Chapter 4: Oddities

Friday finally rolled around after what seemed like a long week. My brother arrived from work late every day and he either brought a small pizza or only half of a large one. The other half he had already devoured along with several cans of beer. He refused to eat the food I made and not once did he sit down together with Susie and me to talk or complain about his boss. So when it was ten o’clock and he still hadn’t arrived, I started to get worried. Susie told me that he probably didn’t have to work the next day Saturday and was in some bar drinking beer. She asked me if I could leave the door open to my room. I figured that made sense, because then I would hear him enter the house and not have to worry all night long.

It was past midnight, when I heard him coming up the stairs. He went to the bathroom to relieve his bladder and the cascade of urine seemed to last forever. He left the door open and I could clearly hear him groan a couple of times as his bladder emptied into the toilet bowl. When he was finished, he neither flushed the toilet nor did he wash his hands. I was half asleep when I heard him open the door to Susie’s room. I found that odd, because I had never seen or heard him go into her room. I listened carefully, but couldn’t understand what he was muttering. I heard footsteps in the hallway going to my brother’s room and then a bang as the door was slammed shut. The house was completely quiet and I quickly fell asleep again.

I woke up exhausted from a night of disturbing dreams and restless with the stiffness of morning wood telling me I had to go to the bathroom. It was just past 5:30 a.m. and, as I was about to set foot into the hallway, I caught a glimpse of Susie entering her room. She was naked, holding her night gown in both hands to her chest. Her head was down and there was something painful about her. She didn’t see me and closed the door behind her. The door to my brother’s room was half way open and I could hear him snoring like a growling animal.

After I relieved my bladder in the bathroom, I returned to my room, but couldn’t sleep anymore. The image of Susie naked in the hallway didn’t make sense. I knew she didn’t come from the bathroom. She would have flushed the toilet if she had to go pee. Yet, the pool of urine from my brother had still been there. I started imagining several worse case scenarios, but refused to believe any one of them. At least, I hoped none of them were real. I shook my head to get the dreadful thoughts out of my mind. I returned to the bathroom to take a cold shower, hoping that would erase the thoughts.

I also needed to keep my mind busy with other thoughts and went downstairs to get breakfast started. It was almost 7:30 a.m., and I was sure Susie would be down shortly. Eight o’clock and nothing. Nine o’clock and still no sign of Susie. It was nearly ten o’clock when I heard my brother turn on the TV in the living room and open a can of beer.

“Hey, good morning,” I said to him. “I made breakfast. Want to join me for some coffee.”

“Nah,” he shook his head. “This is my breakfast. Besides, I have to meet up with a guy from work. He wants to take me fishing this weekend.”

“That sounds exciting,” I massaged his ego. “When will you be back?”

“I don’t know. We’ll probably stay at his campsite until Monday morning and go to work from there.”

“Do you want me to pack you a lunch or anything?”

“Nope, we’re stopping somewhere along the way.”

I didn’t pursue the conversation any longer, nor did I ask him about the night before. All I was getting from him were negative vibes anyway and I figured he wasn’t going to tell me much. I was disappointed, however, because ever since I arrived two weeks ago he showed no interest in having any sort of conversation upon which one could plan something together. He didn’t even make any comments about the changes in the bathroom or the lawn which were quite obvious even to a blind person.

I went back to the kitchen and really started to worry about Susie. I heard my brother slam the front door and within seconds he drove away. No sooner was he gone, when Susie finally showed up. She looked weary with dark shadows under her eyes like she hadn’t slept well and just stood by the door without looking at me.

“Hey, good morning, sleeping beauty,” I said in a soft voice. “I thought you were never going to get up. It’s almost 10:30. Let’s have brunch together?”

“I’ll just have a glass of milk, if you don’t mind,” she responded with apathy.

“Have a seat and I’ll pour you a glass.”

I knew there was something wrong, but I couldn’t read her face. I felt it had something to do with last night and seeing her naked early this morning.

“Your dad just left for a weekend fishing trip and won’t be back until Monday evening.”

She didn’t react to the news and just sat there numb, lost in some dark corner of her mind.

“Since we’re going to be alone this weekend, I thought maybe you and I could clean up the back yard. On Monday, the city will be picking up junk and other recyclable items in the neighborhood. Summer is coming soon and it would be nice if we could use the back yard to grill hotdogs and hamburgers, sleep under the night sky and count the stars. We could even get one of those inflatable pools and get our feet wet. Plus, there’s still time to plant some tomatoes and flowers. Whaddaya say, sweetie?”

She turned her face to look up at me. Her eyes were red and watery and she looked like she was fighting back tears. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath which left her chest with a big sigh.

“Uncle Charlie,” her voice was trembling, “promise me you’ll never leave me.”

I didn’t expect her to say that and was confused. I knew pretty much from what I could see and hear that something was broke inside her. She was sweet and yet a fragmentary girl.

I got off my chair and knelt down beside her. Inside, I cried with her. In life nothing, as a rule, bothered me. But, women crying, or worse, girls, did get to me. I clasped her hands with one of mine and with the other stroked her head with a gentle motion. It was a small gesture, but enough to spread warmth through her heart.

“Hey look at me. I’m not going anywhere and pretty soon you’ll probably get bored seeing me.”

She gave me a half smile, and I handed her a napkin to dry her eyes.

“Come with me,” I said taking her hand. “Let’s take a look at how we’re going to launch our attack on the back yard.”

She held onto my hand almost squeezing it for fear of losing me. We stood side-by-side together on the top step leading down to the yard surveying the landscape. She did not let go of my hand.

“So what do you think? Where should we start first?” I asked hoping she would come around to her usual self again.

“We could start in the back and work our way forward,” she suggested.

“Hmm, brilliant tactic,” I responded. “We’ll attack the enemy from behind their line and wipe them out clean in no time. But, first, we should change into our combat gear, and on the double.”

We both ran upstairs to our rooms. I suggested wearing jeans and a long sleeved shirt to avoid scrapes and scratches.

“I’m almost ready,” I announced.

I heard Susie shriek, “I can’t find the right clothes. Can you come here and help me?”

Her door was open, but I knocked anyway before entering her room. Everything was neat, except for several pants lying on the bed which she had selected.