Crashing Into Blue

Chapter 44

The day has finally arrived; our mom's gallery show is tonight, a fitting end to our last summer. Watching from our back deck, I see our mom go back and forth between the shed and the house all afternoon. She carries out dirty dishes from dinner's past, sweaters she must have worn during the colder nights, and her paintbrushes. I see her empty mason jars full of murky paint water, and wipe mixing pallets clean. The last thing she does is throw a sheet over her canvas, her masterpiece, and takes it out to her car through the yard. As she passes me, she throws me a little wink. I make my way back into the house, meeting her at the front door.

"Are you excited for tonight?" I ask her gleefully.

She stretches her arms out beside her and rolls her neck, as if she's working out a kink she's held on to for months. She probably has, being bent over her canvas all day and all night.

"I am; I've been waiting for this for a long time," she says with a small smile. I walk over to her and wrap my arms around her waist.

"I'm so happy for you mom, and I can't wait to see what you've been working on all summer."

She wraps her arms around me and kisses the top of my head. "It's going to be a magical night," she says to me wistfully.

"You think so?"

She gives me a little squeeze. "I hope so."

"Are we having a group hug without me?" Indigo says as she makes her way out of the rock-room. She beelines straight towards us, throwing her arms around our small group.

"You're all sweaty!" I squeal as I try to wiggle out of the tangle of arms.

"Yeah, that tends to happen when you've been playing the drums for over an hour," she says back to me. I squirm out of the embrace, and rub my arms, wiping off her sweat.

"Not all of us can be all pretty behind our guitars, standing lankily and slouched," Indigo says back to me, mimicking my playing pose.

"Ha-ha, very funny," I say back to her sarcastically. "But you know what isn't funny? Carpal tunnel."

Indigo rolls her eyes at me as our mom passes between us.

"Get all your arguments over with before the show tonight, I need you on your best behaviours," she says to us as she heads towards the staircase. She looks back at us before she disappears.

"I need you to be at the gallery in two hours, okay? We could use some help setting up."

We nod our heads synchronously as she makes her way up to the second floor.

Excitedly, I follow in her footsteps up the stairs and to my room. Unsure of what to wear, I start riffling through my closet. I know we have to be formal, so my casual beach dresses won't do. Biting my lip, I wonder if anything I have can live up to a night that's supposed to be magical. I hear our mom's shower running, and I start feeling the time ticking away. I reach the last hanger, and suddenly I'm facing the solution. I pull the dress out of the closet, and I know it's perfect. This is one impulse purchase that is finally paying itself off. Feeling giddy, I lay it out on my bed and start getting ready. As I'm pulling the zipper up the back, I hear our mom yell out a goodbye from downstairs. I turn to check the clock, and see that we have an hour left. Indigo still hasn't come up, so I make my way downstairs.