Painting Sky (3 page)

I spent the next day in the laundry room, which wasn’t big enough to accommodate all of the dirty clothes. After washing each set of clothes, I hung them in the garden on a line that I supposed was for just that. I loaded the machine again and again; after five rounds, everything was drying in the garden and the sun was setting. Great: tomorrow I would be folding clothes all day.

I sat on the couch and turned the television on.

I must’ve have fallen asleep, because, when I woke up, the sun was long past setting. Dark gray eyes gazed at me, turning my stomach. Keith was curious, not angry, but, as soon as I really opened mine, his changed.

“I was starting to worry,” he said, and then his head fell back and he laughed. “No, not really. Do you usually sleep like the dead? And drool?”

My hand went to the corner of my mouth instinctively at the same time my brain caught up with the joke. I wasn’t interested in keeping a conversation with Keith, but, after looking at the clock on the wall and realizing it was already eight, I had to ask, “Where’s your brother? And mine?”

“Out. You should get used to it—they’re never here.” He sat on the couch, placed his feet on the table, picked up the remote, and changed the TV to a sports channel.

“What do you mean? They have to study, eat, and…” Sleep, right? I was here, now, so at least Cody should come home.

Keith laughed again. “Are you worrying that little head of yours?” He leaned toward me from the other side of the couch. I shook my ‘little head’ no and he laughed again. Maybe I should join a circus: I seemed to make Keith laugh a lot.

“No? You should. Your boyfriend has a lot of study dates. The key word here is ‘dates.’” His pierced eyebrow shot up suggestively.

I couldn’t let him get to me. “You’re just saying that to make me doubt Cody. I trust him. He’s not like you.” I crossed my arms defensively.

“I’ve never cheated on a girlfriend.” He grew a small wrinkle on his forehead, as if I had offended him somehow.

I laughed. “That’s because you’ve never had one,” I answered, knowing I had won the argument.

“How do you know?” It was Keith’s turn to cross his arms. “Were you paying attention to the girls I dated?” He seemed amused.

“Only when they cried in the school’s bathroom.” I didn’t want my voice to sound as venomous as it did, but Keith brought out the worst in me every time.

His face changed and I saw something like regret there. “I never promised them anything. They knew exactly what I wanted.”

“You’re disgusting.” I got up, tired of this conversation, and went to the kitchen. He followed me.

“They know I don’t date, but they still stay. Maybe girls are just as disgusting as I am.” He leaned against the door with his arms still crossed. He wasn’t as amused as before. Maybe I had hit a nerve with Keith. Who knew that would have been possible?

“That’s where you’re wrong. I don’t know them all, but usually they stay to see if they are the one who can change you.” How naïve of them.

He stepped forward, resting his elbows on the kitchen island, irritated. “No one can change me, but me, and I’m not interested in changing.” He stepped back and sat on a stool. I shrugged my shoulders to say it had nothing to do with me. It didn’t.

“One day, one girl will change that. You’ll see.” Maybe not, though. Maybe he was hopeless.

I made an omelet and shared the meal with Keith. Both of us ate silently.

At midnight, Cody came home. I had been sitting on the couch, watching TV and counting the minutes, like an angry wife. I took a deep breath before asking him where he had been.

“I’m sorry, baby,” he slurred. “I was with a group of friends. We were kind of celebrating the start of school, like a goodbye party to the summer, you know what I mean?” He hovered over me and the smell of alcohol hit. I regretted waiting for him. He had been to a party and he’d forgotten I was here, waiting for him and enduring his brother’s presence.

“You’re drunk. We’ll talk in the morning.” I shoved him away to get up and didn’t accept the kiss he was trying to give me.

I thrashed all night with Keith’s words repeating in my head. Should I have doubted Cody’s fidelity? After all, he was almost twenty and we hadn’t even slept together. He’d always said he would wait as long as I needed, but, should I have been worried? Damn Keith and his stupid, puzzled words.

The next day, I slept in and woke up with a killer headache and a matching mood. I dressed, went to the kitchen to eat my cereal, and bumped into Keith again.

“Not you,” I groaned.

“Had a bad night, Sky? Dreamed about the big, bad wolf? Or was it what I told you yesterday?” He sat next to me.

“It’s Jane. Please, don’t call me Sky. And no, I didn’t have nightmares and your words were forgotten the moment they left your mouth.” I finished my cereal and placed my head on my arms.

“I heard Cody last night. My words were playing in your head, weren’t they?” He wasn’t being sarcastic, now. Maybe he was trying to warn me. I couldn’t let him get in my head.

“Shut up. Cody is the best boyfriend in the world. You just wish you were anything like him.” I left for my room, not before seeing the hurt in Keith’s eyes.

Ryan came home with Cody at seven that night. I hadn’t cooked dinner for them, after having eaten a late lunch. My encounter with Cody was tense and I was already tired.

“Hi, baby,” Cody kissed me when I stepped into the living room. I didn’t kiss him back. “I’m sorry about yesterday. We were just gathering in one of the frat houses but the party lasted more than I had anticipated. I should’ve called.”

I wanted to tell him that he should have taken me to meet his friends. We were just starting out, living in the same house, though, and I decided that maybe I should give him time.

Keith was watching us, and I kissed Cody with a little more passion than normal. Before stepping back, I looked at his brother again: he had turned around and was fidgeting with an apple. He hadn’t even made a snarky comment—strange.

I didn’t see Cody much for the rest of that week, nor Keith, who stayed in the attic all day. My brother was the one to keep me company in the afternoons, and the way things had changed between us was strange. Ryan was actually being a friend.

“Have you called Mom and Dad this week? You know they worry about you.” I said, while sitting on the couch one night.

Ryan shrugged and picked the remote to change channels. “Yeah, but whenever I call is for them to grill me about school or to behave, it’s exhausting, you know?”

Yeah, didn’t I know.

“And how is school going?” I asked, turning away from the horror movie playing on TV.

He shrugged one shoulder, nonchalant. “Not you, too. It’s good. Everything’s under control.”

I wanted to know more about my brother’s life. “And girls? Have you found anyone special?”

“You sound like Mom, or Grandma. Special, what’s that?” He shook his head and continued, “I have a girl-friend, does that count?”

“Friends with benefits don’t count, Ry.” I rolled my eyes.

“Well, that’s exactly what we are and it’s fine.” He finally changed channels. We kept talking about his life for a couple of hours. I never had this relationship with Ryan, as close friends.

On Friday night, my house—or the house I was living in—turned into a nightclub. I would have been okay with it if anyone had told me, but I guess they’d all forgotten.

“Hi, sunshine.” A guy approached me in the kitchen, holding a paper cup in one hand and resting the other on the counter. “Name’s Teo. What’s yours?” He leaned closer and I stepped back, wondering if I wanted to engage in conversation with this stranger.

“It’s none of your business.” Keith’s angry voice sounded from the kitchen door. Teo backed off and went back to the living room.

“This is my house, too, now. You could’ve at least warned me about this party.” I crossed my arms, trying not to flinch when Keith brushed against my arm when he stepped forward to get a bottle from the shelf.

“It wasn’t my idea,” he said, shrugging. “But you should get used to it: this happens every Friday.” He turned with a smirk on his face. “And Saturday, and every other damn day we want. And no, this is not your house. You might be playing house with my brother, but this is not your house.” He leaned forward until we were almost touching.

“Why do you hate me so much? What did I ever do to you?” I had to scream over the music when someone opened the kitchen door.

Keith opened his mouth to answer, but he glanced over my shoulder and closed his mouth. He stepped back and replaced his angry face with his usual smirk. “You should take care of your girlfriend, little brother, or someone might steal her from you.” He disappeared through the crowd. Was he talking about Teo, or was there some other meaning?

“It was just a guy introducing himself.” I shrugged. Cody smiled, took my hand, and pulled me to the living room to introduce me to some people.

I felt so disconnected. This wasn’t the Cody I knew: it was a new Cody, who was thrilled with all of this college social life. Maybe it was me—maybe I hadn’t grown up, yet. I missed my parents, my sister, and my friends from high school.

Was this empty feeling that something had changed and would never be the same what growing up was supposed to feel like? I supposed the next time I’d feel like this would be when I graduated from college. I just hoped it wouldn’t be sooner.