On a Quiet Street

by Seraphina Nova Glass

It’s Abby Rosen, whose nanny stole her three-karat diamond to sell and replaced it with a cubic zirconia, and Abby never found out. It’s Martin Landry, who eloped with his seventeen-year-old stepdaughter.

Excuse me?!?

Thinking back to what a cow I must have looked like, storming in there in a terry-cloth robe and slipper socks, I could just about die with the shame of it. Not to mention I was not wearing makeup and had dots of eye cream beneath my eyes.

“You wanna call me crazy now? Am I still fucking delusional?” I screamed when I reached their small table by the front windows.

Kill him

As I walk back across the street to our house, I pause and look over at Georgia’s. I want to stop. I want to dismiss the paranoia that always gets me in trouble, but...she should be back. He shouldn’t be home. Something feels wrong.

I am not going to follow him and plead my innocence. Instead, I’ll go spend some more money. That’s what I will do. I’m not dressed for the piano bar, but I won’t go upstairs to get clothes. He is expecting me to stay and to apologize and cook dinner and tiptoe around his mood, but instead I’m gonna go buy a new dress and shoes for tonight, then get to the restaurant by six and treat myself to a long, slow dinner with appetizers, pasta, and dessert. And wine. Then I’ll play vintage jazz in front of a nice group of folks who actually appreciate me. That’s what I’ll do instead. Fuck him.

Yes yes yes

“How? Because I’m sorry, I don’t mean to sound ungrateful, but I don’t think you understand. I know about this recorder thing, but there’s no way to get it. I think we should forget that, and I should just go.” “Paige says she’s willing to...break in,” Cora says. “Sneak in,” Paige corrects her. “Sneak in and get it,” Cora finishes. I look at them a moment and see that they’re serious.

I don’t know if I have found true friends or if they are both absolutely nuts.

“I already told you,” she says, and she makes the ridiculous pepper-spray gun-holster gesture again, and in any other circumstance this would be hilarious.

“Wait. Wait. Stop. What? You’re telling me...” His eyes light up. They look at each other a moment, and then he looks to Avery, who is nodding back off to sleep in Paige’s arms. She places her on Grant’s lap, and before she can say anything else, she sees his tears fall in fat droplets onto Avery’s pale forehead as he holds her into his chest.