Mari. This was the friend of Devlin? This was the woman who needed my help? Why did she have to be so beautiful? She had an air about her that I always envied in people, like she was already unimpressed and indifferent to the opinions of everyone around her.Shehad the rock star energy I always tried to emanate.
“You make this retired old gal feel good.” Mari smiled as Janice spoke. Was she blinking in slow motion? Did the sun shine brighter as it reflected off her? She was incredible. “Mariam, this is my son, Leonard. I don’t know if y’all have officially met yet.”
“I haven’t had the pleasure.” She smiled wider yet and extended a hand. When our hands met, I had that slowing down of time feeling again. I had to stop looking at her so much.
“Leo,” I corrected quietly, not sure if she even heard.
Look away.Don’t make it any weirder.Release her hand. The brief touch of her soft skin went too fast, and I debated who even decided how long a handshake should be.
She looked me up and down, and I once again remembered that I wore my mother’s floral caftan. “Hi, Leo. I’m Mariam. Mari, rhymes with Atari, to most. I’m the band director at Green Valley High.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but all that tumbled out was the mumbled worries about the marching band being dangerously close to my azaleas. My mother quietly clicked her tongue at my behavior.
“How was your family’s visit?” Janice asked. Mari flicked another look my way. Maybe I should have gone with the raincoat. Or said something more than a mumble about my garden.
Mari tucked her hands in the back pocket of her jeans and leaned back. Mari’s smile twitched and widened. “You know, it didn’t work out. We are all so busy.”
“Oh no,” Janice said and patted Mari’s arm in sympathy. “I know you were looking forward to it.”
“You know how it goes.” Her smile widened but felt forced and unnatural to me, and I’d only just met her. “Actually, I’d love to chat more, but I don’t want to take any more of your time. I gotta get these kids to school before the first bell.”
My motherwinked. In all my years, I’d never seen my mother wink. But I got it, there was a presence to Mari that I had not expected. Was that what Devlin had meant about being a force? She certainly was a force. I almost couldn’t stay standing. But not because she was scary, as he implied. Was that what he had implied? Now I couldn’t recall his ominous and ambiguous warning. When I looked at her, I couldn’t get the sound of heavenly harps and birds chirping out of my brain long enough to focus.
“I’ll let you kids chat,” Janice said. “See you at the big game.”
“Can’t wait,” Mariam said.
“Coffee’s ready when you’re done.” My mother squeezed my shoulder as she went back into the house.
I had been about to apologize with a prepared explanation of why I couldn’t help the obviously talented student. I assumed that was what this had all been about. A last-ditch effort to prove the drummer’s skills.
The second the screen door smacked closed, Mari’s demeanor changed. The smile fell off her face, her features morphed into sharp lines, and her eyes narrowed, fox-like and calculating. “Welcome back to Green Valley,” she said, hands clasped, the warmth gone from her face.
“Is this a six o’clock welcome committee?”
“This is just a few volunteer members of my marching band.”
“Okay, I—” I tugged at my curls, ready to confess.
“We just wanted to welcome you back. And insist that you come to our first show at the homecoming game. The whole town will be there. I’m sure you wouldn’t want to miss it.”
“Listen—” I tried again, humiliation burned me up. The watchful eyes of the town made everything in me feel my most insecure.
“Aye, pup pup pup.” She pinched my lips together with her fingers. This was the second time she touched me, and my brain made a special note of that. “No excuses. No more talking. Just be there tomorrow night.”
This close, looking into her brown eyes, feeling the full force of them, she reminded me of Peggy Lipton from herMod Squadyears combined with Gwen Stefani in No Doubt. Both incredibly cool and breathtaking women. I was outmatched by her. She was a force. This was what Devlin had meant. I was in awe.
And she thought I was a self-centered, washed-up rock star. Fantastic.
Nothing I could say would change her first impression of me. It matched what the rest of the town thought anyway.
I gently grabbed her wrist and removed her hand from my mouth, stretching my lips, wondering how long until her touch would fade away.
“I wouldn’t have even gone to a football game when I was in high school.” It was the worst thing to have said. Why was that the excuse I came up with?
Her features sharpened. It was true that I barely went to band, and that was only because my mom was the teacher, but I didn’t do marching or jazz or any extracurricular. I practiced with Vander. Day or night. Weekday or weekend. Every spare moment filled with practice, writing, playing covers of our favorite bands, and daydreaming about The Burnouts’ big break. And I wasn’t ever beloved around town. I was the weird, shy kid with painted black nails and a freakish growth spurt.
“The choice is yours,” she said, ignoring my pathetic protest. “You go to that game and see Cath play, or you experience this lovely welcome committee every morning until you go insane.”
