Hood Ornaments

Tori would have been lying if she said she wasn’t disappointed when she arrived at the studio and Michael wasn’t there. All the same, she had a lot of work to do. Her semester character painting was only half complete because she was struggling with the hues of the jazz musician’s skin. She walked around the easel a few times then started biting on her thumb as she squatted in front of it. Tori then sucked her teeth and glided to the other side of the studio where her other easel was. This was an abstract, and she could easily finish this before her time was up. She was so involved in her painting she didn’t hear Michael come in, and she jumped at the sound of his voice.

“Multitasking are we?” He asked while rubbing the small of her back in the attempt to calm her down. Tori nodded while focusing on her work,

“Well I am not as good as I used to be. I would have several sketches and a couple of pastels going at once.”

“And yet, with both of these beautiful projects going on your mind is still racing at what’s under my cover.”

She spun around slowly biting her bottom lip, “Is it done?” Then she squinted at the hat on Michael’s head, “Is that a flat cap?”

Michael chuckled, “You really do multitask,” He said before he kissed the tip of her nose, “To answer both of your questions, yes.”

Tori smiled really wide, “Can I see it?”

Michael’s response was to hand her the flat cap which she smacked him with.

“You know what I meant.”

He took the brush and palette from her, placed it on the tray under the easel, and then guided Tori by her elbow to his easel. She wasn’t sure if it was the excitement of seeing his finished project or the fact he was touching her again, but Tori had butterflies in her stomach, that fluttered around to the small of her back. Michael carefully took the drape off of his easel and Tori literally gasped at what she saw. Her body and head were still swaddled in white; however, she had legs now.

And wings.

The wings resembled intricate stained glass windows of a Catholic church. The colors almost glittered on the canvas. She was tempted to touch it, but knew better. She then looked closer at the wings and noticed each new color was separated by a thin streak of lavender instead of black. She felt her whole body get goose bumps as she turned around and hugged him, “You made me a butterfly. It’s exquisite. I love it.”

“I’m glad. Because I love you, Victoria.” Michael whispered into the top of her head before squeezing her gently. “Now get back to work.”

Tori stood there for a while just gazing at the painting. She was so in awe that she didn’t even hear Michael leave the studio.

She blew a puff of air out and snapped back to reality. She needed to finish her paintings. There was no time to meander in the sentiment Michael stunned Tori with. She had to let it fall by the wayside. She was on a direct path, sort of like going to the beach. One may briefly glance at the road kill rotting on the side of the road, but he or she doesn’t gawk at it. If one did gawk at the animal parasites may be seen gnawing on rotting flesh. Tori didn’t want to be disgusted. So she didn’t look. Just like she didn’t want to be hurt, so she didn’t entertain love.

Not since Tony.

But since then, she had two men express that they loved her. Sure, Dell said it casually as opposed to Michael’s syrupy declaration; but Tori felt it from both of them. There was entirely too much to do. The road to the beach was way too long, and she had to get going. No sightseeing, no rest stops. No rest period.

Just creation, color and madness in all hues.

Then Tori felt more excitement than she had ever felt in her life.

Madness and creating.

It took the rest of the day for Tori to finish her paintings, but she did it. She was so determined to finish that she ignored her cell phone vibrating. It went off several times, and she knew they were text messages.

She also knew Trudy didn’t know how to text.

Tony left for the army. It had to be one of three people:

Dell, Malik or Michael. She talked to two out of three of them earlier.

She knew if it was really important Malik would call her. She packed up her supplies, put drapes over her work, and headed back to her dorm. Off in the distance she saw the lanky Michael trotting towards her which made her smile. That smile, however, completely disappeared when Tori noticed the scowl on his face.

“The fuck you have a cell phone for if you don’t answer it?”

Stunned by his language and demeanor, Tori was taken aback only for an instant. Once the instant flashed past, she immediately became angry.

“Um, I was working. You know all of the paintings and such that you told me to finish.”

Michael sucked his teeth, “Don’t put that on me.”

Tori didn’t want to fight.

Number one, she didn’t like confrontation.

Number two, she was tired and she had a feeling if she inquired about his sudden change of attitude, it would be one long ass conversation.

Three, all she wanted was a quick meal, shower and to go to bed early. But when she looked at Michael again he really looked upset, and for whatever reason she couldn’t let him stay that way.

“What’s a matter you? Why are you so annoyed with me?”

He sighed heavily and replied, “I have good news.”

Tori couldn’t help but outwardly laugh at his answer, “Well damn, I’d hate to see if you had bad news, do you growl along with the scowl?”

Michael’s demeanor did not change, “I was trying to get in touch with you to let you know that there is space for three of my pieces at the opening of the Mecca Gallery during Parent’s Day.”

Tori’s eyes widened with excitement as she hugged him, “That’s fantastic Michael!! That opening is supposed to be a grand event. I wanted to go myself, but I heard it is invitation only.”

Michael’s nod was so quick it was reminiscent of a five year old boy, “It is unless you are one of the artists or the plus one of an artist. Since you won’t be needing my plus one, I have decided to give it to your Gramma.”

Tori’s face looked confused, “Wait, I don’t get it. I’m not going?”

Michael found it difficult to contain his laughter, “Yes you will.”

Now Tori was frowning. “What the fuck is so funny?”

Michael bit his bottom lip before tilting her chin back to kiss her on the nose. He looked straight into Tori’s eyes and said, “Think.”

Tori frowned as it took a while for what Michael was saying to her to register. Then she took a deep breath and gasped, “Are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

“Let me let you off the hook so there is no confusion. The gallery has one space open, and the curator had asked me if I knew an up and coming talent for the opening. Of course I chose you.”

“Me? But this is just my first semester here.” She said looking up at him.

Michael laughed and kissed her, “Victoria why do you think I was so adamant about you finishing your work?”

“I thought it was for my grades?”

“Well that too.” He said smiling.

After conversing for a little bit while Tori finished up her portrait, the couple decided to pick up some corner Chinese before heading to the dorms. They ate and discussed the opening. All the while, Tori was trying to ignore her vibrating cell. Michael playfully smirked at her and gave her an approving nod. This both annoyed and relieved Tori. She wanted to see who was texting her without feeling like a child obtaining permission. Luckily, Michael got up, muttered something about writing a paper for class, kissed her again on the top of her head and left. Immediately, Tori checked her messages and saw they were from Malik. They were casual enough but explained to call him as soon as she could about Thanksgiving break. She couldn’t figure out why unless it had something to do with Trudy’s cooking. Leek already knew he was welcome so that didn’t make any sense. Then she saw a text from Sticks. As if she were on the descent side of a roller coaster, her stomach dropped. Like Leek’s text, it was a casual check in, but for Tori that seemed too coincidental. After pondering about the coincidence and yawning a few times, Tori decided to sleep on it and call them both in the morning.

Back home, Leek was cleaning his gun.

Dell went for a walk to the Waterfront.

Sticks was pacing back and forth in his loft.

And none of that was a coincidence.