holiday celebration. The girls also got fired for the first time in their lives while in Ypsilanti. They both secured jobs at the small local airport as part of a nighttime cleaning crew. They were assigned to clean the outside windows of the control tower, as well as at least thirty offices every night. Keri enjoyed freaking out the air traffic controllers, who were already a little high-strung as it was, by wrapping her legs around the tower pole, instead of using a secured wire, while cleaning the windows. The windows were at least
four stories high.
One night while Keri cleaned the tower windows, Suzi called up to Keri to give her the keys. Keri reached in her pocket, grabbed the keys, and dropped them down to Suzi, not quite understanding distance, weight, and ve-locity. Suzi failed to catch the keys, which rocketed to the
76 Corey Mitchell
concrete below. They were bent in the process. Subsequently the girls could not get into the offices to clean them that night. They called their boss up at home and explained the situation to him. He drove to the airport, and instead of giving them backup keys, he gave them their walking papers.
Suzi and Keri took their pink slips and converted them into travel vouchers. They were restless and eager to leave their home state. They heard from friends that Houston, Texas, was the place to be. Jobs were plentiful and the weather was much better than in Michigan. In February 1981, they took off in an old beat-up van.
Instead of making the 1,330-mile trek in two or three days, the girls decided to venture onward. They made a stop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where they camped out under the stars. They eventually made their way down to the beaches of Florida, where they camped out and slept on the beach for a week.
Suzi was determined to sleep underneath the stars with the sound of waves crashing at her feet. She informed Keri that she was going to sleep in her sleeping bag.
The following morning Keri was startled awake by screams coming from Suzi. When Keri ran to her to find out what had happened, she stopped, stared at her friend, and began to burst into laughter. Suzi was covered with hundreds of snails, which had sought out the warmth of her sleeping bag. The freaked-out Suzi could not help but join her best friend in laughing.
They made it all the way to Houston. “Just kind of an adventure led us down here. No plans,” Keri recalled.
They moved in together into the Louisville Apartments on the 9200 block of Clarewood Street, one block north of Bellaire Boulevard. The girls immediately landed jobs as waitresses at Pizza Hut. The free spirits resumed
EVIL EY ES 77
their partying ways, but they quickly fell on hard times. Despite what they had heard, President Ronald Reagan’s trickle-down economic theory seemed to bypass the girls and most other middle-and lower-class Houstonites. The girls bickered about bills. Mainly, Keri was mad because Suzi was not contributing. It got so bad that Suzi moved out and moved in with her boyfriend, Michael Bogh, in the same apartment complex. Eventually that did not work out because, according to another friend, Karen Mankiewicz, Bogh allegedly hit her. Wolf moved in with Mankiewicz, who also lived in the Louisville Apartments complex, on September 5, 1981. By this time Suzi and Keri no longer spoke to one another.
Over time, Suzi decided she wanted her best friend back in her life. She also decided she wanted to move again—to California. Through a mutual friend, Suzi let Keri know of her desires; however, Keri wanted nothing to do with her. Suzi decided to stay put. She also continued to party with Karen as her sidekick and landed a job at a nearby Kroger grocery store as a grocery clerk.
On September 13, 1981, less than fifteen minutes after Elizabeth Montgomery collapsed into the arms of her fiancé on Marinette Drive, and less than two-and-a-half miles away, Suzi Wolf walked into a Safeway grocery store. She
four stories high.
One night while Keri cleaned the tower windows, Suzi called up to Keri to give her the keys. Keri reached in her pocket, grabbed the keys, and dropped them down to Suzi, not quite understanding distance, weight, and ve-locity. Suzi failed to catch the keys, which rocketed to the
76 Corey Mitchell
concrete below. They were bent in the process. Subsequently the girls could not get into the offices to clean them that night. They called their boss up at home and explained the situation to him. He drove to the airport, and instead of giving them backup keys, he gave them their walking papers.
Suzi and Keri took their pink slips and converted them into travel vouchers. They were restless and eager to leave their home state. They heard from friends that Houston, Texas, was the place to be. Jobs were plentiful and the weather was much better than in Michigan. In February 1981, they took off in an old beat-up van.
Instead of making the 1,330-mile trek in two or three days, the girls decided to venture onward. They made a stop in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where they camped out under the stars. They eventually made their way down to the beaches of Florida, where they camped out and slept on the beach for a week.
Suzi was determined to sleep underneath the stars with the sound of waves crashing at her feet. She informed Keri that she was going to sleep in her sleeping bag.
The following morning Keri was startled awake by screams coming from Suzi. When Keri ran to her to find out what had happened, she stopped, stared at her friend, and began to burst into laughter. Suzi was covered with hundreds of snails, which had sought out the warmth of her sleeping bag. The freaked-out Suzi could not help but join her best friend in laughing.
They made it all the way to Houston. “Just kind of an adventure led us down here. No plans,” Keri recalled.
They moved in together into the Louisville Apartments on the 9200 block of Clarewood Street, one block north of Bellaire Boulevard. The girls immediately landed jobs as waitresses at Pizza Hut. The free spirits resumed
EVIL EY ES 77
their partying ways, but they quickly fell on hard times. Despite what they had heard, President Ronald Reagan’s trickle-down economic theory seemed to bypass the girls and most other middle-and lower-class Houstonites. The girls bickered about bills. Mainly, Keri was mad because Suzi was not contributing. It got so bad that Suzi moved out and moved in with her boyfriend, Michael Bogh, in the same apartment complex. Eventually that did not work out because, according to another friend, Karen Mankiewicz, Bogh allegedly hit her. Wolf moved in with Mankiewicz, who also lived in the Louisville Apartments complex, on September 5, 1981. By this time Suzi and Keri no longer spoke to one another.
Over time, Suzi decided she wanted her best friend back in her life. She also decided she wanted to move again—to California. Through a mutual friend, Suzi let Keri know of her desires; however, Keri wanted nothing to do with her. Suzi decided to stay put. She also continued to party with Karen as her sidekick and landed a job at a nearby Kroger grocery store as a grocery clerk.
On September 13, 1981, less than fifteen minutes after Elizabeth Montgomery collapsed into the arms of her fiancé on Marinette Drive, and less than two-and-a-half miles away, Suzi Wolf walked into a Safeway grocery store. She
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