The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2022 by Jess Walter

Author:Jess Walter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-11-02T00:00:00+00:00

When I got home, I thought I might be sick again. The smell hit hard. I opened all the windows, never mind the outside temperature was thirty-four. My phone vibrated. It was Joelle’s day care. Miss Karen said she was calling because Joelle smelled a little musty, so she was “checking in.” I told her we were having a problem with our washing machine, that we’d thought we’d fixed it, but it looked like we were going to have to get a new one. She seemed to buy it.

I loaded all of our heavy-rotation clothing, mine, Abe’s, and Joelle’s, into my car and drove to a coin laundry where I could do multiple loads at once. When I got back home, I didn’t take them inside. Instead I went into the detached shed on the east side of the house, where we kept the lawn mower and spare paint. I shoved what I could to the perimeter, cleared some space on the shelves, and with nails and picture wire jerry-rigged hanging lines. Our new walk-in closet. Then I went out for a haircut, traded my shoulder-length layers for a bob. Less for the smell to cling to.

“Jesus. Your hair,” Abe said when he got home. He was upset I’d opened all the windows. The first floor’s temperature was brisk, and he worried about damaging the plants, but the basement was still warm and moist. Neither of us wanted to cook. We went out for Chinese, and I asked the waitress to seat us in the back-corner booth. She said the section was closed, and I said not anymore it isn’t. (We were regulars.) I hunkered over egg flower soup, casting dark glances at the other people in the restaurant. Could they tell what we smelled like? My phone buzzed, a text from Dad.

“Haven’t seen you in a while! Come out to the house this weekend? I’ll make chili.”

I groaned. There was no way we’d have time.

“What?” Abe asked.

“Dad, about this weekend. We haven’t seen him in forever.”

Abe made a face. I didn’t get a chance to ask what about because Joelle started beating on her singing bowl, which she’d somehow sneaked into the restaurant. I made a mental note to hide it after she went to bed.

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