A Summer in Salem

Proposal by unfriendly neighbor after Susanna loses her husband

There’s a knock at the door. 

“Alice! Can you see who that is please?” I call out while putting the last of the chopped potatoes in the pot to boil. 

“Yes mother.”

Alice skips into the kitchen and opens our back door. 

“Hello George.”

“Hi there little darling. Is your momma around?”

“Yes. She’s preparing our dinner.”

“Is it alright if I come inside? I need to speak with her.”

“I suppose.” She stands back and allows George to enter our home. 

“Good evening, Susanna.”

“Hello George. Strange seeing you here, considering you were not invited over.”

“I didn’t realize I needed a reason to stop by to see my favorite woman.”

“Charming. What business do you have being here at this hour? As you can see, I’m a busy woman and I have a family to tend to.”

“It’s a private matter. I would prefer to speak to you alone.”

“Alice, would you please go tell your sisters and brother to wash up for dinner. It will be done shortly.”

“Yes mother.” Alice leaves the room.

I turn back to the stove and stir the potatoes. “Now, what is so important that you could not have possibly had the decency to talk to me about when I am not preoccupied?”

“Susanna, turn around.”

I turn to face him and see that he has gotten down on one knee with a small box in his hands. 

“Susanna Price, will you be my wife?”

“No.”

“What do you mean ‘no’?”

  “No, I will not marry you. I am Samuel’s wife, and my surname is Abernathy. I have not been a Price since I was 22 years old.”

“Your husband has passed and so has my wife. Our properties are right beside each other. It is logical for us to wed.”

“On the contrary, it is the most remarkably illogical thing I have ever heard. I owe you nothing.”

“You know, women cannot operate households on their own. It is not proper for a woman to not serve a man. Your place should be below a husband, someone who can run the household.”

“I am the head of my household. I am running my farm and raising my children alone, as is proper for a woman who has been widowed. I am a capable, logical person and I have every power than any man running a household has. I owe you nothing, George, least of all my love.”

“You are wrong. Women cannot control themselves. They always need a man to be their master.”

“You are the most simple minded man I have ever met!”

“No. You just need to learn to submit to a husband. You should not be voicing your opinion or arguing with a man.”

“So what if I do?”

“Well, then I’ll-”

“You’ll do what George? Beat me just like you beat Marcie? I know how she really died. It wasn’t from illness, it was from injury. I know she died because of what you did to her.”

“You don’t know anything!”

“I know that I would never be married to you! I would rather die than spend one minute as your wife!”

“Susanna, when are you going to realize that you were meant to be married to me all along?” George grabs me by the arm and pulls me closer to him. “I should have been the one to own you.”

“Let go of me this instant! I am a married woman!”

“Last I checked, your good for nothing husband is six feet under with worms eating through his body.”

I bring my free hand up and slap him sharply on the cheek. “Don’t you dare speak that way about Samuel! He was a good man and an even better husband. You are not even a quarter of the man he was!”

George’s grip on my arm tightens and I cry out in pain. 

“What did you just say to me?”

I stand up straighter and stare him in the eyes. “I said exactly what you heard. Now, let go of me right now and get off my property.”

I pull away from him and walk to the other side of my kitchen, putting even more space between us. 

“You need to leave now, George, and do not ever set foot onto my property again.”

He walks over to the door. “You are going to pay for this Susanna. You will regret not succumbing to me.”

“I regret nothing in my life, except for being a friend to you.”

Reviews

[Franky]

Excellent chapter 2. I like the new circumstances for the main character Susanna.
A time Warp? Nice twist.

What a jerk George is! I look forward to reading more!

[Onlyme]

I liked this a lot, the banter, the conversation, and witty marks. It made me laugh out loud. All-round entertaining piece of writing that held me from start till end.

[wordman]

great write,intense ,can`t believe what people do to others

[genocide]

wow that is fucked up I hope that geroge gets what's coming to him and susanna deserves better that's just terrible.and she knew how marice really died how did she know that

[RayLynn]

Marcie was her closest friend and before she died, she told Susanna what happened