Thirty

JACK DROVE US TO THE AIRPORT, but Lexi came along so she could say goodbye to everyone. It was a tearful parting for the girls and me when we said goodbye to Mom, Dad, Allie and Beth at the homestead. Jack decided to trade the van for a smaller car for the rest of the weekend. On the way to the airport, my phone rang. I hadn’t had a call or text all week since everyone who knew this number was with me in Nebraska.

“Tony! Where are you?”

“On my way to the airport,” I answered. It was Clarice.

“Running away or on your way home?”

“Coming home, I hope. What’s up, Clarice?”

“You weren’t supposed to send the brochure mockup to anyone. Didn’t I make that clear?” she asked.

“We didn’t talk about that, but I didn’t send it to anyone.” I glanced around the car. It seemed like there was a lot of squirming going on.

“Is Kate with you?”

“Yes.”

“Put it on speaker then. We need to talk.”

I did as she commanded and suddenly the whole car focused on my phone call.

“Kids, Tony’s picture of Tent City made its way to a committee. Maybe two or three. There is nothing like a disaster to mobilize a city. Even though the problem has been around for decades and Tent City for nearly ten years, now the city wants to acquire land for a permanent encampment that could house as many as 500 homeless people. You have become the focal point. Not only did you save the lives of nearly a hundred people, you painted what their lives look like,” Clarice said.

“But I don’t get it,” I said. “I didn’t share the brochure with anyone. How did they get the picture?”

I looked around the car and in the sudden silence I heard a whimper from Bree. I looked at her and tears were running down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry. God! That’s all I ever say. I didn’t know that’s what they wanted it for. Eric asked if I’d seen it and could get a picture for him. We had a long chat on Monday. The brochure was open on your computer and I just copied the picture and sent it to him.”

“Didn’t you learn your lesson in Tempe?” I snapped.

“Please don’t tell me I fucked up again,” Bree cried. She was sobbing in earnest now and Melody shot me nasty look. Medusa would have lost a stare down. Damn it! This wasn’t good for any of us.

“Clarice, has there actually been any damage by releasing the picture? I mean, are we liable for something?” I asked.

“Everybody, relax!” Clarice practically shouted over me. “There’s no harm done. I needed to find out if you had made any commitments to the memorial committee or the city or the college. It affects how I go about negotiating your commission.”

“What commission?” Now I was really confused, but I reached over the seat in front of me and laid my hand on Bree’s shoulder giving her a gentle squeeze. She grabbed my hand desperately and held it to her face. I wiped away the tears while Clarice filled us in.

“A number of students who were involved in the establishment and organization of SCU hosting Tent City came back early from their holiday break. They organized quickly and went to the Board of Regents with a proposal to create a memorial to the lives lost on their campus and use it to raise money to acquire land for a permanent encampment. The memorial they proposed was a Tony Ames mural of this picture painted on the wall of the athletic pavilion. When the regents asked for more information, Eric—I met him at your birthday party—called me and asked me how they could acquire your services.”

“The athletic pavilion? That wall is huge, Clarice. It would take me a year to paint it,” I said.

“I’ll help,” Kate said from behind me.

“Me too,” Melody said. “We could put together a team. Any art major at PCAD would volunteer to work on a project with you.”

I turned in my seat to ask Kate what she really thought, but as soon as I did, I came face to face with Wendy. The expression on her face was the closest thing to worshipful that I’d ever seen. There was really no question about whether I’d paint this mural if that’s what they wanted. I looked over at Kate and she smiled that incredible smile of hers that lit up my life. Lissa on the other side of Damon from me just nodded.

“I think we can do it, Clarice,” I said.

“They still have a huge number of obstacles to overcome and I’ll need to figure out how to price your services on a piece like that.”

“You price it as a donation,” I said.

“Tony? Melody?” Sam caught our attention as we were finding our seats on the plane. “I’m wondering if you could switch places. I’d like to talk to Tony about the schedule. I’ve got some pressure from the club about when we practice.”

“Oh. Okay,” Melody said, looking at Bree who was sitting in the row her father was stopped at. “We’ll switch back when you get your business taken care of.” She moved to sit beside Bree.

“What’s with the club, Coach?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said. “It seems my daughter has gotten into other people’s business, again,” he said. “I want it clear that I’m not happy with it. She needs to apologize to you and make up for the problem.”

“No, Sam,” I said. I seldom used his first name, but he’d made it clear we were talking family and not athletics. “Bree acted in good faith as a friend. The real issue is what you’re going to do.”

“That’s not really an issue,” Sam began.

“Yes, it is. Are you going to let us paint the athletic pavilion? You weren’t strongly in favor of having the encampment there according to what I heard in the meetings. You’re the athletic director. Technically, the building is part of your department. If you object, the Board will listen to you. So, are you going to object or are you going to let us paint your building?” I asked.

“It’s not really my decision,” Sam said. “The University is a big place with a lot of committees.”

“Don’t hedge on me, Sam. The question is about you and your position. If Eric and the rest of the student social responsibility committee have already been in front of the Board of Regents, between the holidays, there’s enough momentum to carry it through the committees. You’re really the only one who could block it effectively and if someone else on campus doesn’t want it to happen, they’ll talk to you. So, it’s really a question of whether you’ll back us. What do you say?”

He sighed and looked over where Bree was leaning against Melody.

“For her,” he said quietly. “I’ll back it for her.”

It was good to be home. Stepping into the house, I realized we hadn’t decorated for the holidays. After Nebraska, the house looked sort of bare. That didn’t slow the boys down. They were crazed. There was no food in the house, so a shopping expedition was organized. Laundry was organized. Childcare was organized. By six we had food on the table. By eight the boys were in bed, though unlikely to settle down for another half an hour. At least the time-change was in our favor.

I sat in the living room with four tired women and we all had a glass of white wine to sip. Kate’s family would arrive sometime tomorrow afternoon. I needed to meet with Clarice and thought it would be a good idea for Kate to come, too. Melody and Lissa had to check on the new shipment of fabric and decide when they were going to organize the dying process. And Wendy...

“Excuse me?” Wendy said softly. She was sitting on the arm of the chair with me where I’d read stories to the boys.

“What is it, Tiger?” I asked.

“Um ... may I still rent a room here?” Everyone smiled at that.

“Of course you can, sweetie,” Lissa said. “We need to fix things up for you. Do you know which room you’d like?”

“Uh ... just ... if I take a room downstairs, can I still come up here? I don’t always want to be alone,” she said.