Quadruplets Make Six
Page 24
“So, reading anything interesting?”
“I started a new book the other day. It’s called The Books Of Fell. Three books in one, and it’s sort of like a mystery-suspense trilogy.”
“Sounds intriguing. Is the majority of what you read fiction?”
“Mostly. I read a few biographies, but I enjoy fiction much better.”
“Why?” I asked.
“It helps me to escape my world for a little bit.”
“Do you not enjoy your world?”
“It is what it is. I live alone in a studio apartment on the outskirts of Chicago with my cat. Not much excitement happens over my way.”
“Please tell me it’s not on the south side of Chicago.”
“I don’t live in the middle of the city, if that’s what you’re asking. Why?”
“You’re in a dangerous area for a woman living by herself. Do you have a way to defend yourself if something happens?”
“I carry a flashlight-taser combination with me in my purse with an LED bulb in it. If blinding them doesn’t work, I can beat them into submission before tasering them until they drool.”
“It’s better than nothing,” I said.
“Why are you so worried all of a sudden?”
“Someone should worry for your safety.”
“So you’ve taken it upon yourself to do that?” she asked.
“Why not?”
“I… don’t know. People don’t usually worry about me is all.”
“Your father doesn’t worry about you?”
“My father would wash his hands of me if he could. My mother and my father worry to a point where it’s unnatural and unhealthy for them. But they worry about all the wrong things.”
“Such as?”
“When I’m going to get married and have kids. Not so much where I live or how I’m doing financially.”
“Your parents really do have a backwards way of looking at things,” I said.
“And welcome to why I don’t do many family reunions. Their worrying is more than I can handle sometimes, and I don’t even want to talk about the bickering.”
“Bickering?” I asked.
“They’re divorced.”
“Ah. That type of bickering. I’m familiar with it when it comes to my friend Jake. Divorced twice, massive alimony payments to each, and they fight like cats and dogs.”
“Should I ever get married one day, he’s stuck with me. I’m only traveling that road once.”
“I’m hard pressed to think anyone would see themselves as ‘stuck’ with you,” I said.
“I’m a homebody. Boring, I guess. I’d rather binge-watch television shows and have movie marathons than get out and do anything. As showcased by the size of my stomach.”