Chapter 10: Painting And Questions

Saturday morning Mom made us all pancakes for breakfast. She almost always made big breakfasts on the weekends. And she even said she’d do the cleaning up, so Julie and I went upstairs and moved everything from her room either into the hallway or into a big pile in the middle of her floor. Then I asked to borrow the car, and Julie and I drove to the hardware store together to get paint.

Now, Julie was the youngest of us, and there was five years difference in our ages. Her bedroom had not been painted or redecorated at all in years, so it was a bright shade of pink, with a Disney princess border and matching curtains. What she wanted, she told me, was something more mature. She was thinking that perhaps a couple of shades of green would look good, and that a border maybe wasn’t necessary anymore. We talked it over with the paint guy. He told me what to buy to use on the border to make it come off, and also showed me a TSP spray that could be used to clean the walls before we painted. Julie looked at colour chips and chose a lovely light green for three of the walls, and a darker shade for the one solid wall that had neither the door, the window, nor the closet in it. She flipped through a book or two of borders, but didn’t see anything she liked, and we agreed that the two different kinds of green would likely be enough contrast, especially once we got Julie’s pictures hung back up again. I guessed at the size of the room, and the paint guy did some calculating for amounts, and started mixing. I picked out a roller and some brushes, as well as a tube of filler for the nail holes. When the paint was mixed, I paid the bill. Julie insisted that she had some money saved. I told her to keep it for something else, but suggested that she not tell Mom.

When we got home, we went to work stripping the border and washing the walls. I wanted to have that stage done by lunch time so that the walls could dry while we ate. Jamie came in to help us, and between the three of us we had the walls all stripped and washed and ready to paint by just before 12:00. I filled the nail holes, giving thanks that Julie didn’t have too much stuff hanging on the walls. And then we took a break, and went down to have taco leftovers for lunch. Mom went out to do some shopping, dropping Jamie off at a friend’s house on her way, and Julie and I cleaned up the lunch dishes before we headed back up to her bedroom to begin painting.

We started in on the trim around the doors and window, which all had to be painted in the lighter colour, and then we did the corners and baseboards of those walls as well. It is funny how long it takes to cover a very little part of the room, and then how fast you can do the rest of it once the trim and edging is done. The trim and edges took most of the afternoon, but just before supper break we were able to roll the walls themselves. They looked pretty good, but would need a second coat.

While we painted, we talked a lot. Not about anything special. Just ordinary conversation between two siblings who haven’t seen each other in a few weeks. We talked about school, and Julie’s transition from elementary school to high school. We talked about her classes and my classes. She talked about the volleyball team, and what that was like, and about the boys who came out to watch their games, and how she hated the looks they gave her. She was wearing an old pair of volleyball shorts to paint in, with a t-shirt that wasn’t quite big enough for her, and I could certainly see why boys might want to come to the games and check the players out. Hell, one girl that I was related to in those shorts, and I was noticing her butt. Add six or seven more just like her and I’d probably have passed out from lack of oxygen.

We also talked a bit about how hard it was for her to follow Jamie and I through school. Julie isn’t stupid, and she works hard at school. But she’s not as academically gifted as I am, and she’s nowhere near Jamie’s league. At times, I think Julie feels like she is a disappointment - to her teachers, to us, and even to herself. And that makes me sad. So I make a point of talking to her about her sports stuff, because she’s so much better at that kind of thing than Jamie and I. I want her to know that we’re proud of her for who she is, not ashamed of her because she’s not us.

Mom came home in the mid afternoon, and popped in to see how we were doing a couple of times. She was amazed at how quickly we were working. And Mom wasn’t idle, either. She made spaghetti and meatballs for supper. When Jamie got home, Mom sent her up to give us a 30 minute warning for dinner, and we were able to clean the tools and ourselves up a bit before going down to eat.

Mom had poured herself a beer, and got out one for me as well. Jamie made a grab for it, and took a couple of big gulps while Mom was putting the food on the table. I don’t really mind sharing with her, but one of these times Mom is going to see her, and that will not be good. We sat down together, and Mom served us all. Mom’s spaghetti was not as good as Cheryl’s, but I didn’t tell her that. And it was still plenty good enough for a second helping.

After supper, Julie and I edged and then painted the fourth wall, using the darker green paint. It covered the old paint much more quickly, and a single coat would be enough. That meant that all we had to do tomorrow was put a second coat on the three lighter walls, and we’d be done. After we had the brushes and roller cleaned, Julie had a shower, and then I followed suit. I was too tired to stay up late, and Julie looked pretty wiped too. She took some blankets and headed down to the livingroom to sleep on the couch. Mom was in her room reading, and I decided it was bedtime.

I had just gotten under the covers, and was about to pull out Cheryl’s care package and relieve some sexual tension, when there was a soft knock on my door. We have a strict rule in the house - closed doors are never just opened. Everyone has to knock. I called out for whoever it was to come in.