Page 5 of Where You Are

After mom’s funeral, people congregated in our house to pay their respects. Sarah was so worried about our dad that she clung to him as support as he welcomed condolences, and helped him throw away paper plates and cups and tried to hand people drinks. Meanwhile, I, feeling like I’d just lost my best friend in the world, disappeared to my room where I quietly sat down on my bed and pulled mine and mom’s favorite book over my lap.

After a few moments of gently flipping through each page, there was a gentle tap at my door, followed by my little brother, only four at the time, peeking his head in, looking so incredibly lost. I patted the spot on my bed next to me, and he crawled up beside me and sat with his back against my pillows. He didn’t say a word as he peered over at the book in my lap. Being a boy, and afraid to cry, I could tell he was having a hard time holding it together but I knew what he needed. On my bedside table sat a hand-held radio. I picked it up and turned it on, scrolling through some stations, not really knowing which to choose but just looking for one where I could hear a guitar playing. Once I found one that was playing, what in hindsight was some classic rock song, The Replacements possibly, I handed the radio to Jack and he held it up to his ear while continuing to wordlessly watch me flip pages. Music was always what soothed Jack and quickly became his life’s passion.

Not ten minutes later, there was another tap on the door, followed by Sarah coming through it to sit on my other side. She put her arm around me and my head naturally dropped to her shoulder as she patiently asked me to tell her about the places in my book.

Not long after that, my door slowly swung open again to reveal our dad, looking like he’d aged ten years overnight. His suit seemed to hang on him with his tie loosened from all the tugging he’d done on it. He’s always been a blue-collar hard-working contractor, and not one for suits and ties. The skin on his face seemed more slack than before, and his green eyes looked dark and sad. Without a word, he walked over to my bed, lifted Jack and sat in his place, positioning him in his lap. He held onto him securely with one arm while Jack continued to hold the radio to his ear, and his other arm went around both me and my sister, pulling us in tight.

None of us had to say a word in that moment, but we were instantaneously closer, stronger. Before we lost Mom, love was no stranger to our home but from then on, we were exceptionally close-knit and had each other’s backs. Dad had to work extra hard, of course, but our grandparents helped out a lot, and he spent as much time with us as he could when he didn’t have to be at work.

Eventually, we learned to laugh and play again, and grew up with all three of our heads screwed on relatively straight… well, Sarah did anyway.

“She’d be so proud of you,” she says gently, bringing me back to the present and gently closing my book. I love that she doesn’t feel that I had to follow the same path she did to be successful. She always supported my desire to see the world beyond what was just in our own little corner of it.

After we’ve said our good nights, I turn off the light and turn on the fan that Sarah knew I’d need to sleep with on the bedside table. Thank God I had found one small enough to lug around in my suitcase from place to place, but I am seriously loving this big sucker and its wind power.

I don’t think my head has any time to get acquainted with my pillow before I pass out, feeling like I just conquered the world.

Chapter Three

Melanie

You’d thinkthe exhaustion of a two-and-a-half-year journey would have me sleeping for a month. But with my body clock all jacked up, I wake with the sun at the ass-crack of dawn, rip-raring to go. I peer out the curtains and see a beautiful summer morning awaiting me. I quickly throw on a sports bra, shorts and a t-shirt and thunder down the stairs. I’m throwing my hair up into a messy bun when I round the corner into the kitchen to find Sarah’s husband, Mike, pouring black coffee into a mug. He does a quick double-take before a wide smile spreads across his face and he places his cup down.

“There’s the world traveler!” He greets me excitedly as we close the distance to each other and I let him wrap me in a tight hug.

“It’s so good to see you, Mike!” I step back and look at my brother-in-law in his relaxed attire of board shorts and grey t-shirt. As a lawyer, he usually lives in a suit. “I’m surprised you didn’t sleep in, being as it’s Saturday.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t sleep in after a trip around the world,” he volleys back.

“Eh, jet lag. I’m going to be messed up for a few days, I think. Sarah still asleep?” I ask, making my way to the coffee maker to pour myself a mug.

“Yeah, she’s resting up,” he confirms as he relaxes back against the counter. “She’s planning on partying all day and into the night.” With each word, his voice gets shakier, trying to contain his laughter until he can’t hold it back anymore and lets himself crack up. I join him.

“Yeeeah…” I say sarcastically. “Wanna take bets on how long she lasts?”

“Actually, wait until you meet Mayzie. When it’s not tour season, she’s been known to involuntarily clock out early,” he grins.

“What do you mean by ‘when it’s not tour season’?” I ask as he takes a drink.

Swallowing, he answers, “When the band is on tour, she gets used to the life, being up late with the after parties and what-not. But when they’re home living the normal life, she can’t always hang. I’ll actually put twenty on her,” he laughs.

“You’re on,” I point at him, accepting his challenge as I set my mug in the sink. “I’ll be back in a bit, I’m going to get a run in,” I tell him, grabbing Sarah’s phone and plugging my earbuds into it. She won’t mind if I raid her music app.

“Ha! Same ol’ Melanie. Glad to see that big crazy world didn’t change you!” He calls after me as I head out the heavy wooden front door. He’s not wrong. I’m that person who goes to bed looking forward to their morning run, and that didn’t change no matter where I was in the world the last couple of years, or what the weather was doing. I always got a minimum of two miles in.

The morning is already muggy as I find a playlist I can run to and set out on the asphalt.

MATT

“Hey, can you hand me the Jungle Green?” I ask, holding my hand out.

“I don’t know where it is.”

“Come on, it’s got to be in here somewhere,” I reason, digging through the bucket.

“Here,” she says, handing me a greenish color.

“That’s Magic Mint. That’s not going to work,” I say incredulously as I shake my head, tossing the crayon back in the bucket and continuing my search.

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