The House on Persimmon Road by Jackie Weger

Author:Jackie Weger
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Romance
Publisher: Jackie Weger
Published: 2013-07-31T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Ten

Justine banged on the bathroom door. “Pip, what are you doing in there? I need to get cleaned up.”

I’ll tell you what he’s doing, Lottie said with a snort of disgust. He’s counting the hairs under his arms. And when he’s not doing that, he’s flexing those skinny arms of his or mugging in front of the mirror.

“Gee whiz, Mom,” he said pushing past her. “A guy can’t get any privacy around here.”

“You can have all the privacy you want—in your bedroom.”

“Without locks on the doors? Anybody can just walk in.”

“You weren’t doing anything nasty in there, were you?”

Pip’s face went the color of beets. “You sure are dumb, Mom. I’m growing up. You’re supposed to treat me with respect.”

Justine did a double-take, thoughtful for a moment. “Respect? All right, but that works two ways. There are five of us who have to use one bathroom. Growing up means having consideration for others.”

Including me, there’s six what have to use the room, said Lottie. She hardly had a turn. Why, each time she thought she was clear to finagle the fuse box, somebody else came prancing in as if a call to nature was on orders from God Almighty Himself—not that she was taking up blaspheming, but there was something to be said for an outdoor privy. Nobody stood in line for that!

Pip was glaring at his mother through narrowed eyes. “Yah, you’re just nervous ’cause you got a date with Tucker. Don’t take it out on me.”

Justine opened her mouth, then closed it. There was truth in what he said, but she didn’t like having it thrown into her face by an eleven-year-old. “I am nervous. I admit it. That only makes me human, which doesn’t give you the right to hog the bathroom. Got that?”

“Sure,” he said, sauntering off. “You don’t have to make a federal case out of it.”

Lye soap, Justine. You spare it now and you'll regret it to your dying day, Lottie said.

Pip slammed the screen door and Justine slammed the bathroom door.

Lottie sank down on the stoop and wilted. There was ruin in the air. Things built up and then tumbled back to nothing again so fast she couldn’t keep up.

After the fiasco with the chair, she’d been ever so careful not to wander about after the sun went down. Agnes had got into the habit of investigating every little noise she couldn’t put a name to. Not only that, but the fuse box was defeating her. Thus far, no matter how she poked and pried, no jolt of current whipped out to give her that wonderful sensation of being solid again. She was just as invisible as ever, a figment, a phantasm.

Lottie sniffed the air. Her mouth watered. Agnes was making popcorn and using real butter from the smell of it. She made a big bowl of it every day and nibbled on it while she watched game shows.

Lottie issued a mournful sigh and spent the time waiting for Justine to vacate

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