Sam nodded. She tossed the sponge toward Susie who caught it deftly with one hand. "What are we on? Our fifteenth window?"
"Yup, something like that." Susie soaped up the second story window, one of the windows in her parents' bedroom. "And get this. I don't even get to rest when we're done, either. I have to drive mi abuela to her friend's house to play cards."
"Wow. No rest for the weary."
"Nope." Susie washed the grime off the window and then tossed the sponge back down to Sam. She then said, "Sprayer," like a surgeon asking for a scalpel. Sam snaked the hose up the ladder, and Susie sprayed the soap off the windows. "Look out below," she called before dropping the sprayer back to Sam. Susie snatched the squeegee from her back pocket and finished off the window. She wiped up a few residual drips with a dry rag. "Screen," she called.
"Okay, hang on." Sam scurried to the garage where the screens lay drying in the late July sun. She grabbed one, ran back over to the ladder, and climbed up a few rungs.
Susie climbed down one rung, grateful she didn't have to climb down all the way. She took the screen and then pressed it securely in place. She trudged down the ladder and moved it to the next dirty window. With a sigh she decided that she just couldn't bring herself to do one more window until she rested. "I call a break." She undid her pony tail and raked her fingers through her hair. "Ugh," she flopped to the ground. "I hate this."
Sam handed Susie a cold bottle of water from the cooler. "Me, too." She sat down next to her and took a swig from her own water bottle.
"Thanks."
"No problem."
"No, I mean thanks for wasting a whole freakin' day helping me."
Sam frowned. "I got your back, Sus. You know that. You'd have mine."
"Yeah, I would." Susie drank some of the cool water. "I wish Mrs. Johnson had come home five minutes earlier or five minutes later. But, no, she had to come home at just the wrong moment. She probably thought I was beating her kids."
Sam laughed. "I doubt that."
Susie shrugged without smiling.
"Hey," Sam said, "you never liked that job anyway."
"So?"
"So, the universe is helping you move on."
"Yeah, but--"
"You're the one that's always talking about the universe." Sam clicked her tongue in disapproval. "How much was she paying you, anyway?"
"Fifty bucks."
"That's not too bad. Fifty bucks a day--"
"A week."
Sam's jaw dropped.
"You're, uh, mouth is open."
"Susie." Sam's voice was disapproving.
"What?"
"Fifty dollars a week is way below minimum wage. For the hours you spent there, that's, like, slave wages." Sam shook her head obviously appalled.
"I never wanted to babysit for Mrs. Johnson. My mother negotiated everything. She's my mother's boss." Susie took another long drink from the water bottle.
"Oh, I forgot about that. I see why your mom's so crazy about all of this."
"I swear I looked away from baby Emma for a second. It was an accident." Susie pulled her knees up and hugged them tight.
"I know." Sam smiled sympathetically. "And the baby's fine, so you need to let yourself off the hook about it."
"I guess." Susie regarded her friend and attempted a smile. She was lucky to have Sam in her life. With Christy moving away, maybe Sam would step into the best friend role. Could an ex-girlfriend turn into a best friend? What about Marlee? Could a girlfriend be a best friend, too?
"So, how're things with Marlee?" Sam asked as if reading Susie's mind.
Susie smiled. "Great. I like her so much. I just wish--"
"What?"
"I wish we lived closer. I wish I wasn't grounded. I wish my stupid car worked." She glanced at her old rusting Toyota looking pitiful next to Sam's shiny red Sebring convertible.
Sam followed her gaze. "Is your car still giving you problems?"
"Yeah, my dad thinks it's the starter." Susie sighed. "Whatever.
I'll get it fixed soon. But to answer your question, Marlee's magnifica. I
can't believe the way I feel when I look at her."
"Oh, God."
"Don't make fun."
Sam smirked. "I'm not. It's just that I know what you mean. I feel the same way about Lisa. She's so tall and strong. And you don't even understand what goes through me when I undo her long braid and run my fingers through her hair." Sam closed her eyes and titled her face toward the sky as if in rapture at the thought.
"You've got it bad, Sam."
Sam opened her eyes and grinned. "I can't help it. I've had a crush on her for a year and a half. Try and live with that kind of desperation."
"Aay, Santo. How about trying my stupidity? Breaking up with the girl you're in love with and then begging her to take you back."
"Why'd you break up with her like that, anyway?"
"Because I'm muy loca." She twirled her finger in a circle near her ear.
"Yeah, I agree."
"Oh, shut up." Susie swatted her friend playfully. "If I had any strength at all, I'd punch you."
Sam smiled. "Well, I'm glad you came to your senses and begged Marlee to take you back. Christy clung to you way too much. I mean, c'mon, you finally found somebody who loved you for all the right reasons. Your best friend shouldn't try to take that away from you. She shouldn't have gotten between you and Marlee."
"That still pisses you off, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Sam snorted derisively. "I watched her slap you in the dugout. I guess I'm still a little protective of you."
Susie's heart warmed. "Being best friends with Christy meant being there for her all the time. All the time. I don't think she understood my need to, my need for..."
Sam put a hand on Susie's wrist. "I know."
They exchanged a knowing look and sat alone in their own thoughts for a moment. Susie hoped that Christy would find the happiness in sunny California that she never managed to find in upstate New York.
"I think my mother suspects something about me and Marlee, though."
"Ooh." Sam took a sharp intake of breath. "That's gonna be rough."
Susie chuckled and gestured toward the window cleaning equipment spread around them. "It already is. You know how she always takes things to the extreme."
"No kidding. Like the time she supported that Republican running for the school board? What was his name?"
"Dios, how can you forget?" Susie rolled her eyes. "Joe Wilson."
"Oh, right. Your lawn was plastered with those 'Elect Joe Wilson' signs."
"She made me hand out leaflets to kids at school to give to their parents."
Sam laughed. "There was no way I was going to wear that button you gave me."
"I didn't expect you to, but, Dios, I had to give it to you, or she'd know I didn't."
"True that." Sam nodded. "She's a mind reader."
"But she changes her mind on things, too. Remember when she learned that grand and mighty Joe Wilson wanted to cut funding to the nursing classes in the BOCES program?"
"Yeah, I remember that. She did a complete 180 on him and supported the Democratic candidate with just as much, if not more, fervor."
"That's my mami." Susie laughed. "She goes full force with everything. Those 'Elect Joe Wilson' signs on the lawn were yanked out so fast, it made my head spin."
"So do you think she grounded you because of Marlee?"
Susie nodded. "Partly. Well, supposedly I'm grounded for being irresponsible at Mrs. Johnson's." She made air quotes around the word irresponsible.
"But you think it's more than that?"
"Yeah, if she grounds me then I can't see Marlee at softball or in Clarksonville. Thank God Isabella didn't take my phone away. At least Marlee and I get to talk every day."
"She probably didn't think of it," Sam said. "Have your parents even met Marlee? She's nice. She's cute. She's charming. What's not to like?"
"I'm scared to death to introduce
them. She's pushing though."
"Marlee?"
"Yeah." Susie scratched her knee absently. "She wants to meet them. You know her dad passed away a while ago, right?"
"Yeah, Lisa filled me in."
"So now that I've met her mom, Marlee thinks it's only fair that she meet my folks, too. Aay, Dios mío, that's going to be a tough day."
"Tell me about it. Lisa's bugging to meet my parents, too. She met Helene, though."
"Your nanny?" Susie teased.
"Shut up. You know Helene's not my nanny anymore."
Susie raised an eyebrow.
"Not really. Okay, whatever." Sam's cheeks turned a slight shade of crimson. "Do you think your parents ever knew about us?"
"What? That we were seeing each other for two minutes last summer?"
"Hey! It was two whole months."
Susie grinned. "No, I don't think they knew. They'd never suspect Samantha Rose Payton of such depravity."
"Oh, please."
"C'mon. You're Samantha Rose Payton of the East Valley Paytons. You own most of East Valley and half of Clarksonville County. You're above reproach."
"And you know how much I hate that shit."
Susie softened her gaze. "I know."
"So why do you think they know about you and Marlee?"
"I don't know. They just do." Susie looked down. She really didn't want to talk about it anymore.
"All right. Forget I asked. C'mon," Sam said with a tap on Susie's knee and stood up. "We have seven more windows to go."
Susie wanted to confide in Sam that Bree was sniffing around Marlee, but was too tired to even think about it. She reluctantly got to her feet and stretched. "Thanks for helping me. I think I'd still be doing the windows on the first floor if you hadn't come over."
"Anytime, Sus. You know that."
"Why don't you go home. I can finish up on my own."
"No way. I told you last year when we broke up--"
"We didn't break up. You broke up with me."
"Yeah, you're right. Last year when I broke up with you," Sam amended, "I told you we'd still be friends and that I'd always be there for you. I meant it."
Susie regarded her friend for a moment. "Me, too."
"Good, and since I already have a thousand hours logged in today, I need to see this job through." Sam headed toward the ladder. "C'mon. Let's finish this puppy."
Susie's heart swelled. Sam had once told her that they made better friends than girlfriends, and she was right. She was lucky to have such a supportive ex-girlfriend.
SUSIE TOWEL DRIED her hair and tossed the wet towel on her bed. She should have hung it up, but was too tired to care. She grabbed her car keys and phone off the dresser, plunked her wallet in her back pocket, and lumbered down the stairs. After three days of solid work, she was sore in spots she hadn't known she had.
She stepped inside the mud room of the main house, but didn't bother to take her crocs off. She leaned in the door and called, "Abuelita? Está lista?"
"Sí, sí." Her grandmother shuffled toward the front door, her enormous purse slung over one wrist, struggling with an equally enormous box in both hands. Susie relieved her of the box, and one whiff told her that her grandmother's famous mantecaditos cookies were inside.
"Abuelita, can I steal one?" Susie grinned at her grandmother as she made a show of sniffing the box.
"Aay, no." Her grandmother swatted her hand. She reached inside her purse and pulled out a plastic bag stuffed with the treasured butter cookies. "For you."
Susie's eyes grew wide at the sight. She tucked the box under her arm and snatched the bag from her grandmother's hand. She pulled one out and stuffed it in her mouth. "Mmm, muchas gracias, Abuelita." Next to flan, mantecaditos were her favorite dessert. It was at that moment she realized her grandmother had spoken English, something she never did.
Susie held the outside mudroom door open for her grandmother, and they headed toward the car. Even though she was only driving her grandmother to her weekly card game, it felt good to get out of the house after three solid days of confinement. The mantecaditos didn't hurt either.
Susie turned the key in the ignition. The car engine made a high pitched whine, but didn't catch. Susie turned the key off and prayed that the starter would catch the next time. With eyes closed, she turned the key gently and was rewarded when the engine roared to life. "All right," she patted the front dash. "Good girl."
They headed onto C.R. 62 toward the outskirts of town where her grandmother's friends were gathering for their weekly Wednesday card game. After a mile or two, Susie's muscles stiffened up. She groaned and tried to stretch in the cramped car.
"Are tired you, Susana?"
"Sí, estoy cansada."
"You mamá work you too hard."
With a yawn, Susie nodded, but then whipped her head around to look at her grandmother with narrowed eyes. "¿Estás hablando inglés?" Susie's grandmother had never seriously tried to speak English before.
"Yes, I is."
"Am," Susie corrected. "Yes, I am."
"Aay, inglés es muy difícil."
"Yup," Susie laughed. "English can be hard, but if you keep at it, you'll be speaking like me soon enough."
"Aay, sí." Her grandmother laughed.
"But why are you speaking English, Abuelita?"
"I learn English to speak to your Marlee."
The warmth that overtook Susie came straight from the center of her heart. In the seventeen years her grandmother had been in the states, nothing had motivated her to learn English. Not answering the telephone, not shopping in stores, not communicating with the family's English-speaking friends. Susie took her eyes off the road long enough to smile at her grandmother. "Thank you, Abuelita. That's really nice."
"She nice girl. Un querubín."
Susie grinned. "A little angel." I think so, too.
"Sí," her grandmother tapped her on the arm, "you have happy glow when you talk of your Marlee."
Susie gulped. How much did her grandmother know?
"Tu mamá, she no see yet. Aay, she no see that you fall in love with el querubín"
Susie swallowed hard. Her grandmother knew she had fallen in love with Marlee. Maybe she had been too careless the other day when Marlee came to the house. Miguel figured it out, too. Aay, but then again, he had seen them kissing--kind of a dead giveaway. She'd have to be much more careful in the future.
But wait, Susie thought, her grandmother wasn't freaking out. In fact, she sounded, what was the right word? Supportive. That was not a word she ever expected to use when her family found out she liked girls, and liked one blue-eyed blonde-haired girl in particular.
Her grandmother tapped Susie's arm. Susie jumped at the touch, she had been so lost in thought. "You mamá will see the light soon. She no want you take tough path in life. She no want you hurt. You," her grandmother wagged a finger at her, "be honesty to self, then all is good."
Susie took a deep breath, and willed herself not to cry. If her grandmother accepted her, could her mother and father? For that, she'd need a miracle.
Chapter Nine
In the Closet
THE NEXT COUPLE of days were filled with all kinds of chores. One day Susie pressure washed the driveway, and the next she started cleaning out the basement. The basement job would take at least three days, but since the late July days were starting to heat up, she didn't mind having to spend time in the cool space.
It was Saturday, her third and, hopefully, final day in the basement. Susie looked at the clock on the wall over the washing machine. It was a few minutes past noon. The Nor'easters' game had started at ten o'clock and should just about be over. She'd wait a few more minutes and then call Marlee to see how the game went. She took a cardboard box off the dusty shelving unit and brought it to the now cleared worktable to sort through it. Half the stuff in the basement was junk, which most likely included the stuff in the box. She was just about to toss a broken toaster into the trash bag when her pho
ne rang.
She shoved the toaster aside and squealed when she saw Marlee's name on the caller ID. She flipped open the phone.
"Marlee?"
"Hi! How're you holding up in that musty old basement?"
Susie could hear Marlee's smile through the cell phone. "It is what it is. I wish you were here. Or I was there."
"Me, too. I miss you. The Nor'easters miss you, too."
"Uh, oh." Susie leaned her head on her hand. "What happened?" Through the phone she heard a car engine start up and figured Marlee was heading home.
"Coach Gellar had to move Rachel from center to left and, I don't know. Rachel complained that the balls came to her faster in left than in center."
"Did she make an error?" Susie cringed.
"More like three."
"Three? Aay, Coach Gellar's probably so pissed at me that she can't even think straight."
"We won though, so it worked out."
"Oh, good." Susie sat up straighter, and they talked about the game and how Marlee pitched and how Marlee couldn't wait for Lisa to play the following Tuesday.
"Sam'll be ecstatic to have Lisa on the team. They're so in love," Susie teased.
"I know. Are we all gushy and icky sweet like Lisa and Sam?"
Susie laughed. "I don't know. I think maybe we are."
Just then Susie heard a voice in the background yell something like, "Life is good!"
"Who was that?" Susie asked.
When Marlee didn't answer right away, Susie's radar went on high alert. Was it Bree? Was Marlee driving her home or something? Was Marlee driving her to some secluded place to be alone? Susie kicked the work table. "Ow," she said.
"What happened?" Marlee asked. "Are you okay?"
"Just banged my foot. I'm fine." But not really. "Are you on your way home?"
"I'm on the road, yeah."
Susie frowned. Her answer sounded kind of evasive. "Call me when you get home and settled. Unless you're working at D'Amico's?"
"Nope. No D'Amico's today. Tomorrow."
"Cool. I need a real job, too."
"You'll get one. Once you're off restriction, that is."
Going, Going, Gone: Suzie's Story Page 7
