Rainy Day

     Carrie looked into the sky and raised her arms. The sun hid behind a bank of dark clouds. Ron, her cousin and surrogate older brother, said, "I knew I'd find you here."

     Ignoring him, she kicked off her tennis shoes and stepped into the shallow pool surrounding the Memorial Fountain. Her beige second-hand dress skimmed the water's surface. Her feet slid over mossy concrete as she danced, and she swung a blue plastic bucket like a child. She kept her light brown hair tucked under a baseball cap.

     "Your mother's been asking about you," Ron said.

     Carrie pulled a yellow shovel out of the bucket and retrieved coins from the water. "Tell her I'm fine."

     "She wants you to come home and work in her laundromat for the summer."

     "Remember the pact, Big Brother. You've got my back, and I've got yours." She continued scooping coins. "Just tell her I'm making good money."

     He walked toward the fountain, and she splashed him, drenching his white shirt. A frown creased his forehead. She dumped more coins into her bucket.

     "Watch out for cops, please, please, please," she insisted in her usual manner.

     He turned around and faced the entrance to the park.

     At the sound of muzak, she rushed out of the water and ran barefoot toward the street. An ice cream truck stopped for her. She reached into her bucket and paid him with a handful of coins. She took a lick of her cone and headed back to the fountain.

     Ron glanced at a wall of approaching black clouds and pointed at her shoes. "We're going to lunch," he said.

     "Okay, it's my treat." She giggled. "Good thing I've got some money." She dumped the changed out of the pail into her bag as he watched helplessly. When finished she walked to him, took off a string of beads and put them around his neck. "Now you're ready to go."

     "Thanks," he groaned.

     "There's this new restaurant. Can we go there, please, please, please?"

     He frowned. "Okay, let's get out of here." A police car drove past them. "I can't watch out for you all the time."

     A torrent broke free from the sky, and Carrie shrieked while they ran to his car. Ron helped her into the passenger side, and he sat behind the wheel. She felt that he was at her mercy as she directed her cousin through a labyrinth of streets to a small building sitting alone on a block. Its facade, striped in red, white and blue, welcomed her sight. A hand-painted sign hanging over the front door said, CAROUSEL CAFE'.

     "What's this?" he asked.

     "I'm going to show you what I've been doing."

     She surfed the radio channels as they waited for a pause in the rain.

     She greeted the waitress by name as they stepped through the doorway. They sat across from each other at a table near a counter with a karaoke machine. Carrie smiled.

     The waitress stepped behind the counter, and Carrie said, "Fleetwood Mac, Rhiannon."

     The waitress tapped at the keyboard to enter the request. Carrie grabbed the microphone and claimed her place on the floor. She curtsied, and Ron laughed.

     A smile lit her face when backing music came through the speakers. She swayed as she sang,and her voice filled the room. The words flashed from a screen hanging from the ceiling, but she ignored them. The song was a part of her. She hoped that a few minutes of singing would convince her cousin of her talent, and to tell her mother. She hoped that the staff from the show, American Sings, would agree that her voice was good. Then there was the issue of stage presence; she knew that she had to posess that indescribable trait. She showed her steps, while keeping to the song, and managed to maintain eye contact with her counsin, even when she slid on a wet spot on the floor.

     After the music backing and her voice faded, she took her bow. She laughed and walked to Ron. She offered a sheepish grian and asked, "Am I good?"

     He smiled and looked proud. Yet he crossed his arms as if he just witnessed one of her childhood stunts. "What do you want from me?" he said.

     "I'm not going back to college. Watch my back."

     He shook his head. 'I've got this job out of town. I can't always run to your mother for you."

     "I was afraid this time would come." She sighed. A lifetime of memories of times they spent together flashed through her mind. They stood together and listened to the rain patter against the window. This time they stayed inside.