CHAPTER SEVEN

‘You are growing up into a beautiful young lady,’ he said, leering at her. Suzie cringed and glared at him. She hated coming to the shop and having the old man serve her. She preferred the lady. Ms. Lydia was her name. She was a nice, friendly lady, always smiling whenever she came by, asking questions about school and how Pa and Ma were faring. She was scarcely at the shop on mornings. If she recalled correctly, the few times that Ms. Lydia had served her at the shop were in the afternoons after school. It looked like Mr. Bringo handled the morning shifts.

Suzie continued her perusal of Bringo. Pa mentioned that he was a retired school teacher. He used to teach a few years back in the village and was quite good at it. Suzie did not know why the people of the community called him old man because he was not really old. He had a full head of grey hair, but from what Pa said he was only a few years older than him. People said he inherited it from his father. Suzie th