Ch.1, Pt 4: Car tires crunched on the driveway.
Car tires crunched on the driveway. Someone was driving up to the house. Katherine stopped chewing, and with mouth full of crackers, went to look out the kitchen window. Frieda, Douglas and the kids pulled up behind Katherine’s car. Frieda got out, balancing two pizza boxes. With one hand she opened the back door and Frank hopped out. Frieda turned to look at the house, spotted Katherine, and waved and pointed at the boxes. Fabulous, thought Katherine, hurrying out the kitchen and the back door. Douglas was carrying a brown paper bag and holding Beth by the hand.
“We brought supper,” cried Frieda. “Hope you haven’t eaten!” Katherine hugged her and Frieda responded with a kiss on the cheek. “Congratulations on your first house!”
“Great to see you! Come in. I was just starting to feel scared and lonely.”
“We brought pop!” piped Beth. Douglas raised up the brown paper bag. “That makes it a party for her,” he said.
“I’ve got beer if you prefer.”
Douglas smiled and gave one slow satisfied nod.
They all trooped into the kitchen. “Katherine,” Frank began.
“The movers just left,” Katherine said, lifting a box off the table, “which is why everything’s a mess.”
“That’s all right,” said Frieda. “We’re going to help. But first we’ll eat. Let’s move these boxes onto the floor for now.”
“Katherine?” said Frank.
“Come and sit here, Frank,” said Douglas. “Beth’ll sit on my knee.”
“I have another chair somewhere.” Katherine brought one out of the living room. “Now there’s one for everyone.” After they shifted boxes and settled onto chairs, Frieda lifted the lid of one of the pizza boxes. Steam rose and the smell of hot melted cheese made Katherine’s stomach rumble.
“Let’s turn on the light,” said Douglas flicking a switch. The gloom vanished as the room was filled with a warm golden glow. Frieda served everyone a slice and they dug in. The pizza was cool enough so that the tender spot behind the front teeth did not get burned by the sauce.
“Katherine,” said Frank through his first mouthful. “Are you scared of this house?”
Katherine swallowed and said “No. Why do you say that? Are you?”
He took a sip from his straw and shook his head. “But you said you were scared.” Katherine looked at Frieda, who stopped chewing and looked like she was thinking. “Yes,” she said. “When we came in, you said you were just getting scared and lonely.”
”That’s right,” Katherine said turning back to Frank. “Well, I was just starting to feel a little bit alone in this house that I don’t know very well yet. I wasn’t really scared, just sort of missing my apartment, you know? I think because all my things are in boxes and it doesn’t feel like my home yet.”
“Well, we’ll fix that, won’t we?” said Frieda nodding at Frank. “We’re going to help. You and Bethie are going to help Daddy, right? And Katherine and I will be another team.” She glanced around. “So what’s your plan? Do you have one?”
Katherine shook her head. “I don’t know where to start.” She took a huge bite.
“Well I have a plan that I always follow when we move,” Frieda began, and Douglas pointed his beer bottle at her and nodded at Katherine. “I start with the bedrooms. I get the beds set up with clean linen, so that we have proper places to sleep the minute we get too tired. Because the last thing you want to do when you’re exhausted is have to set up your bed.”
Katherine stopped sucking on her straw. “Makes sense.”
“Step two is the kitchen,” Douglas said, “in the Frieda school of moving.”
“Because that way when you get hungry –”
“You can have something to eat!” cried Beth, tomato sauce on her cheek.
“That’s right,” said Frieda, giving a swift wipe with her paper napkin before Beth could turn aside her head. “Look after food and sleep first, the basic necessities. Everything else can come after. So we thought that Daddy and Frank and Beth would tackle the kitchen while we do your bedroom.”
“Sounds great,” Katherine said leaning back in her chair. “I’d really like my kettle, only I don’t know where it is.”
“We’ll find it, won’t we Frank?” said Douglas. “We men can find our way around a kitchen.”
“Me too!” said Beth. Frank chomped on a slice and nodded at his Dad.
When no one could eat another piece of pizza, Frieda pushed back her chair. “Let’s get started then.”
Ch.1, Pt 5: Upstairs, Katherine and Frieda set up the big brass bed… » »
I shouldn’t be commenting on this particular chapter, but what the heck - I’m trying to leave a comment after every single episode/part I read.
Yeap - something’s finally happening … And I’m off to the next part to see what exactly.
I think Eli has something of a point: if you’re planning on rewriting/revising this novel, perhaps you ought to begin in medias res, i.e. with something quite dramatic happening.