30-03-2019, 07:13 PM
The Continuing Education of Susan Ch. 03
"Help me, help me, help me sail away.
Well, give me two good reasons why I ought to stay.
Cause I love to live so pleasantly, live this life of luxury.
Lazing on a sunny afternoon. In the summertime.
In the summertime.
-The Kinks, "Sunny Afternoon"
Hello. I'm Suzy-Q. Sorry, I... I don't think I can do this. I shouldn't say anything. I'll just be over here if anyone wants anything.
* * *
Hi, my name's Susan. Since the other two women in my head have gotten a chance to speak, Suzy-Q was going to talk here, but she's too... well, shy is the wrong word. Obsequious, maybe? Self-loathing? Suzy-Q is the part of me that thought I deserved all of Chad's abuse; that stuck her fingers in her ears and went "la la la" when someone tried to tell me I could do better and didn't have to put up with his shit and mistook it for validation.
Suzy-Q was what he called me when he wanted to let me know that I was his possession, just a thing to be used however and whenever he wanted. It's also the most unoriginal thing you can call someone named Susan. (Why no, I had NO IDEA AT ALL that there was a song called Susie Q that was originally written and performed by Dale Hawkins in 1957 and also appeared on the Rolling Stones' second album, but most famously was the biggest hit as track three from Creedence Clearwater Revival's self-titled debut album in 1968 with a run-time of eight minutes and thirty-eight seconds; the double-sided single of which peaked at #11 on the Billboard Charts and was featured prominently during the USO show scene in the film Apocalypse Now. You're the first person to ever tell me about it!)
She'd been nagging at me on the drive home, though. Telling me that Rachel wasn't going to follow us; and even though I could see her in my rearview mirror, she assured me that Rachel was just waiting to turn around at the next light and drive away as fast as she could. Ok, so not that light, or the last three, but the next one for sure. By the time we pulled into the driveway and Rachel was still behind us, Suzy-Q had quietly slinked back into the shadows.
I parked in front of the large garage to leave room for Rachel, deciding not to take my spot inside. Troy and Julie had expanded it to a four-car garage after their honeymoon trip to Europe ended with the surprise gift of a Ferrari from Helen. Julie told me that they'd originally chosen the house with guest bedrooms in mind, and the addition of the large garage and the new library Troy had snuck in to the expansion plans certainly made it stand out in the neighborhood, like some big shot with Microsoft lived there; not a grad student and a promising young artist and their secretary girlfriend. I pictured myself trying to explain to Rachel "Oh, well, you see, Troy's made some very wise investments and, you know, he can control minds, so I'm sure that somewhere out there, a former realtor is wandering the streets trying to figure out where his entire life went wrong..."
I waved to Rob and Eric Green, the gay couple who'd moved in across the street last month, as Rachel pulled in behind me. I'd only talked to them once or twice. Rob, the blond one, had taken advantage of the sunny day to mow the lawn and waved back; and Eric was sitting on the porch working on a laptop. They had some kind of at-home internet business, and were home all the time. I had a suspicion about them, but nothing worth talking about yet.
Rachel had a look of disbelief on her face as she got out of the car and looked at the house.
"Cool place." She looked across the street at Rob, who'd taken off his shirt and was showing the kind of muscles that didn't belong on someone with a stay-at-home job. "He seems nice."
"Help me, help me, help me sail away.
Well, give me two good reasons why I ought to stay.
Cause I love to live so pleasantly, live this life of luxury.
Lazing on a sunny afternoon. In the summertime.
In the summertime.
-The Kinks, "Sunny Afternoon"
Hello. I'm Suzy-Q. Sorry, I... I don't think I can do this. I shouldn't say anything. I'll just be over here if anyone wants anything.
* * *
Hi, my name's Susan. Since the other two women in my head have gotten a chance to speak, Suzy-Q was going to talk here, but she's too... well, shy is the wrong word. Obsequious, maybe? Self-loathing? Suzy-Q is the part of me that thought I deserved all of Chad's abuse; that stuck her fingers in her ears and went "la la la" when someone tried to tell me I could do better and didn't have to put up with his shit and mistook it for validation.
Suzy-Q was what he called me when he wanted to let me know that I was his possession, just a thing to be used however and whenever he wanted. It's also the most unoriginal thing you can call someone named Susan. (Why no, I had NO IDEA AT ALL that there was a song called Susie Q that was originally written and performed by Dale Hawkins in 1957 and also appeared on the Rolling Stones' second album, but most famously was the biggest hit as track three from Creedence Clearwater Revival's self-titled debut album in 1968 with a run-time of eight minutes and thirty-eight seconds; the double-sided single of which peaked at #11 on the Billboard Charts and was featured prominently during the USO show scene in the film Apocalypse Now. You're the first person to ever tell me about it!)
She'd been nagging at me on the drive home, though. Telling me that Rachel wasn't going to follow us; and even though I could see her in my rearview mirror, she assured me that Rachel was just waiting to turn around at the next light and drive away as fast as she could. Ok, so not that light, or the last three, but the next one for sure. By the time we pulled into the driveway and Rachel was still behind us, Suzy-Q had quietly slinked back into the shadows.
I parked in front of the large garage to leave room for Rachel, deciding not to take my spot inside. Troy and Julie had expanded it to a four-car garage after their honeymoon trip to Europe ended with the surprise gift of a Ferrari from Helen. Julie told me that they'd originally chosen the house with guest bedrooms in mind, and the addition of the large garage and the new library Troy had snuck in to the expansion plans certainly made it stand out in the neighborhood, like some big shot with Microsoft lived there; not a grad student and a promising young artist and their secretary girlfriend. I pictured myself trying to explain to Rachel "Oh, well, you see, Troy's made some very wise investments and, you know, he can control minds, so I'm sure that somewhere out there, a former realtor is wandering the streets trying to figure out where his entire life went wrong..."
I waved to Rob and Eric Green, the gay couple who'd moved in across the street last month, as Rachel pulled in behind me. I'd only talked to them once or twice. Rob, the blond one, had taken advantage of the sunny day to mow the lawn and waved back; and Eric was sitting on the porch working on a laptop. They had some kind of at-home internet business, and were home all the time. I had a suspicion about them, but nothing worth talking about yet.
Rachel had a look of disbelief on her face as she got out of the car and looked at the house.
"Cool place." She looked across the street at Rob, who'd taken off his shirt and was showing the kind of muscles that didn't belong on someone with a stay-at-home job. "He seems nice."
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