Chet The Dog

Posts Tagged ‘Mrs. Plansky’s dad’

Her Dad

Mrs. Plansky’s 98 year old dad (the kind of character who tries to take over a book):

Scraping and bumping went on behind the door and then it opened. There he was – slumped sideways, but somehow aggressively, in his wheelchair, her dad, once a good-looking man in a Mad Men sort of way, and now much reduced, even a bit orc-like. He raised his voice. “Julio! Julio!”

“Who’s Julio?” Mrs. Plansky said.

“The attendant who helps him with his sanitary needs,” said Jeanine.

“The other guy was better,” Mrs. Plansky’s dad said.

“Marcus is no longer here,” Jeanine said, and Mrs. Plansky knew at once how come.

(July 25 pub date, preorders welcome)

Follow-Up

How about starting the week by answering a couple of questions that arose from yesterday’s post about my supposedly long bike ride. Question one: How far? Answer: not far – only 15 miles, and on flat Cape Cod terrain, at that. Excuse: I got hungry. Question two: Where’s the helmet? Answer: There may be one around somewhere but I don’t wear a helmet. Excuse: personality defect. Question three: do I play the piano? Answer: I wish. Meanwhile Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge, preorderable, is now just a little more than two months from pub date. One thing I’ll be talking about on the tour is Mrs. Plansky’s 98 year old dad. He turned out to be the kind of character who wants to take over the whole book and needs to be kept in his place.

Mrs. P

Mrs. Plansky turned to Jeanine. “Paying for what?”

“The TV in the lounge,” Jeanine said, “but I don’t know where he got the idea there’d be a charge. No one would have told him that. It’s covered by our insurance.”

“He broke the TV?”

Jeanine nodded. “With a beer bottle.”

“He threw it that hard?”

Jeanine shook her head. “He wheeled right up to the screen and used the bottle like a club. Have you met Mr. Blucher?”

“I don’t think so.”

“He’s new. That’s who the argument was with. Naturally a staff member was on scene, serving refreshments and such, but it all happened very quick.”

“Dad’s ninety-eight. How could it have been quick?”

[coming July 25, available for pre-order]