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It didn’t surprise me that I hadn’t noticed people were leaving. Art had a way of enthralling me. I lost myself in it.
I was just about to go and look for Cash when Colleen appeared at my side.
“Hi, sweetie! Can I borrow you for a second?”
“Of course!” I quickly shut my notepad not wanting her to see the drawing because I planned on framing it and giving it to her as a present on her actual birthday, which I learned was tomorrow.
I stood up and followed her through the kitchen, down the hallway and a set of stairs that led into the basement where Cash was staying. I wondered if he was down there, but when I stepped off the last step I saw that it was empty.
“Did you have fun at your party?” I asked, hoping not to show my disappointment that he was nowhere to be seen. I missed him, which was odd because I’d been with him nonstop but then I remembered my brother picking up Reagan and telling her that he missed her.
“It was the best.” Colleen’s blue eyes sparkled with mischief. “Actually, tied for the best. On my twenty-first birthday, your mom took me to Atlantic City and…” Colleen’s voice trailed off and her expression changed to a look of wistful memories as a smile spread on her face. “Well, I’ll just say, it was a weekend I’ll never forget.”
She was still grinning as she opened up a box, took out several yellow Kodak envelopes and handed them to me. I lifted the flap and pulled out the first bunch of photos. As I flipped through them, I saw they were filled with pictures of my mom.
“Colleen, Mary and Ken are leaving!” Mitch called down from the top of the stairs. “They want to head out before the storm.”
There’d been storm warnings throughout the day. Apparently, quite a nasty system was rolling through. I’d always hated storms. I wasn’t sure if it was because my mom died on a stormy night or if it was because at my grandparents’ house my bedroom was on a separate wing than theirs. I was isolated and there was a tree outside my window that had branches that would slam against the glass when the wind picked up. And when there was lightning it would flash and the outline of the tree looked like a witch.
I remember being terrified, crying, alone in my bed. I never slept when there were storms and even now, as an adult, I hated storms. Even the ones that were in the daylight.
“Be right up!” she yelled.
“Is it okay if I stay down here and look at these?” I hated being rude, but I just didn’t want to do anything but go through these.
“Of course! Take your time!” Colleen patted my hand before turning around.
“Thank you so much for showing me these.”
She glanced over her shoulder. “They’re yours to keep, love.”
“Oh no, I can’t take all of these.” As much as I wanted to, it wouldn’t be right. These might be of my mom, but they were Colleen’s memories.
“Sweetie, it was the nineties, we always got duplicates.” She winked and hurried up the stairs.
I lowered down onto the mattress from the pullout couch which was where Cash was sleeping. As I went through the pictures for the first time, I began to see my mom as a person, not just a memory.
My birthday wasn’t for another month but Colleen had just given me the best present I’d ever received.
