Sue (27 page)

“Let’s see...” Her mom checked the
calendar on the wall. “The 27th is a Sunday. Sure, I’d be happy to do it.”

“I’ll fire up the barbeque,” Sue’s
dad volunteered. “We’ll make it a party, just the four of us!”

Sue grinned at her dad. He took
advantage of any opportunity to use his grill.

When Sue left that evening, she had
the fedora in a box, ready to wrap. She’d already bought Melvin’s real present,
a t-shirt with the silhouette of Sherlock Holmes with his signature pipe and
hat.

After the hot dogs and hamburgers
were consumed, the candles blown out, and wishes made, Sue brought out the brightly
wrapped fedora and set it in front of Melvin.

“Hope you’ll like it,” she said
with a mischievous smile. “No self-respecting detective should be without one.”

Melvin tore into the package and
extracted the hat from a nest of tissue paper. He turned it in his hands,
admiring it.

“Well?”

Smoothing the band with a finger,
he said, “I love it.” With a flourish, he placed it on his head at a cocky
angle and grinned.

“Melvin,” Sue giggled.
“Seriously!
That looks pretty good on you.”

“I think it brings out my inner
cool.” He pulled the brim down and gave her a sly look.

“Wait! Let me get your real gift!”
Sue ran into the house and returned with another present.

As Melvin held up the shirt, he
gave Sue a warm look. “You choose awesome gifts, Sue. Thanks! I’m putting it on
right now.” He laid his hat on the table and ducked into the house.

When he returned, Sue’s mother
placed a small box in his hands. “Now, Melvin, it’s not much, but Frank and I
got you a little something.”

Melvin opened the box and pulled
out a diagonally striped, deep purple and gray necktie. Sue groaned inwardly,
embarrassed for her parents. Melvin wasn’t the necktie type and would never
wear it, though she had no doubt he would be gracious when accepting it.

Melvin immediately made a liar of
her as he looped the tie around his neck and knotted it over his Sherlock
Holmes t-shirt. “Thanks! I don’t have enough ties so I really appreciate this.”
He reached over, grabbed the hat, and set it firmly on his head.

Sue stared at him thoughtfully as
he chatted with her parents. He looked handsome and oddly stylish in his
mismatched attire and it took her by surprise. He felt her gaze and flashed a
smile. His eyes warmed her and she flushed, suddenly looking very forward to
being alone with him.

Chapter 38

The fourth of July was rapidly
approaching. Melvin had agreed to accompany Sue and her mom and dad to their
annual gathering. Sue didn’t even mind having to see Mean Eugene or her aunt
this year. Plus, she felt strong enough to discourage any nosy questions about
her disastrous road trip. She wasn’t clear just how much her relatives knew
about Zeke, but she didn’t intend to discuss him. She’d be rude if she had to.
She’d let the chips fall where they may.
Little Sue’s not a pushover anymore
and if anyone has a problem with that, they can go straight to hell.
She
and her parents had avoided the family on Memorial Day and Christmas; it was
time to get back to normal.
Although, it might turn out to be
a brand new style of normal.

Outside, the sun shone brightly,
announcing a new day. It was Saturday, no work. Sue planned to do some
housework, catch up on her laundry, and spend the evening with Melvin. Sue was
brushing her teeth when she heard a soft knock at her front door. She glanced
at the bathroom clock.
Who could be here at seven-thirty?
She quickly
rinsed her mouth and patted it dry. Slipping the toothbrush back into the
holder, she moved with curiosity to the window nearest the door and peered out.
Melvin stood there, cradling something small in his arms.

“Melvin? What’s wrong? Why are you
here so early?” The questions tumbled out as she opened the door.

“Sorry for the hour,” Melvin
whispered as he tiptoed in.

What in the world?
Sue
backed up to allow him entry.

“I was on stakeout last night, and
I found this.” He raised one hand to reveal a little ball of fur nestled in the
crook of his elbow.

As Sue stood open-mouthed, a tiny
head appeared and a loud mewling started up.

“A kitten?
Where’d you find it?” She reached for the little baby.

“
Ahhh
,
now it’s awake,” Melvin complained. “Like I said, I was on stakeout. Anyway, I
was working an industrial area where there aren’t any houses. I have no idea
where it came from. Probably someone dumped it. But there I was, trying to be
really quiet, and here comes this kitten. It kept carrying on so I picked it up
to quiet it down. Every time I tried to set it back on the ground, it cried.
Finally, I just held it. But on the way home, it started this pitiful bawling
and wouldn’t quit. It only stopped as I walked up here.”

Sue held the small gray kitten up
so she could see it better. There was a streak of white above its right eye,
plus all four feet were booted in white fur. The little thing still mewed and
Sue held it close to her breast, cuddling it gently. Immediately, the kitty
fell silent.

“What are you going to do with it?”
Sue’s eyes were soft as she gazed at the miniscule bundle.

“I have no idea. I think it’s
starving and I don’t know how to feed it. What should I do?”

“I see.” Sue smiled. “Here, hold it
for a minute.”

Melvin reluctantly took the kitten
back.

Sue poured a small amount of milk
into a dish and took the chill off in the microwave. She set the saucer on the
floor and dropped down next to it. “Okay, bring it here.”

Melvin handed the kitten over and
Sue stood it in front of the milk. The kitten continued to mew, nosing around
the floor, looking for something to eat. Sue dipped her index finger in the
warm liquid and touched the kitten’s mouth. It instantly lapped all the milk off.
She then pushed its little face down to the plate and its tongue darted out.
Surprised, it lurched back and then forward, stepped on the rim, and almost
tipped it over. But Sue steadied the saucer with her fingertips and the kitten
found the milk. Eagerly licking, the kitten soon cleaned the dish and then sat
wobbling, eyes half-closed, content and ready to sleep.

“Well, heck. If I had known it
could eat from a bowl I could have given it some milk. You probably think I’m
dense.”

“No I don’t. I never even thought
about it being too young, it’s just common sense to feed a baby, so I did.”

“Good job, Sue.” Melvin patted her
shoulder,
then
a doubtful look passed over his face.
“What’s wrong with it? It’s about to fall over.”

“It’s just sleepy now that it has a
full belly.” Sue plucked the kitten from the floor and once more cradled it to
her chest. A tiny purr emitted from the bundle of fur and Sue smiled radiantly.
“She’s adorable.”

“It’s a girl?”

“Well, I don’t really know.” She
carefully peered between the cat’s back legs. Shaking her head, Sue said, “I’m
not sure. It’s still too little to tell.”

They moved to the couch. As they
sat, Melvin leaned in and kissed Sue softly. “So, what are you going to name
it?”

“Name it? You want me to name your
kitty?”

“Your kitty!”

“Oh, no.
Not mine.
Yours.”

“I don’t think so, sweetie. Look
how it’s taken to you already.” When Sue looked ready to argue, Melvin added,
“It’s obviously attached to you now. You wouldn’t break its little heart, would
you?”

Sue looked from Melvin to the
kitty. She knew she was already smitten. How could anyone not be? Then the baby
opened its eyes and looked trustingly up at her and she was lost. “Okay. I’ll
keep her, him,
it
. I guess I need to make a vet
appointment and find out what I have here.”

“Let me pay for it, okay? After
all, I’m the one that brought it here.”

“Oh, I can definitely let you do
that. But first we have to buy little gray baby some things.”

“Gray Baby?”

“Hmmm.
I
guess it has a name now. And it fits no matter what sex it is. Let’s go
shopping.”

“Where do we put Gray Baby?”

Sue dug around her storage closet
and came out with fairly deep box. She lined it with a soft towel and set the
kitty down. It turned two circles, lay down, and drifted into sleep. “That’ll
do it,” Sue pronounced.

A trip to the pet store found the
couple wandering the aisles, collecting things from here and there. They ended
up buying a cat box and litter, a bowl for milk and one for food, a brush, a
toy, and a plush padded bed.

Chapter 39

Sue woke on the fourth of July with
a sense of excitement. The forecast called for upper eighties, clear, sunny,
with a light wind. They’d be having the Cox family gathering at the lake this
year instead of Sue’s childhood home. “I just don’t feel like cleaning up after
all those people,” Sue’s mother had told her. “I figured we could start a new
tradition, so I talked it over with Aunt
Mamie
and
Crystal and everyone. We all agreed it’s going to be a covered dish picnic;
everybody will bring something. Besides the convenience, Cyrus is holding their
Independence Day festival at the lake this year. There’ll be all kinds of
activities.
Live music, artwork, watermelon spitting contest,
an egg toss, and of course, fireworks.
Uncle Jake is going out a couple
of days early to snag us all a good spot.”

Sue liked the idea of moving their
yearly get-together away from the house and had told her mother as much. “As
big as our family is getting, it’s not feasible to try and squeeze everyone
into a house anyway.”

Melvin had jumped at the chance to
attend and Sue was relieved. He would serve as a buffer between her and
overzealous relatives. She grabbed a quick shower and set to work on preparing
barbequed beans and opening a few containers of store-bought coleslaw, which
she planned to dump in a bowl and take credit for making.
Anything
to ward off tired jokes about learning to cook now that I have a man.
Melvin agreed to bring chips and dip along with a cooler of drinks for him and
Sue to share.

Uncle Jake had outdone himself and
gotten them a spot near the water. They’d be in the perfect location to watch
the fireworks that would be shot from small barges on the lake. When they
pulled up to the crowded picnic area, Sue was surprised to see that even more
people showed up than she expected. Several children she didn’t recognize ran
around blowing streams of bubbles and laughing with delight. She remembered
that one of her cousins had married a divorced mother of four and assumed these
were the new additions to the family.

She would have been shy had she
been thrust into a similar situation, but Melvin had no problem meeting and
chatting with her relatives, even the obnoxious ones. He socialized with an
ease she envied.

After the meal was finished and
many of the attendees had wandered off to the festival, Sue stood near the lake
with a glass of lemonade and stared out over the water. Melvin had excused
himself to find a restroom.

“So, it’s been a long time, Sue.
How have you been?”

Sue turned with a start and stared
at the stocky man standing next to her. It was her cousin, Eugene.

“I’m doing fine, thanks.
How about you?”
She took a sip from her glass, her eyes
searching for Melvin over the rim. She finally spotted him squatted beside a wheelchair
chatting with her grandmother. A feeling of warmth passed over her. A lot of
people wouldn’t take the time to talk with the elderly woman; her hearing had
failed and conversation with her wasn’t an easy proposition anymore. She turned
her attention back to Eugene.

“I’m still at the same job.” He
launched into a lecture on the importance of regular maintenance on vacuum
cleaners and lamented the way big discount houses had nearly devastated small
independent shops. “It’s so hard to compete, even though we sell a higher
quality product.”

He sighed, shook a cigarette from
the pack in his pocket, and lit it. “God, I remember these family gatherings
from when we were kids. Your mom always laid out a good spread. We had so much
fun. I remember all the family games of football on the lawn, sneaking extra
cake when no one was looking, playing jokes on the grownups and the resultant
spankings. I’d always fall asleep in the backseat of the car on the way home,
full to the gills and worn out.”

Sue listened with half an ear,
remembering him as a stubby child, always taunting her. She interrupted his
speech. “They weren’t fun for me.”

He looked at her in surprise.
“Really?
You didn’t like them?” He blew out a stream of
smoke, careful to aim it away from her. The smell reminded her of Zeke.

She met his eyes. “No. And it was
because of you mainly. You made me miserable.”

“
I
did
?” He looked
baffled.
“How’s that?”

“You always picked on me, ridiculed
me,
knocked
me around.”

He frowned a moment, took one last
drag from his cigarette, and flicked it into the water. “I guess I never looked
at it that way. I was used to horsing around with Derek and Jim; you know how
older brothers are. Maybe I got too rough with you, but I was only teasing.”

“It was more than just teasing, Eugene.
Sometimes you really hurt me.” A lump rose in her throat and she fought down
the urge to cry.

“Well, Sue, if that’s true then I’m
really sorry. I don’t remember it that way, but you could be right.” A look of
melancholy crossed his face. “It’s funny how people look back on the same
events and see them differently.”