Another Weissman

Chapter Sixteen

     Susie and I wake up in Mama and Papa's bedrooms on the separated twin beds to children screaming in the street below.

    "Morning, fuckface," I mutter out, wiping at my eyes to clear my vision.

    "And to you, slut," she says, returning my playful insult. "Your sister left a note."

    "Oh dear God, have fun reading through that. Her letters go on for days." As she begins to read, I peak over her shoulder and see the words she'd carefully written.

    'Morning. I'm so happy you two agreed to stay here while my parents are gone. I really believe if Harry Drake's goons can't find you, they may just forget about you. Anyhow, some rules you need to follow, which I'm sure Ana already knows. Rule number one: no eating in the living room. Rule number two: touch nothing pink. Rule number three–' Susie discards the first sheet of paper, skipping over a lot of writing. 'Rule number thirty-eight: do not touch Papa's robe.'

    "You're gonna ignore all of that, aren't you?"

    "Yep."

    Susie and I eventually stop reading and just hang around the apartment for the day. Almost immediately, Susie slips on Papa's robe and goes into Mama and Papa's bathroom–where I'm sure Midge wrote her a note to not use Mama's pink soap. I head to a separate bathroom and wash my face.

    When I head out, I catch a glimpse of Susie peeking her head around the corner and into Papa's study. "Duet?" She jumps at my voice before I giddily rush over and drag her to the piano. We pitter patter on the keys, twirling the notes of 'Pathetique III. Rondo. Allegro.' until Susie hits a sour note on the upper end of the keyboard.

    "There should be a tuning kit around here somewhere," I mumble as I search the room, eventually finding it and trusting Susie with the repair.

    We end up in Midge's room, Susie and I listening to Redd Foxx and other comedy albums. After a while she picks up Charlotte's Web and cries as she flips through the pages as I read the copy of '1984' I'd forced Midge to buy.

    Soon after, Susie opens up one of Midge's drawers only to find her measurement book. Obviously, this leads to us each standing in the living room, measuring ourselves. "Shit," Susie mutters, comparing herself to Midge's data. I'd learned a long time ago to not compare the two, you'll always end up depressed at her perfection.

    She throws the book back in the drawer haphazardly, along with the measuring tape, and goes to close the drawer. I stop her, spotting a joint and reaching it to grab it. Where the hell did Midge get this from? Soon enough, Susie and I are sitting on the fire escape, passing the joint back and forth, and I hear Susie muttering to herself. "Eighteen and a half. Such a tiny fucking thigh."

    Susie goes off to take a bath and I head into the kitchen to find something to cure my cravings, when suddenly I hear the front door slam and barely recognize the person I see. Susie starts talking in the bathroom.

    "Imogene!" I cry out, moving to hug her. "Wow you look like a teeny tiny ball of light," I giggle, and she gives me a weird look but goes to investigate Susie in the bathroom. I quickly move to follow her, standing in the space right behind her.

    Throwing open the door, she demands, "Who are you?"

    "I..." Susie grasps for straws, but Imogene pays no mind.

    "What are you doing here?"

    "I..."

    "Why are you in the bathtub?"

    "Wait, I know this one."

    "I don't know you. You don't live here. Ana, do you know her? Are you a burglar?" Imogene diverts her attention back and forth between the two of us and neither says anything. "Did you break in here to steal jewelry and then decide it would be funny to take a bath?"