Barbara L. Clanton - 1 - Art for Art's Sake

by Barbara L. Clanton

  Meredith remained silent, still sketching.

  “Next time he starts to bother you, call him by his name. Knowing someone’s name gives you an advantage. He won’t expect it, and you’ll surprise him. Maybe he’ll leave you alone.”

  “Just by using his name?”

  “Yeah. You should say something like, ‘John Casey, I’ve had it up to here with you.’”

  Meredith laughed. She couldn’t say something like that to him.

  Dani laughed with her. “Okay. Maybe not. That sounds like something my mom would say, but…I don’t know. Say something to him.”

  “Okay,” Meredith said pensively. Easier said than done, Dani. Easier said than done.

  They went back to their drawings. She was touched that Dani was trying to find a way to help her cope with the abuse she got from the other students. That and the hair bands were small gestures on Dani’s part, she knew, but they were huge in Meredith’s heart.

  At the end of the class period, Meredith looked at Dani’s drawing and nodded her approval at the very lifelike sketch of scissors on the paper. Dani proudly handed the work to their art teacher.

  Dani was still beaming when they walked out the door. “So, did you hear what Mrs. Levine said about my scissors?”

  Meredith laughed softly. “Yeah. The best scissors ever. I think you’ve made a little progress since those middle school art days.”

  Dani laughed loudly. “Yeah, I think so. Hey, I need to get my history book. Hang out and wait for me, okay?”

  As Dani worked the combination to her locker, Meredith took a deep breath and hoped she wouldn’t have to implement Dani’s plan for the overly-aggressive boys on the basketball team. She rehearsed the boy’s name, John Casey, as she waited for Dani. Her hopes were dashed when she first heard and then saw the tall basketball player and his equally tall entourage saunter toward them down the hallway. She automatically steeled herself for the inevitable, but then something shifted inside of her. She was bone-tired of getting picked on every day, so she decided to try and stand up for herself. She pulled her book bag higher on her shoulders and instead of cringing and waiting for him to push her, she stood up tall and lifted her chin high. She didn’t have time to wonder if Dani was watching, because she had to look junior basketball player John Casey right in the eye.

  She watched him take his now familiar path away from his friends toward her. When he was within about two yards, he must have noticed something different about her because he hesitated.

  Meredith stood strong, pointed her finger right at his face and said calmly, but forcefully, “John Casey, I’ve had enough of your shit. So keep going and leave me alone.” She pointed down the hallway.

  The tall basketball player, obviously surprised, stopped dead in his tracks, put both hands up in defense, and said, “Okay. Okay.” He took a step backward and made a wide berth around Meredith to catch up to his friends. They gave him no end of grief and said things like, “Ooh, you got schooled” and “Way to go, stud.”

  Meredith’s heart was pounding as she slowly turned to face Dani. Dani stared at her wide-eyed.

  Meredith grinned. “Did I just do that?”

  Dani nodded slowly. “Uh, huh. I’m pretty sure that was you.”

  Meredith blew out a sigh. “Oh, my God.”

  “Guess we won’t need Mikey’s taekwondo after all. Will we?” Dani grinned and shook her head to match Meredith’s own “Oh, my God” reaction.

  They headed toward the stairwell that would take them to their history class. Meredith smiled inside and out.

  THAT SAME EVENING, Meredith sat at the desk in her room typing notes about Esther and Millie’s house. She still wasn’t comfortable referring to the two older women as Esther and Millie, but they had insisted, so she’d given in. She thought of Dani and smiled. On Saturday in the parking lot of the senior center, she told Dani that she had forgotten what having a friend was like, but that wasn’t right. She had never known what having a friend like Dani Lassiter was like.

  Meredith reached behind her head and felt for the red hair band Dani had given her earlier in the day. She had never had a friend buy her a gift for no particular reason. And Meredith had rarely experienced anyone who took the time to wait for her to speak like Dani did. Most people just kept talking because they didn’t have the patience to wait for her to respond. Dani wasn’t like that. Dani waited and didn’t railroad her into opinions.

  The phone jolted Meredith out of her thoughts. She looked at the caller ID. Lassiter. Dani must have sensed Meredith thinking about her. She picked up the phone, but before she could say hello she heard her father’s voice.

  “Well, what do you know? It’s the captain of the lacrosse team,” he said. “How are your practices going?”

  Dani answered, “Well, sir, we’re still in pre-season workouts, but our first game will be on March twenty-first. I’m pretty sure that’s a Friday. Will I see you in the stands?”

  Meredith was amazed that Dani talked to her father so easily. She, herself, would simply have asked for Dani if Dani’s father answered. She probably would not have tried to talk to him the way Dani talked to her own father now.

  Her father said, “I’ll circle the date on the calendar. I’m sure the whole Bedford clan would love to go.”

  Meredith smiled. She hadn’t thought that far ahead in their friendship, but yes, she’d like to go to Dani’s first game. Mikey would absolutely love to see his “dude” play lacrosse.

  “Glad to hear it, Mr. Bedford. So who’d you have in the Superbowl yesterday?”

  Oh, no. More sports. Meredith tuned out at this point and waited for her father to call up the stairs. Eventually, after what seemed like an hour, he yelled up that she had a phone call. She didn’t want them to know she’d been on the line all along, so she hit the on/off button to hang up her extension. She hoped she didn’t disconnect Dani in the process. She tapped the button again to reconnect.

  “Thanks, Dad,” she called out her open bedroom door. “I’ve got it.” She closed her door and said into the phone, “Dani?”

  “Yeah, it’s me. How’s it going?”

  “I’m working on our project proposal, actually.”

  “Oh, yeah. That’s due on Friday, right?”

  Meredith saved the file on her computer. “Yeah. Just the proposal, but I’m outlining, too, since that’s due in about three weeks. Right around mid-winter recess, I think. I figure we should start with a report about how the house looked in its heyday. Millie said she had pictures for us, so when we get those we’ll ask them for more history of the house.”

  “Yeah, cool.”

  Meredith asked, “And the new Randall-Bradley House for Women. We should put that in, too, right?”

  “Definitely.” Dani’s voice sounded strong and sure. “I mean, like, we can talk about how the house used to look and then about Esther and Millie—we’ll put pictures of them into our PowerPoint—and then we’ll talk about their plans for the women’s shelter.”

  “Maybe we could put in statistics about domestic violence or something because I found some really scary statistics online. Like this one. ‘A woman is battered every nine seconds.’ That’s from the Department of Justice. And can you believe what Esther said as we were leaving Hudson Pines the other day? She said, ‘If a woman tries to leave an abusive man, he’s likely to kill her?’ That’s crazy. I’ll have to find documentation on that somewhere. I mean it’s not all men, but...”

  Dani was quiet on the other end of the line.

  “Dani? Are you still there?”

  “Yeah.” There was a sad tone to her voice. “I’m still amazed that there’s so much abuse in the world and I’ve been completely oblivious to it.”

  “I know. Me, too. Still, I think Mr. Dalton would want us to include stuff like this. Don’t you think?”

  “Oh, yeah. I think we’ve uncovered an amazing story. I’m so glad you came up with this project. Esther and Millie are so cool. I’m glad we me
t them.”

  “Yeah, me, too. Hey, I forgot to ask you. What did you think about Esther’s grandnephew?”

  “Her grandnephew?” Dani sounded puzzled. “What was his name again?”

  Meredith stood up from her desk to sit on her bed. “Uh, Gregory, I think.”

  “Oh, yeah. I guess he was okay. Why? Did you think he was cute or something?”

  “What?” That was the farthest thing from her mind. “Well, okay. He is cute, but I got the distinct feeling Millie didn’t like him.”

  “Oh, yeah, I got that feeling, too. I don’t know, though. He seemed okay to me.”

  “I guess.”

  Dani cleared her throat. “Hey Meredith? What are you doing during Winter Recess week after next?”

  “Besides working on my portfolio? I don’t know. My folks are working, so I’ll be in charge of Mikey the whole week. I’ll probably take him to the movies or something.”

  “Can we take him bowling, too?”

  Meredith smiled. Dani wanted to take her and her brother out. She was overwhelmed. She’d never had a friend to do things with. She fell back snugly into her pillows. “Sure Dani, but I don’t think you realize what you’re getting yourself into. I’m no athlete and Mikey’s, well, Mikey, but if you can handle both of us, then, sure, we’d love to go bowling with you.”

  “Cool and maybe we could go back to the old house with Mikey afterward. I mean, now that we can go inside anytime we want. We could get subs and have a picnic or something.”

  “That would be fun. I bet that would help Mikey get over his fear of the house.”

  Dani laughed heartily into the phone. “And yours, too, I imagine.”

  Meredith joined in her laughter. “Yeah, I think you’re right. I’m so sorry I almost blinded you with my camera flash on Saturday, but that house gives me the creeps. Even though we’ve met Esther and Millie, and they’re just wonderful, I still think Esther’s right. I still think that house is cursed or haunted or something.”

  “Okay. I’ll be like Millie.” She changed her voice to sound gruff. “‘Pah, the old painted lady’s not cursed, she’s just old.’” She laughed and switched back to her normal voice. “Hey, when are you starting their portraits?”

  Meredith took a deep breath. She hadn’t thought that far ahead. “Um, well, I have to get most of my AP portfolio done first, then I can make time to start their portraits.”

  “Do they have to pose for you like I am?”

  “Well, that might be an issue because I want to paint them slightly younger. You know, like in their fifties or something. I have to use photographs for that, but I guess I should ask them what era they want depicted. You know? Having yourself preserved in paint is kind of a personal thing.”

  Dani laughed. “Believe me, I know.”

  Meredith laughed, but realized that she was a little nervous about painting Dani’s portrait, too. She wanted to depict Dani’s expression perfectly. That smile. Her eyes. She wanted to capture the essence that was Dani Lassiter. Getting that personal with a subject was difficult, but Meredith had a willing subject and that was half the battle sometimes.

  Meredith attempted to sound reassuring. “You’ll be fine. All you have to do is sit. In fact, you’ll probably be bored in less than five minutes. I’m the one who has to do all the work, remember?”

  “Yeah, you’re right. You do have the hard part. Well, I guess I should get going. I just called to say hi.”

  Meredith smiled as they said their goodbyes and hung up. She liked having a friend who called just to say hi.

  Chapter Nine

  Hot Chocolate

  MEREDITH HELD HER hair back with her left hand while Dani slid the blue hair band off Meredith’s wrist and placed it in her open palm. Meredith put the hair band around her thick hair and took a deep breath. She had spent a good part of the previous evening going over the sketch she had made of Dani, so her plan of attack would be firmly planted in her mind before she applied paint to canvas.

  Mrs. Levine’s small workroom had two large windows that helped the room seem less claustrophobic. The afternoon sun managed to show itself between the gray clouds, and Meredith welcomed the natural sunlight. Mrs. Levine had provided a couple of adjustable floor lamps for additional lighting if they needed it.

  Meredith pushed her glasses up the bridge of her nose and then worked for several minutes on a general head and shoulders outline of Dani on the canvas. Once she was satisfied with the positioning, she added a squeeze of cerulean blue and a squeeze of zinc white acrylic paint to her palette. She used her palette knife to mix them together.

  Before applying the paint, Meredith asked, “Still comfie?”

  Dani shifted in Mrs. Levine’s desk chair. “I guess. But, I’m kind of nervous.” She cleared her throat several times, but couldn’t seem to get it clear.

  Meredith laughed. “Well, we’re not going to get the whole thing done in one day. In fact, you’re not even going to look like much today. I’ve already sketched you with light pencil, and I’m about to put color to your shirt. Thanks for wearing the powder blue one. The blue brings out your eyes.”

  “Would you stop that?”

  “Stop what?”

  “Making me turn red. I’m probably going to ruin the painting.”

  Meredith smiled as Dani started blushing and picked up her brush. She looked at Dani for a moment and gathered in Dani’s essence, Dani’s energy. Most of her subjects never knew she did this, and she never told them. Meredith figured if her subjects knew she focused on them so intently they would become more uncomfortable than they already were. Dani’s energy—her aura—was strong and bright. Underneath the nerves, Meredith felt the rock-steady Dani she was getting to know. Meredith smiled again.

  “What?” Dani asked with raised eyebrows.

  “Oh, nothing. I was just thinking how amazing it is that Dani Lassiter, president of the senior class, is sitting here posing for me.”

  “And why should that be amazing?” Dani made air-quotes when she said the word amazing.

  “Well, a few weeks ago I had no friends at all.”

  Dani smiled. “But you’re changing that, aren’t you?”

  “Yeah. Seems that way.” Meredith put a few brush strokes to Dani’s shirt.

  “Hey, that John Casey thing. You’re the talk of the school, you know.”

  “I know. I’m not sure that’s a good thing, though.”

  Dani shifted in her seat. “I moved. Sorry.” She had a scared expression on her face.

  “No, you’re fine, but sit still or I’ll have to call you Mikey.”

  “Okay, okay. I think it’s a good thing that people know you can stand up for yourself. I, for one, am most proud.”

  “Well, thank you. Now shut up so I can focus.” Meredith added an ear-to-ear grin to let Dani know she was teasing. She couldn’t believe she had just told the president of the senior class to shut up. Several weeks ago, the thought of doing that would have seemed impossible.

  A comfortable silence settled over painter and sitter. Meredith kept an eye on the time, though, because she didn’t want to make them late for history.

  “Can I talk, yet?” Dani murmured through closed lips.

  Meredith laughed. “Sure. We’ve been at this a long time. You have excellent powers of concentration, by the way. Most of my subjects look bored after only a few minutes.”

  “Oh, I just took myself to another place. Honestly, if I didn’t daydream I’d be self-conscious the whole time and probably get an ulcer.”

  “Where did you take yourself?” Meredith dabbed her paintbrush in her cerulean blue mixture and put a few more strokes on Dani's shoulders.

  “Oh, I daydreamed about the Hudson Pines Senior Center and thought about Esther and Millie. I thought about Gregory.”

  “Oh? And do you still think he’s an okay guy?”

  “Sure and you’re right, he is a hottie. If you like that sort of thing.”

  “What sort of thing?�
�

  Dani looked down, but then must have remembered that she was supposed to keep her head up. “Oh, sorry. Uh, I don’t know. He’s just not my type.”

  “What’s your type?”

  When Dani didn’t answer, Meredith looked out from behind the canvas and saw that Dani had turned fire engine red. Meredith changed the subject quickly. “I hadn’t really thought much more about Gregory, but it would be kind of fun to have Esther as an aunt, you know?”

  Dani laughed. She sounded relieved. “Yeah, really. And Millie, too. I guess she’d be an aunt, too, right?”

  “I wonder if either of them has ever been married.”

  “Well, they’ll tell us if they want us to know, you know? We probably shouldn’t get too much into their private lives. Unless they volunteer the info, that is.”

  “Yeah, you’re probably right.” Meredith put her brush in the jar of murky water and wiped her hands on her rag. She would clean the brushes more thoroughly in the sink later, after her AP class. “I think we’d better call it a day. I’ve got to clean up a little bit so Mrs. Levine can have her office back.”

  Meredith was about to pull the band out of her hair, but on a whim decided to keep her hair pulled back for the rest of the day.

  As they made their way out of the art room and up the stairs to their history class, Dani looked at Meredith and asked, “What do you think the other kids thought about us going into Mrs. Levine’s private workroom?”

  “Since when do you care what other kids think?”

  “No, you’re right. I don’t really care what they think. It’s not like we were breaking any rules, right?”

  “Yeah, and besides, Mrs. Levine set up the whole thing. Probably because the sketch of your scissors was so amazingly awesome.”

  “Yeah, I know. Did you see my scissors?” Dani beamed. Meredith smiled, but rolled her eyes at her friend.

  Dani had taken to sitting in the back row next to Meredith, and as they walked past Ben Kinsey Meredith caught the glare he threw at her. Mr. Dalton didn’t assign seats, but usually once kids chose seats at the beginning of the school year, they didn’t change. How Dani got the guy who sat next to Meredith to swap seats was still a mystery. Meredith would never have been able to do it.