A Simple Thing by Kathleen McCleary Page B

did was wrong.”
    â€œYou’re right,” Katie said, her voice brittle with sarcasm. “You’re always right.”
    â€œYou’re unbelievably rude.” Susannah felt her anger rise up, wash over her. “Turn the music off now .”
    â€œGet off my case,” Katie said. “You are such a bitch .”
    Reflexively Susannah raised a hand to slap her, but then brought it down. Instead, she yanked the iPod out of her daughter’s hands, turned, and marched to the bathroom, where she dropped it into the toilet and flushed.
    There was a scream of pure outrage from Katie. “You’re crazy!” she yelled, watching the swirl of water in the toilet. “You’re totally crazy. Jesus!”
    Susannah was so angry it was hard to breathe, her chest and throat thick. “If you can’t show me the respect of listening when I talk to you, you don’t deserve an iPod.”
    Katie turned and ran from the room, and Susannah heard the slam of her bedroom door, muffled sobs. With a sigh, Susannah walked back into the living room and collapsed on the couch. Quinn followed her.
    â€œDo you think Otis will die of grief?” he said.
    She looked at him. “No, honey. I’m going to Friday Harbor tomorrow. Maybe I can find a new wife for Otis.”
    Quinn looked hopeful. “That would be great. But it has to be just the right size.”
    â€œI know. Go brush your teeth.”
    She heard the trickle of water in the bathroom sink, the flush of the toilet.
    â€œMom? Mom! ”
    She jumped up and ran into the bathroom to find the toilet, clearly rebelling at the recent ingestion of Kate’s iPod, overflowing onto the bathroom floor. She looked wildly around the room for a plunger, but didn’t see one.
    â€œShit!” The water splashed over her shoes, onto her ankles. She grabbed towels and threw them onto the floor. She knew nothing about the mechanics of toilets. Was there a water shutoff valve? Had Jim showed it to her when he was explaining about distribution systems and 2D-watt bulbs or whatever the hell he’d been talking about?
    Katie appeared in the doorway, walked over to the toilet, reached down, and turned a knob on the wall beneath it.
    â€œThat’s where you shut the water off,” she said. “Baker and Hood showed me.”
    â€œThank God,” Susannah said. She sighed. She looked around and spotted a mop in the corner of the bathroom. She reached for it and turned to Katie. “You mop up. I’ll call Jim in the morning about fixing the toilet. Until then, we’ll just have to go outside.”
    â€œWhy do I have to mop?” Katie said. “ You’re the one who—”
    Exhaustion and anger rose in Susannah and she shoved the mop at Katie with such force that the handle almost hit her in the forehead. Katie’s eyes opened wide in surprise. “I’m done, ” Susannah said. “Shut up and mop.”
    Later, alone in bed, Susannah stared into the darkness and listened to something—a bat? a mouse?—rustle inside the wall. She lay on her usual side of the bed, even though Matt’s side was empty. Katie wasn’t speaking to her. Quinn had finally fallen asleep after twirling his hair so much that a handful of strands lay scattered across his pillow. She drifted into a restless sleep. Three times she thought she heard someone cry out, and each time she got up, made her way in to check on the kids, found them fast asleep, and stumbled back to bed. Finally, she crawled under the covers and lay on her back, eyes wide open, until the darkness began to fade and the day awoke.

Chapter 9
    Betty 1954
    Betty discovered the affair by accident. She was seven months pregnant, and so big the doctor thought she might be carrying twins. A mid-August heat wave, unusual for Seattle, had caused her to retain water, and her hands were so swollen she couldn’t even wear her wedding ring. She woke