Time Lifts the Light

On Saturday, my father gently knocked on my door and entered my room, a curious look on his face.

"Call for you," he whispered, holding out the home phone. "It's a boy!" he mouthed.
I grabbed the phone and hastily ushered my dad out of my room, closing the door behind him.

"Hello?" I asked into the phone.

There was chaos on the other line. I could immediately hear a loud chugging noise, almost like a train. A man's voice was anxiously calling, "Carol! Christ, why are there so many bubbles? Carol!"

"Indy?" Daniel yelled over the racket. "Hello? May I please speak to Indigo?"
"D.B.?" I asked. "What's wrong? What's that noise?"
"Indigo, is that you?" he yelled again. "Hang on, let me go into a quieter room!"

I heard his bare feet pad over wooden floors as he raced up some stairs. The man's voice called out again: "Carol!" Then, a woman replied, "Jim, how much did you put in?!"

A door closed, and I could hear D.B. sigh in relief at the sudden silence.

"Hey," he said into the phone. "Sorry about that."
"No," I laughed. "It's okay!"
"My dad tried to put too much soap in the washer again," he explained. "Our machine is sort of throwing up..."
"No need to explain," I reassured. "My dad is the exact same way."

"Who are you talking to?" a little girl's voice asked on the other line.

A sharp intake of breath. The voice had scared him.

"Nobody, Jules. Go away," D.B. scolded.
"I want to talk!"
"Go away, Julia!" he said through clenched teeth. "Sorry, Indy."
"That's okay. Who's Julia?"
"Little sister," he answered a little distractedly. "Hey... Mikey, Kim, and I are going to Magnolia Park today-"
"I wanna go! I wanna go!"
"Ow! Stop pulling on me!"
"Take me to the park, Danny!"
"It's only for big kids."
"I am a big kid!"
"No, you're not. Go play, okay? I'm trying to talk on the phone."

I bit my lip to keep from laughing at their banter. I was an only child, so sibling interaction was always sort of fascinating to me.

"Who is it?" Julia demanded again. I could hear her drop some plastic toys on the floor and walk over to D.B. "Is it Mikey?"
"No, Jules it's-"
"Hi Mikey!" she squealed. "When are you coming over? I want to go to the park with you! I am going to wear my favorite dress - "
"It's not Mikey!" D.B. sighed, exasperated. "Would you let me talk for five seconds?"
"One, two, three, four, five," Julia counted breathlessly. "Hi Kim!" she yelled loudly into the phone.
"It's not Kim, either!" he told her.
"Who is it, then?" she challenged. "Are you talking to an imaginary friend?"

D.B. grunted in frustration. I could hear him move across the floor. There was a small metallic groan as he sat down upon a protesting bed.

"I don't have imaginary friends! Go talk on your own phone, Julia."
"The Barbie phone doesn't even dial!" she retorted shrilly. "Who are you talking to?"
"Her name is Indigo - ouch! Would you quit pulling on me?"
"A girl?!"
"Yes, a girl!" D.B. retorted, a little bruised and defensive. "I talk to girls all the time, okay? Leave me alone."

I could hear the sound of Julia stomping her foot on the floor.

"Let me talk to her!"
"She doesn't want to talk to you," D.B. snapped. "I'm sorry about this," he moaned quietly into the phone.
I could hardly speak from laughing. "It's - It's fine!" I choked. "Don't be sorry!"
"I want to talk!" Julia cried.
"Get off, Jules! I already told you, she doesn't want - ouch!"

I heard a dull thud, and then the phone clattered to the floor. Someone picked it up and took a deep, shaky breath.

"Hello, Lady!" Julia said, clearly very excited, but trying to seem grown up. "I'm very sorry about my brother. D.B. doesn't understand that sometimes we need girl talk."
I laughed. "Hi, Julia. You seem like you're very sophisticated!"

"Ma!" I heard D.B. yell in the background. "Julia kicked me!"
"She's four, Danny," a female voice answered. "She doesn't know any better."
"Mom!"
"Leave me out of this, Dan! You are in her room."

"Why, thank you!" Julia breathed. "Is your name Indigo?"
"Yes," I replied.
"That is a very pretty name," she said. "Did you know that yellow is my favorite color?"
"No, I didn't know that," I said through a giggle. "Do you know what my favorite color is?"
"What?"
"Yellow."
"The same!" she squealed in excitement. "I have a favorite yellow dress - hey!"

"I'm so sorry, Indigo," D.B. said. "I'm going outside, where my family can't wreak havoc on my personal life."
"Give it back!"
"Go away, Julia!"

I heard his bare feet run across the floors again, then the sound of a sliding door opening and clicking closed.

"Finally!" he breathed. "Okay... I was going to come and pick you up at, like, noon to go to Magnolia Park... But I really can't stand being home right now. So I'm coming to get you right now."
"Wait, what?" I cried.

Panic shot through me. I was still in my pajamas and my hair was tangled and unwashed. He couldn't get me now!

"While my dad was busy killing the washing machine, he also let our breakfast burn. The house smells like road-kill and my mother is on the rampage. If I don't get out now, I might never see the light of day again. So... See you in a few," he said.

And then the dial tone filled my ears.

It was irrational, I know, but my heart started to pound. I leapt from my bed and caught a glance of myself in the mirror on the way to the bathroom. My dark wavy hair was still twisted up in the ponytail that I'd slept in. The wisps of hair that had fallen out of it during the night were puffed out and frazzled, making my head look abnormally large. My bangs were crinkled, sticking up at odd angles, and my face was pale and frightened.

I yelped and ran into the bathroom. I took the fastest shower that was humanly possible and then ran back into my room, one towel wrapped around my head and another clutched to my chest.

I dressed quickly, keeping in mind that it was hot out. I put on a short-sleeved white button up and had to conduct a small frantic search for my favorite skirt (a floaty yellow one with Aztec-style suns printed all over it) before I found that it had been hanging up in my closet, right in front of my face all along. I was just about to tug on some flats when I changed my mind last minute and went for my new Converse sneakers. They were crisp and black and smelled slightly of rubber.

I raced back into the bathroom and cleared a small circle on the fogged mirror. I was dragging a brush through my tangled hair as my dad walked past the door.

"Where's the fire?" he asked, amused.
"My friend is coming to pick me up!" I yelled quickly, a little louder than I'd meant to. "We're going to Magnolia Park!"
My dad scratched his morning stubble. "This friend wouldn't happen to be that boy who called you a few minutes ago, hm?"
"Yes, Dad!" I sighed. "His name is Daniel. Remember I told you about D.B.? He's coming to pick me up so that we can go to Magnolia Park with Mikey and Kim."
"Mikey and Kim?"
I groaned, working angrily through a stubborn tangle in my hair. "I told you about them! My new friends!"
"No, no, I remember," he chuckled. "It's just... Well, you don't have to ride around in cars with strange boys, Indigo. I could drop you off at this... Mongolia Park."
"Dad!"
"Okay, okay!" he sighed. "You don't want to be carted around by your old dad."

I jammed the hairdryer into the plug on the wall.

"Just go!" I cried, pushing on his chest. "I have to get ready!"

He rolled his eyes and laughed before ambling down the stairs. I turned the hairdryer on, full blast, and sent a jet of hot air over my head with one hand, while attempting to apply some make up with my other.

Foundation, a little mascara, and a dab of my mother's red lipstick. No eyeliner because, as I'd learned from experience, eyeliner made my round eyes look like they were popping out of my face.

I sighed and unplugged the hairdryer. It quieted down with a soft wrrrr... and I started to drag a brush through my long hair. I discovered that it was still damp, but I decided to let it air dry. No time, anyways. I looked at my face. It was still pale, but at least I didn't look frightened anymore. (Well, sort of.)

The doorbell rang.

I shot downstairs and reached the door, only seconds before my dad.

"Go!" I told him. "You are not allowed to harass my friends."
He scowled grumpily. "I only wanted to ask a few-"
"Go!"
He huffed and shuffled away, covering the top of his mug with his hand to avoid spilling any of his black coffee.

I opened the door and saw that D.B. was crouched down, trying to pet the neighborhood's stray cat. ("Meow, meow... Come on, kitty. Come here pretty kitty...") It's tail was bristled, flicking sharply back and forth. D.B. managed to place a hand on it's bony hips before it hissed, swatted it's paw, and ran away.

D.B. straightened, looking deeply insulted. "Yeah, well, you're not that cute!" he called after the cat.
"Hey, D.B.," I greeted him, grinning helplessly.
He smiled at me and pushed his dark plastic sunglasses up into his brown-ish blonde hair. "Hey, this is the first time we've seen each other out of uniform!" he commented.

He was wearing a white long-sleeved shirt that was so old and frayed, a small hole had appeared in the collar. He pushed his sleeves up and shoved his sunglasses into the pocket of his long black shorts.

"It's weird seeing your legs," I told him.
"And the same to your arms."
I self-conciously crossed my arms, hiding them from view.
"No, no!" D.B. yelled. He coughed hesitantly. "Don't."

Before I could reply, D.B.'s head shot up. He was looking at something behind me, smiling politely.

"Hello, sir!" he said, stretching his hand out and moving past me.

I turned around to see my father standing on our front steps. His tired face was covered in dark stubble, speckled with grey. He'd left his coffee and shoes inside, but his fatherly suspicion was anything but forgotten. His eyes were narrowed and his pale blue, terry-cloth covered arms were folded over his chest.

My dad shook D.B.'s hand, his eyes widening ever so slightly. He was impressed with D.B.'s grip.

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Hutchinson," D.B. said. "I'm Daniel."
"Hello, Daniel," My father said, eyeing D.B.'s car. "Is that yours?"
"Yes, sir."
"Bought it yourself?"
"Yes, sir."

I caught my dad's eye behind D.B.'s back and scowled. My dad chuckled and turned around to go back inside.

"Drive safe, Daniel," he warned.
"Always do, sir," D.B. replied, giving me a quick wink. "I'm a better driver than - than - Well, I'm... Uh. Yeah."

My dad wasn't listening. The door closed heavily.

D.B. pulled out his sunglasses and hooked them behind my ears. He did it hastily, so they were lopsided, sitting crookedly on my nose. I snorted in laughter and followed him to the car, straightening the glasses.

"I'm hungry," he whined. "Have you eaten?"
"Nope, have you?"
"I already told you, my dad burned breakfast."
"True," I said. "But that doesn't mean you didn't - "
"Yeah, I ate," he interrupted guiltily. "But I'm hungry again."
I laughed and mumbled, "Garbage disposal."
"Hey, now!" D.B. scolded. "Play nice!"

I climbed into the chunky red car, admiring the way the sun bent off the crumpled front bumper.

"We've got a while before we have to pick up Mikey and Kim," he commented, buckling his seat belt and flipping down his visor against the bright sun. "Wanna get something to eat?"
"Yes, please!" I said.
"Okay, but I need my sunglasses back. I can't see."

I handed the Ray-Bans back to him. He took them from my hands and darted a quick glance up to my eyes before sharply turning around to start the car.

"What?" I asked. "Is there something on my face?"
"No," he replied, a little too quickly. "Nothing. Never mind."

He eased the car into gear and we drove off, heading to breakfast.