Incidents Around the House

In Bela’s room, Daddo sits on her bed, thinking she is asleep. He says that he is stoned and muses in a long, meandering monologue about the joys and pains of adulthood. He talks about a friend from childhood named Quinn Doyle who died in a car wreck and all the things he missed out on because he never grew up.

He asks Bela if she’s asleep and if she really saw what Marsha saw. Bela doesn’t answer, so he goes to the closet and says that anything in it should leave, because they are happy and don’t need ghosts in the house. Bela is frightened that he will make Other Mommy angry, but she stays still. The closet doors creak open, and Daddo asks if Kelvin or Ursula is there. He finally decides that it’s a loose hinge and gets a tool kit, fixing the door.

He tells Bela that fear is a vital part of being alive and that this experience is one of the things Quinn Doyle is missing out on. Bela sits up and asks him if reincarnation is bad. He tells her no, that it’s a beautiful thing. She asks him where the person in the body would go if someone came into their heart, and he tells her she is misunderstanding how it works. The doors creak again and, breathing hard, he stands up and puts a chair in front of them. He tells Bela he will sleep in her bed tonight.

After Daddo falls asleep, Bela lies awake, frightened. She worries that Other Mommy isn’t her friend and that she will keep coming closer.

The next morning, Daddo is still asleep, and Bela makes her own breakfast. Her mother returns, still in the clothes from the party. She asks Bela to tell her more about Other Mommy and says that Marsha was so scared that she slept at her brother’s house.

Bela tells her that Other Mommy has eyes that are sometimes on the side of her face and that she can change sizes. She also slithers on her belly across the floor. Mommy is disturbed but calls the conversation “creative.” She asks if Other Mommy has ever talked to her, but they are interrupted by Daddo, who is surprised that Mommy didn’t sleep at home. She tells him she went to Marsha’s house, but Bela knows that she is lying.

Bela reminds them that they promised to take her to the zoo, and they agree to go. She asks if she can get a stuffed vulture. Mommy says it is a weird animal to choose, but Bela thinks that she likes them because they only eat things that are already dead.

The family walks around the zoo, visiting the reptile house. Bela thinks about how her former teacher, Mr. Jeffery, told their class that some places have special meaning to the people who spend time there. Bela thinks the zoo has special meaning for her parents and that they always tell her to go ahead and explore while they lag behind, talking. They begin to argue about Mommy staying out late and about Bela’s imagination, so Bela interrupts and tells them she wants to see the butterfly house. They tell her to wait because the butterfly house is at the end of the walk, but they pause their fighting long enough to go see the penguins.

In the zoo, they run into Lois, who tells them she loves to walk there to clear her head. Lois asks them to stop by her group, which meets on Fridays to discuss the supernatural. Daddo is interested, but Mommy is dismissive.

When they reach the butterfly house, the parents send Bela in ahead and resume their argument. Bela starts to wander, looking at the butterflies, but then spots something that looks like a blue eye watching her from under a leaf. She imagines Other Mommy lying in wait for her and panics, running and screaming for her parents. They find her and take her out of the house. Daddo sees that she is scared and is sympathetic, but Mommy says it is due to people like Lois and that the nonsense has to stop now.

At home, Mommy empties out Bela’s closet and opens the windows. She tells her that there is nothing there and suggests that she sleep with the door open for a while. She makes Bela lie down to take a nap. Reluctant at first, Bela eventually drifts off to sleep, thinking that her closet looks small and empty without anyone watching her.

Bela awakens in her room. It is dark outside, and Mommy is sitting on her bed, thinking aloud. She says that she is cheating on Daddo, and she feels guilty for doing it because he is such a good man. She explains that she has her own hopes and dreams that don’t include being a mother and that she is also angry because Bela is having these weird imaginative terrors about Other Mommy right when she wants to be focusing on herself the most. She says that parenthood should not be a prison sentence.

Bela worries that Mommy is drunk, and she hears creaking coming down the hall. She is afraid Daddo will hear and wonders if she should say something. Mommy continues talking and says that she has been thinking about reincarnation. She wonders if she could come back as a better mother in a new body. She asks Bela if Bela can help give her life.

Bela’s mother stands at the door and asks Bela whom she is speaking to, and Bela realizes that Other Mommy is sitting on her bed, pretending to be her mother and impersonating her voice. Mommy turns on the light and sees Other Mommy and begins to scream. She snatches Bela up and runs out into the yard, shouting that Daddo isn’t home.

Outside, Mommy shakes and asks Bela if that was Other Mommy. Bela says yes.

Bela and Mommy wait at Dan and Amanda’s house. Daddo is on his way but plans to stop at their home first. Bela asks them to stop him from going in the house, and she worries that he will also see Other Mommy. Dan and Amanda are very uncomfortable with what is happening but try to be polite.

When Daddo arrives, he and Mommy talk in the hall. Dan and Amanda put on Tangled for Bela to watch, but she overhears snippets of the conversation. Daddo returns and asks her if anyone has tried to hurt her, like a grownup from school, but she denies it. Daddo decides to call the police and say there was an intruder in their home. Mommy says they will stay the night here and asks Dan to put on their alarm system. He says that he will and that she has them scared out of their minds.

Everyone sleeps in the living room, waiting for Daddo to return from the police station. Bela hears a noise in the hall and worries that it is Other Mommy. Dan also wakes up and hears it, asking his wife if she heard any noises. She tells him that she snores, but he seems doubtful.

Daddo texts that he is home, and Dan goes to let him in, turning on all the lights before he does.

Amanda and Dan return to their bedroom, and Daddo sits with Bela on the couch. He asks her more about Other Mommy, and Bela tells him she thinks that Other Mommy has been tricking her. She pretended to be her friend but really wants to “carnation” her. She asks Daddo if he thinks Other Mommy is a ghost, and he says he doesn’t know. He talks to her about different kinds of emotions and different kinds of fear, trying to comfort her by saying that he isn’t afraid.

They are interrupted when Dan comes downstairs and asks where Ursula is. Daddo explains that she is on the porch and Dan says he just saw her in their bedroom. He and Amanda ask them to leave, saying that the entire situation has them rattled. Daddo is understanding, but Mommy is furious, calling them “selfish” and “dicks.” She calls her mother and says that they will go stay with her.

In the car, they start to drive away, and a deer leaps into the street, startling them. After the scare, they all laugh, relaxing the tension, and start to drive again. However, another deer appears, and they all fall silent.