Dance with Me

Thump … thump … thump.
No, she didn’t dream it. Someone … or something … was walking
around on the porch. The sound was that of a big foot hitting the wooden
boards.
Susie sat up, clutching the smooth sheets and Samantha’s soft white
blankets.
She cocked her head to listen closely. That’s when she heard the taps
between the thumps.
Thump … tap … thump … tap … thump.
Susie didn’t move, but suddenly Samantha sat up. She immediately
swung her legs over the side of the bed, but she didn’t stand. She just sat
there, her back rigid.
“You heard it, too,” Susie whispered.
Samantha didn’t reply, so Susie decided she had to do something on her
own. She made herself let go of the covers, then dropped her legs out of the
bed. She ignored the cold air that hit her ankles, and she padded out of the
room and down the stairs to the kitchen.
Susie paused by the island and looked at the pale yellow glimmer
creeping in through the kitchen window. It radiated from the porch light
above the back door.
The digital clock over the stove glowed red in the darkened room: 11:50.
The refrigerator hummed. The faucet dripped. It had dripped for quite some
time, Susie knew—one drip every ten seconds.
She waited through two drips while she listened to the continued thump-
tap sequence outside on the porch. When the sounds faded enough to make
her think that whatever was making the sound was on the opposite side of
the house, she went to the back door, took a deep breath, and opened it.
Just then, Samantha reached over Susie’s shoulder and slammed the
door.
Susie whirled toward her sister.

---

Samantha’s eyes were huge. Her lips were compressed. And for the first
time since she’d said goodnight to their mom, Samantha spoke, “There’s
nothing out there. Back to bed.” She turned and marched out of the kitchen,
making it abundantly clear that Susie was supposed to follow her.
Jeanie’s voice was so warm and strong that, even though it came through
the phone line, it sounded like she was in the room. “You’re more than
Susie’s mom, Patricia,” she said.
Patricia held the phone to her ear with one hand while she brushed her
limp hair with the other. She sat on the edge of the king-sized bed, the bed
that was far too big for her alone. But it had been far too small for her and
her husband. That’s why he had to leave … so they could stop intruding
into each other’s space. Although why they’d needed all that space was
never clear to her.
“And more than Samantha’s mom,” Jeanie continued. “You’re you, and
you’ll find yourself again. Eventually.”
Patricia sighed. “Samantha won’t talk to me, except to order me around.”
Jeanie laughed. “She’s her own woman.”
Patricia wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry at that. The idea of her eight-
year-old daughter acting like a woman was amusing. But the idea that her
daughter had been forced to turn into a pint-sized woman was not amusing
at all.
“It will get better,” Jeanie said. “It always does.”
Patricia nodded even though Jeanie couldn’t see her. Jeanie would know
she’d nodded.
Patricia and Jeanie had been friends since they were Samantha’s age.
Together, they’d gone through school, college, and grad school, both in art.
When Patricia married Hayden, Jeanie was her maid of honor, and when
Patricia had her girls, Jeanie became their godmother. Jeanie was like the
sister Patricia never had.
“I don’t know if I’m doing this right,” Patricia said.
“There is no right,” Jeanie said.
That made everything harder somehow.
“I wish …” She stopped and froze.
What did she just hear?

---

Did that come from outside or inside?
“You there?” Jeanie asked.
Patricia stayed silent, listening.
“Patricia?”
Patricia shook her head. She was imagining things.
She blew out air. “I’m here.”
Susie had followed her sister back to bed, but now she was creeping away.
This time, she paused for a second outside her mom’s room. She was
probably on the phone with Jeanie. They talked pretty much every day,
either in person or over the phone. If Jeanie was in town, she’d come by,
but she traveled a lot for her job. Her job was buying art for people. Susie
thought that sounded like a very fun job.
Susie lurked in the hallway, hoping to hear her mom laugh. But a laugh
never came.
Instead the footsteps sounded again.