Harper's Hill, Chapter 4: Susie Q

Emily's grandfather, Edgar, was reasonable and fair while he was alive. He had lived in the East side of Harper's Hill long before the divide of the town, back when the area was booming. However, that means that he watched it go down, too. Growing up and seeing this decline, Edgar decided to get a job in Redwood Valley at the lumber mill.

Edgar's parents were traditional and didn't show a lot of emotion. He had no siblings, and not a ton of friends, so he had always wanted to have lots of kids so that they would never be lonely... lonely like he had been as a child.

Edgar and his father had talked about how Edgar had wanted to have children. His father didn't see the appeal of a bunch of "brats" running around, but reassured Edgar anyway that once he met the right girl, he would know that she was the one that he wanted to start a family with.

Edgar never really believed his father when he said that he would just know. But his mind was changed at a community dance in 1969 when he first saw Susan Watson.

He first noticed her because he heard a group of girls chanting "Susie Q! Susie Q! Susie Q!" When him and his friends looked over, they saw a crowd forming.

"Susie Q?" One of his friends asked, "Do you think a girl is fighting?"

"Well we gotta go see," Another one of his friends replied. They took their drinks and made their way over to the crowd. Looking over the heads, Edgar could see a small girl with big hair, bright makeup, and platform shoes. Her hot pink flared mini skirt swished and her chunky necklaces clunked as she danced in the middle of the circle.

"She's doing The Twist," Edgar commented to one of his buddies with a chuckle. She was mesmerizing, drawing more of the room with every move.

"It could be better," Danny said, shrugging his shoulders. He was Edgar's neighbor and always came out with the guys, but he didn't quite fit in. "She needs more hip movement."

The guys laughed and Edgar shook his head. "Nah, she's doing it just fine."

"Jump in with her," One of the guys said, and Edgar had never really known who said it. It was too bad, because this moment was the catalyst for the rest of his life, and he would have liked to thank them for this suggestion.

Edgar was about to shake his head. He couldn't jump in... he barely danced as it was and he wasn't about to get into the middle of a big crowd. But then again... screw it.

Edgar found himself pushing through the people, moving into the middle of the circle. He was soon standing in front of the dancing diva.

She had her eyes closed and was clearly in the moment, and when she opened them, Edgar's sudden presence startled her. "Oh! Hi..." She said quickly. Once she took in Edgar's appearance, she couldn't stop herself from giggling. "Hi." She said again. "I'm Susan." She held out her hand to shake Edgar's, but she didn't stop dancing, so it was waving all over the place.

He caught her runaway hand with his and smiled at her. "Edgar," He said, and then let go of her hand and started to move his body to the music. "Let's dance."

Susan laughed and continued to dance, feeling the music all throughout her body, and now some music seemed to be playing in her heart, too.

"Why is everyone chanting Susie Q?" Edgar asked her.

"That's my nickname," Susan chuckled. "They say I'm like the girl from the song. But it's probably just because my actual name is Susan."

"That's pretty cute, Susie Q," He told her and gave her a wink. Susan blushed and looked away, waving him off playfully with her hand.

"Listen, Eddie," She said, pointing a finger at him, a huge grin on her face. "You don't get to just come up onto my stage and steal my spotlight."

He took her hand and gave her a spin. "Nobody calls me Eddie," He said.

She spun in so that she was close to him. "Well, I do now," She said nonchalantly. Edgar knew then that she was the one he wanted to make that family with. His father had been right, like he often was.

Emily found herself standing in the middle of that old community center, where the dance was the night her grandparents met. It was dark, it had a slight smell, and the wind blew in through the holes in the roof, making the room extremely drafty.

Though James had told her not to, Emily couldn't help exploring. She liked to go to places like this and imagine what had happened. They were the historical sites of her own family legacy and history. Her actual parents didn't have a romantic story for how they fell in love. But her grandfather had told her the story of him meeting her grandmother so many times that she could see it happening around her as she stood in the middle of the dance floor. She could see the lights flashing, hear the music playing, smell the alcohol that someone might have slipped into the punch bowl (was that a thing in the late 60s?) — it helped her feel connected to her family in some way, and it helped her feel connected to her mom.

"They met here, Mom," She said out loud, but mostly to herself, as she walked through the room. "They met and then you came..." She looked at the brick walls, crumbling under the weight of the ceiling that could cave in at any moment. "Then I came..."

Emily often found herself reflecting on the past. She wondered what would have happened if something went different that night. What if her grandfather had never jumped into the circle to dance with her grandmother? What if she hadn't of liked him when he did? What if she was never there to begin with?

Life's actions and consequences had always interested Emily, especially when she thought about her own parents. She often wondered if her parents leaving was a consequence of one of her actions.

A big WHOOSH swept through the building and seemed to shake the walls, so Emily decided to leave. As she walked home, she longed for a life that she didn't have. She remembered her four uncles, the other children that her grandparents had brought into this world. She was pretty sure that three of them lived on the West side of Harper's Hill, while one of them lived in Redwood Valley.

Emily wondered why she never talked to her uncles. She thought that all of this non-communication had to be some sort of misunderstanding. Maybe they could be reached. Maybe they could reunite.