Chapter 18

“She’s looking for our father,” Jake says. “It’s been an ongoing thing for the last week. She vanishes, appears, vanishes, and appears. It’s very strange behavior on her part. I honestly don’t think she’s cared where he’s been for years. Who knows?”

Soozie adds, “I’m sure she’s handling a private matter on her own. A woman gets something in her mind, and tries to figure it out. It’s a woman’s right. So look out. You can’t pull her away from it. We just need to let her go. If she needs us, we are here for her.”

Jonah thinks that Soozie has become quite a positive addition to the Icicle family. She’s more than big hair and glittery miniskirts and hairy balls hanging below the miniskirts. Sometimes she’s more of a sibling to him than Jake.

Willa serves glasses of freshly-squeezed orange juice. She also refills coffee mugs: Jake’s, Jonah’s, and Sandy’s. She asks, “Soozie darling, would you like more water?”