HUMID by Susan Tepper

Liquor being scarce in these parts, it was iced tea on the humid porch. 

We watched some Amish go by in a horse drawn carriage.  Clop clop clop clop.

Those hats have gotta be hot, he said.

I looked up at the porch roof peeling blue flakes.  Termites were taking down the house in sections.  One day it would collapse.  I could only hope to be out during that occurrence.  

So tell me everything, he said.

Everything?

All your men, he said, taking a good swallow like it was whiskey.

Have you checked Ripley’s Believe It Or Not?  (My idea of a joke).

He emptied the glass, sucking the lemon slice.  Deliberating.  Putting the glass down on uneven boards.  It toppled and some ice cubes rolled out.

Don’t worry, I said.  

He was looking somewhat dismal at this point in the conversation.

Sitting up straighter in the rough wicker chair, he suddenly seemed focused again.  Saying, Well, darlin’.  What about your past?

Where shall I begin, which country?

Susan Tepper is a twenty year writer in all genres, and the author of nine published books.  Her most recent are CONFESS (a poetry chapbook by Cervena Barva Press, 2020) and a quirky road novel WHAT DRIVES MEN (Wilderness House Press, 2019).  Currently Tepper is in pre-production of an Off-Bdwy play titled THE CROOKED HEART which she based on artist Jackson Pollock’s later years.

www.susantepper.com