Page 289 - Some Dance to Remember

Some Dance to Remember 259

palm of her hand.
“Who came into the house?” Thom repeated.
“Two guys I know from school,” Abe said. “I was walking down the
road.”
“You were hitchhiking,” Sie said.
“I told you never to hitchhike.” Thom slapped Abe on the shoulder.
“Quit it!” Abe said. “I wasn’t hitchhiking. They made me to get in.”
“So who came into the house?” Thom demanded.
“No,” Ryan said. “Who’s on first. Abe’s on the deck. Bea’s at the door.
And Sie’s in the house.”
Thom glared at Ryan. “Stop it,” he said.
“When they pulled in the driveway,” Bea said, “they both got out and
followed...”
“They followed me into the house, Dad,” Abe said.
“Why didn’t you stop them?” Thom said. “I’ve taught you how to
defend yourself.”
“I tried to,” Abe said.
“You did not,” Bea said.
“I did too.” He grabbed the screwdriver from Bea’s hand. “Get away
from me,” he said.
“They came right on into the house,” Bea said, “and opened the refrig-
erator and took out a six-pack.”
Thom looked from Bea to Sie. Sie had not been too ready with details.
“And you,” he said, “What about you, Sie?”
Bea stepped between Sie and her father. Bea was expert imitating
her sister’s whining feminine moves. She moonwalked in place oozing a
hootchy kootchy. “Sie,” she said, and she delivered the imitation as broadly
as her aunt Kweenie could have done. “Sie,” she repeated, “walked right up
to the guys and grabbed a beer can and said, ‘If anybody’s going to party
around here, it’s gonna be me!’”
“You liar!” Sie yelled, but she knew she was caught and a guilty grin
exposed her uneven teeth.
“I ought to slap you silly,” Thom said to Sie.
“Slap her, Dad,” Bea said.
“Thom,” Ryan said, “you’re too good to these monsters. They’re kill-
ers.” He turned to the three of them. “No wonder your mother left home.
In normal families, the kids run away. Not the parents.”
“I think we better tell dad everything,” Abe said.
“What else is there?” Thom said.
“BB holes,” Abe said. “They shot BB holes in the windows.”

©Jack Fritscher, Ph.D., All Rights Reserved
HOW TO LEGALLY QUOTE FROM THIS BOOK