Midnight in Suburbia

NaNoWriMo Day 7: Chapter 7 - Daniella's House

Chapter 7: Descriptions
of Daniella's house

The entrance to the dining room was through the main hall that led from the front door. The front hall or foyer was paint a pastel green with pictures of family hanging on both walls. The pictures were those from Daniella's past. There was family photo of Larry, Amity, Daniella, and Ethan which was taken sometime in the mid nineteen fifties. There was a high school graduation and a college graduation photo of both Daniella and Ethan and Larry and Amity's wedding photo.

In the center of the dining room was the dining table with six chairs. Above the dining table was a crystal chandalier. On the west wall of the dining room was the door which stood open at all times, this door lead tot he kitchen. The entrance from the foryer was on the east wall a precessaly opposite the door to the kitchen. There was an entrance to the living room along the south wall of the dining room. The only way to enter the living room was through the dining room. That was one of the reasons Daniella had chosen this house.

The decorations on the dining room walls was paintings. There was a portriate of Daniella which her brother Ethan had done. The rest of the paintings were landscapes and flowers. All the paintings in the dining room were by Daniella's brother Ethan Stupe. The dining room was a pastel green with highlights of blue along the baseboards,

In the living room was a television sit placed close to the picture window. The couch faced the window and the television set. There was a bookcase on the east wall. Along the west wall was the entrance to two bedrooms that shared a bathroom. One of the bedrooms was used buy Jesse, Daniella's live in housekeeper. The other bedroom was a guest room and remained empty except when there was a guest.

The furniture in both bedrooms was comfort modern. There was a dresser, chest of drawers, two bedside tables (each with a lamp) and doors leading to the closets. The closet in the maids room was a small walk-in closet, while the closet in the guest room was just an ordinary closets. The entrance to the bathroom was through either of the bedrooms.

There was a half bath located near the laundry room. The entrance to the laundry room was through the foyer and down another hall. This hall lead to the doors to the attached two car garage. The doors to the garage are always locked with a dead bolt and there are only three keys to this door and the front door. The only ones who have keys to the house are Preston, Daniella, and Jesse.

There is an attic room which has an entrance from the hall that leads to the garage. This room is large enough for a bed, a dress, and a bedside table. There are hooks on the wall for other clothing. Hanging from those hooks are multicolor plastic hangers. There is a small window overlooking the front yard.

The kitchen which is just off the dining room, has all the modern convinences. There is another door in the kitchen that opens onto the barbeque porch. The barbeque porch is constructed of stone. The barbeque pit has a stone chimney and is located between two rows of steps that descend into Daniella's garden. The garden, which is an l-shaped and covers the area on the west and north (back) of the house, is surrounded by a stone wall. The the only entrance to the garden is from the barbeque porch. There are two scarecrows, one dressed as a man and the other as a woman, in the garden. The male scarecrow faces the barbeque porch and the female is located at the back of the house and she faces the corner of the house where the garden makes its turn to the back of the house.

Inside the house, with an entrance to the barbeque porch is a leinay which leads to a hall that enters the master bedroom. There is also an entrance from the main part of the house into the master bedroom. The master bedroom is located on the east side of the house and has a walk-in closet and a full master bathroom. There are painting decorating the walls throughout the house. Most of the painting are done by Ethan Shupe and those, which do not have family significance are rotated a couple of times a year.


Daniella sit in her front porch swing looking across her front yard. She remember the scene four years ago when her mother, Amity Coffey-Shupe came to visit. Amity thought the yard and the land scaping were excelant. The problem was climbing the stairs to the front porch. Until that moment, Daniella did not realize how difficult it was for her mother to climb stairs. Amity did not pretend to enjoy climbing the four steps to the front porch, but when she go on the porch and looked back across the yard she had enjoyed the view.

That was the last time Amity had climbed the steps. For the entire two weeks she was in Las Vegas, she entered the house through the garage entrance, which seemed to make walking easier. At home, in Oklahoma, Amity did not have to climb steps of any type. She did not have a real font porch, only a small cement stoop that was even with the bottom of the front door. At 80 something, that made life easier for Amity who was much too independent to want or ask for help from anyone.

Daniella smiled as she remembered he mother's last and only visit to Las Vegas. Amity did not mind the crowds on the Las Vegas stripe, at least not in the short time she was visiting Daniella. Amity had spent one night in Ethan's apartment, but decided that she did not want to inconvienance her son and drive him from his nice comfortable bed and she had liked the room that Daniella had given her, even if she had to share a bathroom with Daniella's live-in maid.

"Perhaps," said Daniella as she stared across her front yard to the street beyond. "I should ask Mama if she want to come to Las Vegas for another visit." At that moment, the postman opened the front gate and walked up the stone walk to the porch.

"Good afternoon, Ms Coffey," he said. "I have a letter and package from Colorado." He placed the package on the front porch and handed the letter to Daniella.

"Is that all today, Mr. Jones."

"That's it, Ms Coffey, you have a nice day." He turned and left.

The return address on the package indicated that it was from her step Uncle Rodger, as was the letter. Getting up out of the swing, she picked up the package and went into the house. She let the door slam behind her and walked through the foyer to the dining room. Placing the package and letter on the table, she went went into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, she took a glass out of the cupboard and then opened the refregator. Removing a gallon of milk, she poured milk in the glass and then returned the container to the refergerator. Picking up the glass off the counter, she carried it into the dining room. She sit down in a chair and opened the letter.

Dear Daniella,

I got the oddest call from Amity this morning. She wanted to know the phone number in Texas where Larry could be reached. She surprised me so much that I didn't know what to tell her, so I told her I'd have to look it up. Daniella, I got the feeling that she didn't remember that Larry had died. I'm not sure how to handle this, I tried to call you, but I couldn't get through either on your land line or cell phone.

I called her friend Emily and ask her what was going on. Emily said Amity has been a bit confused over the past several months. It seems that she has misplaced a number of items and blames Dolly for stealing them, which wouldn't surprise me since Dolly has been pissed about the items that Grandma Hattie left Larry and Amity.

Since I'm not sure whether the issue is with Amity or Dolly, I'm going to go to Oklahoma over the Thanksgiving holiday. My son, Rodger Jr., is coming with me because he has a meeting in Oklahoma City. I will stop there for a couple of days and then go on to Blackwell. When I talked to Emily, she said she didn't think there was any problem other then Dolly getting more beligerant and stubborn in her old age. She seemed to think that perhaps Amity was right about Dolly stealing the antique silver.

I hope you will change your holiday plans to go to Blackwell. I think it might be a good idea to separate Dolly and Amity over the Christmas holidays. At least, until one of us can figure out what is really going on between those two women. I know Dolly is a snob and stubborn old bitch, but she is my sister despite the difficulties Larry and I had with her when we were younger.

I'll try to call you again soon. I was using my cell phone and the reception can sometimes be spotty. Please, give me a call as soon as you get this letter and the package I sent you.

Uncle Rodger.

Next Daniella opened the box, inside was an old recipe book. Opening the book, she read the inscription To Hattie Lora Collins from Aunt Georgia. Taking the recipe book she went into the kitchen and walked over to the breakfast nook. There she placed the book in the center of the table and opened it to the section titled Holiday Deserts.

"A new recipe book, Dani," ask Jesse entering the kitchen from the barbeque porch.

"No, Jesse," Daniella laughed. "It's an old recipe book. It belonged to Grandma Hattie and it has her recipe for non-alcholic fruit cake."

"Are you going to make one for Christmas?"

"Yes, as soon as I get back from Oklahoma after Thanksgiving. Would you like me to make you one?"

"Of course, I'm always ready to try something new."