Suzie’s House 175: The Slip of the Wrench

Suzie swore. Actual cuss words. Vin couldn’t remember the last time he’d heard Suzy swear. He could hear her over the low drone of the TV, which made him realize he wasn’t watching anyway and shouldn’t waste his entire life like this, constantly changing channels and feeling dissatisfied. So, in a rare break in his own habits, Vin turned the idiot box off, and went to see what had Suzie so upset.

He followed the rising and falling cascade of frustration into the hall, then to the left toward the back of the house, but instead of finding her in the kitchen, he found her in the little bathroom tucked into the tiny space between the utility room and the kitchen.

She lay on the floor, her head in the cabinet under the sink. Tools spilled out of a toolbox on the floor, including several sizes and varieties of wrench.

“Need some help?” He was almost afraid to offer, since he had no interest in plumbing.

“Yes. Could you hand me the Teflon tape? I forgot to grab it and now I can’t reach.”

“Sure.” He dipped his hand into the tool chest, carefully shoving aside screw drivers, a hammer, and various metal things while listening to the thunk and scuff of a pipe wrench being wielded.

The wrench thudded and Suzie swore, no doubt having slipped.

“You all right?”

“Perfectly.” Thud, thud, “fine,” she pushed through gritted teeth.

“Maybe you should take a break. You’re going to hurt yourself.”

Thunk. Thunk. “No I won’t. Ow!”

Suzie came out fast, bumping her head on the underside of the sink on the way, then sitting there with her hand on her forehead looking glum.

“Is it really that bad? We could actually hire a plumber, you know. I’ll pay for it if you’re feeling pinched since you’re no longer getting rent from Drew.”

If anything, that made her look even glummer.

“It isn’t that. It’s Gene.”

“Gene.” Vin nodded even though he had no idea what she meant. Did she regret taking the kid in? He was using Drew’s old room, so she couldn’t rent it out, which Vin didn’t mind at all since he didn’t really want a stranger moving in with them, but he could see how it might be a problem for Suzie.

“It’s so obvious that he still wants his mother even though she abandoned him.”

“His mother? I didn’t know he had a mother.” Actually, Vin didn’t know much about the father either. He’d noticed the kid spent more and more time with them, then suddenly had his own room and Suzie announced he was a member of the household. He hadn’t really thought much about it, though.

“I didn’t either. His father’s been trying to lure him back home by saying his mother has come back. I’m afraid it might work, even after all the times he’s beaten Gene. Even though he put Gene in the hospital.”

“Wow. The kid’s had a hard life.”

“Yeah. I feel for him. I really do. But what can I do to help?” She eased down into the cabinet under the sink again. A minute later the wrenched rattled against the pipe.

“Seems to me you’re already doing a lot for him.”

“Not enough if he’s willing to run back just because his mother might be there. Ouch.” The rattle of the wrench slipping was followed by a couple of choice swearwords. Then Suzie came out from under the sink with the u-joint in her hand. With entirely too serious an expression on her face, she up-ended it, and a ring fell out. “Tracy lost it yesterday. Nice, but I’m not sure it’s really all that valuable.” Suzie rubbed grime off it to show a ring barely a step up from vending machine quality, then stared at it a long time. “Here. Hold this for me.”

She eased onto her back again, u-joint in hand, but instead of getting the wrench going Suzie went quiet.

“Everything all right?” He hoped she hadn’t thought of something that would really upset her. He couldn’t handle an upset Suzie.

“No.”

“What can I do?”

“I forgot the Teflon tape again. Could you hand it to me?” She held her hand out, palm up, and wiggled her fingers.

“Yeah. Of course. Um…what does Teflon tape look like?”

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