True Colors

SHE STILL LOVES ME!!!!

I can’t believe I doubted it. She says it hurt her feelings that I gave up so easily and I don’t know what to say to that. I guess when your dad’s in prison you learn to give up easily. My mom is the same way I think. But I won’t be like that anymore. From now on I’m gonna be a believer. Cissy says all I have to do is choose to be one and it’ll happen.

That was when she gave me this copy of Seattle magazine.

I knew right away it was going to cause trouble.

Winona stood in the small avocado-colored bathroom, peering between a pair of geometric-patterned curtains. From here, she could see most of the beach house’s backyard—brown now from the heat of August and early September—and dashes of the highway beyond the trees.

She saw Cissy at the end of the driveway next door, waiting. When the yellow school bus drove up and stopped, the girl went up the steps and disappeared inside.

Winona backed out of the bathroom, put on the slippers by her bed, and went next door. Upstairs, she found Mark in bed.

“You’re late,” he said, putting his newspaper down.

“I’m fat. I can only run so fast. You could always come to my house, you know.” She flicked off her slippers and climbed into bed with him. Snuggling close, she began unbuttoning his pajama top and kissing the hairy chest beneath.

In moments they had taken their clothes off and started to make love.

It was their new Monday morning routine, and Winona looked forward to it all week. After the fiasco with Noah and Cissy, she’d been afraid that Mark would leave her. He’d even tried, although that attempt wasn’t something they brought up. After two lonely weeks, he’d come back and now they were better than ever. They just didn’t talk about their families. Instead, they created a bubble world where they alone existed. Saturday nights, Monday mornings, Thursday afternoons; these were their times. Winona hoped like hell that Cissy tried out for soccer.

They lay entwined after sex. She kissed the curl of his shoulder and closed her eyes, almost falling asleep.

“It’s a long time until Thursday,” he said.

“You made the rules,” she murmured. “I say we tell Cissy we’re still together. All this sneaking around is ridiculous.”

“You haven’t seen her lately. She’s like some walking zombie. She’s never stayed mad at me this long. Not even when I was a drunk.”

“I hear Noah is pretty much the same way.”

“Don’t mention that kid’s name to me. Cissy asked my mom last week if she was totally sure she saw Dallas that night. Mom was so upset she had to take a pill to sleep.”

“Young love. It’s a durable thing, I guess.”

“Love. Christ. They’re fourteen years old. They’re too young to know what the hell love is.” He threw the covers back and got out of bed. “I need to go to work.”

When he left, she lay there for a few more moments, staring out the windows at the sunlit Canal. Finally, she got out of bed herself, slipped her nightgown and slippers back on, and followed him to the bathroom.

He put down his electric razor. “We know better than to talk about that.”

“I know. See you Thursday?”

“You bet.”

For the next seven hours, she focused on work. Clients came to her office, one after another, complaining mostly about each other and counting on her to sort through all their confused emotions and find a common ground.

Her last scheduled appointment concluded at just past four o’clock, and she kicked off her pumps, took off her navy blazer, and reached for her mayoral debate file. The town meeting was currently set for early November, and she intended to blow her competition out of the water with her well-reasoned, perfectly considered plan for running this town. She was adding thoughts to her speech file when her intercom buzzed.

“Winona?” Lisa said through the small black speakers. “Your nephew, Noah Raintree, is here to see you.”

“Send him in.”

Noah walked into her office and smiled at her. A ragged backpack hung negligently from one shoulder. He’d changed so much this summer that sometimes she was caught off guard by his appearance, even going so far as to be proud of him until she remembered how he’d lied to her. “Have a seat, Noah.”

He sat down across from her, let his backpack slump to the floor. “I need to hire a lawyer.”

“What did you do?”