Susan had gotten use to the comings and goings of various construction workers and landscaping persons at the old house across the street over the weeks. She had watched with interest as the house was transformed from the old, dwindling wreck it had been, into a lush, inviting home. The roof and siding were redone, the lawn reseeded, and flowers and shrubs put in. New, updated windows had been installed, and the house was lovely and alive again.
It wasn’t until a moving van arrived while she was outside pruning her own rose bushes one morning that she stood up and really paid attention again. Moving guys jumped out of the truck and threw open the back door, exposing loads of gingerly wrapped furniture, which they immediately began unloading onto the front lawn. Soon after they started, a taxi pulled up alongside the curb, and out stepped a petite, old woman. She walked slowly with a cane, but her ease of pace seemed not to be due to any physical ailment, but rather to her attention being diverted to admiring her house as she approached.
Susan continued to watch the excitement (exciting to her, at least) across the street while she half pretended to prune her roses. One of the men hustled over to the woman and offered to help her up the walkway. Susan smiled as the woman politely waved off the offer, and instead handed the man her house keys to go ahead and open up the house so they could begin bringing the items inside. The man dashed up the path and opened the house up, holding the door ajar as the woman passed inside. Then the two men began the task of bringing all the woman’s belongings into her new residence.
Susan stood up and went back inside to wash her hands and tidy herself up a bit. She then walked across the street and up to the front door. She saw the old woman in the living room, surveying the area and deciding where to put the boxes of stuff, all neatly marked “Dishes” or “Linens” or “Bathroom”. The furniture still had the plastic on it, and the breeze coming in through the open doors and windows made them rustle a bit. Susan knocked lightly on the door, and the woman looked up startled at her, before breaking into a sweet smile.
“Hello, I’m Susan.” she said, extending her hand to the lady. “I live in the house across from you.” She gestured over to her own manicured yard. “I just wanted to come over and welcome you to the neighborhood.”
“Well, hello dear!” the woman exclaimed, taking her hand and giving it a well-gripped shake. “And thank you kindly. My name is Gladys.”
Susan almost blushed a bit. ” I thought so.” she said, continuing on quickly when she saw Gladys’s confused look. “I’m Dorothy’s great granddaughter.” she explained.
Gladys seemed a bit taken aback by that. Her eyes widened a bit, and her small mouth even dropped some. Susan had to stifle a giggle at the text-book startle reaction. At that moment, one of the movers came in with what appeared to be a rather heavy box, and asked Gladys where it went, since it seemed to be unmarked. She shook her head, and inspected the box, before telling him to go ahead and just set it in the family room.
Gladys returned to Susan, who had stepped out onto the lawn to be out of the way. “I apologize dear, if I seemed startled. Quite frankly, I was.” she said. “Dorothy has not spoken to me in many, many years. I am surprised you know my name.’
“Well, grandma has been ill. I’m sure you are aware of the trauma she suffered after the … incident.. here.” Susan stopped and looked up at the house, grimacing at the pain her great grandmother, and Gladys as well, had to go through in this place. The house even seemed to darken a bit at the mention of it.
“Yes.” said Gladys, her voice dropping down to an almost whisper. “That night is one I will never, ever forget. Even if I become stricken with Alzheimer’s I don’t think I’ll forget that.” she said. She too, stared at the house.
“Her doctors try to get her to face that night, but she doesn’t budge. Even after all these years, and all her medications, she still insists in demons and devils, and the fact that her own hand held the knife- well, she just can’t seem to forgive herself for that. “ said Susan. “It didn’t help her when my mom bought the house across the road there, or when I got pregnant with my second daughter, Elizabeth.”
At the mention of Elizabeth, Gladys looked up sharply. “You had another daughter?” she asked, almost brusquely.
“Why, yes.” said Susan, a bit taken aback. “Elizabeth is 5 now.”
“Forgive me, again, dear heart.” said Susan, softening. “It’s just, I was best friends with Dorothy, and I know your family’s heritage. Alice was a “freak” of nature, so they said. I can see how your dear daughter’s arrival would send Dorothy back downwards again.” She patted Susan kindly on the shoulder. “If you don’t mind my asking,” she went on carefully, “is she…. ok?”
Susan looked at Gladys for a long time before replying. She felt so comfortable with her, as if she’d known her forever. Yet, she was realistic too, and protective of her youngest daughter. “She is okay so far.” she said, smiling brightly.
Gladys patted her on the shoulder and smiled in return. “Then that is just fantastic, isn’t it?” she said. “Would you like to come in for some tea? I’m sure they’ve brought my tea supplies in already.” Susan agreed, and spent an hour or so visiting with Gladys, talking about her older daughter, Victoria, who was 10 and becoming a young lady already. About grandma and how she was doing, and her reactions to the work being done on the house again. “It took the doctors awhile to calm her down.” she said of when Dorothy first heard the news. “And when she came to stay with me the weekend the renovations first started, all she did was sit in the window drinking her coffee and staring across the street at the work. If I hadn’t known about her history with the house, I would have sworn she was watching the cute construction workers.”