Page 65 of SnowBound

Little beacons showing me the way

My heart is yours, my home is you

And all I see now is blue

A soft knock on my door brought me out of my creative process. My mother’s head peeked through the ajar door. “You wrote this?”

I nodded. “Just about now.”

“It’s beautiful. I miss listening to you play and coming up with melodies. Any title?”

I offered her a half-shrug. “Blue?” It sounded more like a question than a statement.

“It’s perfect. Keep going. Will you play it for me later?”

“Sure.”

She pivoted to leave when she halted. “Anderson… I’m sorry if I ever tried to convince you to choose another career path. You’re where you belong. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you otherwise.”

A smile tilted my lips up. “Thanks, Ma. I’m glad you recognize it.”

“You’re my pride and joy, Anderson. I love you.”

The door closed behind her with a low click, and I returned to the song, writing down the lyrics in the old notebook I kept on the bedside table.

* * *

“Man, does my old man know you’re in town?” Rufus, one of my childhood best friends said when we met for a baseball game two days after my arrival in Memphis. His father owned a brewery slash bar downtown, and he believed in me early on after he saw me perform at a recital in middle school.

Whenever I was home, he always tried to book me to play for a night or two. “I sent him a text earlier. He said he’d call me tomorrow to discuss dates.”

“He sings your praise all the fucking time. I swear he’s your biggest fan.”

I clinked my soda can to his. “We all need a first. How is Stan’s mama doing?” My friend’s mother had just completed her last round of chemotherapy for an aggressive case of breast cancer. She was our third-grade teacher and the sweetest woman in the world.

“I saw her last week. She’s a ghost of herself, man. She can barely walk on her own. All her hair is gone, and her skin is a greenish-gray hue. They don’t know yet if the treatments were successful.”

I shook my head. “Wow, I gotta see her while I’m here.” The last time I was in town, I spent an hour singing to her by her bedside after she said it soothed her soul.

Rufus and I chatted the rest of the game away. My friend had forfeited a college education for a job at his uncle’s construction business as a carpenter.

Hours later, while we walked back to our parked pickup trucks, he asked, “Are you coming to Round and Round later? The guys will be there. Claire and Josie too. It’s trivia night. They’re having game nights all summer. Then we’ll hit one of the clubs on the outskirts of town and dance the night away. Are you in?”

“Sure. My schedule is free.” I had no plans whatsoever, and I was trying to let go and have a great time while I was here, like I’d assured my mother I would.

“Meet us there at eight.”

We bumped fists the same manner we’d been doing since we were little kids and parted ways.

Later, my friends and I sat in a booth and listened to the guy standing in front of the room at Round and Round, who was explaining the rules of trivia night after we formed teams. My attention drifted to a girl exiting the ladies’ room. And for a split second, I believed I saw Abby. The girl snaked her arm through her friend’s, and I shook my head. Now my brain is conjuring images of her. Great. My Abby couldn’t be here. In Memphis, in a bar, on trivia night. My Abby. I was hallucinating. I moved to stand to confirm it was her when Josh asked, “Who is it?” His eyes followed my line of vision.

The girl turned, and she wasn’t the one I expected to see. I sat back down, feeling ridiculous. “No one.”

“Tell that to your face.” A loud chuckle bubbled out.

I sighed. “Someone from my past. Or not.” I shook my head. “Not sure. It’s nothing.”

Someone tapped my shoulder, and I snapped out of it. Josie watched me with a concerned expression. “Everything okay? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”