’t tell him you want to watch TV, how is he supposed to know? He knows you are a member of this household, just like Ben.”

Yeah, Gene could see that, but he didn’t necessarily believe it.. He shrugged, not looking her in the eye, which probably gave him away, but he couldn’t help himself.

Suzie sighed like a grown up who knows she isn’t making her point. “You felt welcomed here before it became your home, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but…”

“No buts. We aren’t the ones who changed. You were sleeping on Ben’s floor all along. Oh! That reminds me. I’ll have to cancel the order for the extra bed now that you’ll be using Drew’s. Or rather, I should say you’ll be using this one,” She gestured toword where he sat, “since it is no longer Drew’s.” She looked sad. He almost felt sorry for her, but didn’t think he should. “What was I saying? Oh. Yes. We didn’t change the way we treated you, but you changed the way you behaved.”

“I did?”

“Yes. Clearly. You started to leave any room any of us walked into. You started hovering in the hallways. You appologied and got out of the way the other day when Miranda caught you brushing your teeth in the bathroom. I know because she thought it was so funny she had to tell me all about it.”

“Oh.” He shifted uncomfortably. The last thing he wanted was a hottie like Mirada laughing at him.

“Do you think you can get used to us this way? It’s imortant.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.”

“So. Here’s the plan. I’ll make an effort to include you the same way I include Ben in whatever is going on. And you will include yourself. You’re a part of this household, whether you have a room to yourself or not. Start acting like it.”

“Yes Ma’am!”

“Good.” She gave him a pat and a smile, then stood. “Now I’ll get out of here so you can get used to your new room.”

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