Shall We Dance?

Chapter 1 - MADISON

As I place the shopping bags on the counter, I quickly check to make sure I didn't crush the eggs. Luckily, the rattling cans made more noise than damage. I sigh at the mountain of boxes in the living room that still need unpacking, along with all the ones filled with materials for the studios. I'm tempted to shove the boxes into storage since putting everything away will take forever. So far, I have searched for the things we need in the labeled boxes that my sister Cadence, with her organized nature, prepared.

"Please tell me you brought iced coffee or ice cream. I swear I could even settle for ice cubes," Cadence says.

I can't help but smile at Cadence's appearance. Her hair is in a wild bun on top of her head, with kinky curls springing everywhere. Tiny dots of light pink paint are freckled across her face, and there are large sweat marks on the chest and armpit areas of her tank top.

"I did get you an iced coffee," I reply, handing her a cup from a takeout tray. "Hopefully, it isn't too watered down. It took me ages to get out of the parking lot at the mall."

Cadence takes a large sip with her eyes closed, then places the cup on her forehead, standing beneath the air conditioning unit.

"It's the perfect day to paint—crazy hot with a nice breeze. The only annoying thing is the music on the radio, still singing about chestnuts roasting and white Christmases. The holidays ended two weeks ago, and it feels like we jumped straight into June."

"I agree. It's too hot for only the second week of January. That's the blessing and curse of living in the South," I say as I fetch some milk cartons and place them in the fridge.

"The backyard studio is almost dry, and I can't wait until we can turn on the air conditioning," Cadence replies.

"A few more days, and we will be done," I say, looking at the disarray of boxes around us and sighing once more. "I'm sorry it took me longer than I planned. The mall was so busy with an event; some sort of celebrity was spotted in the middle of it. But I managed to get to the insurance office, and everything for the house and the business is arranged."

"Good news then! I was worried," my sister says. "This is our biggest grown-up step, and without that..."

Cadence's gaze moves behind my back, and she frowns. My brother Maurice enters the room, his forehead glistening with sweat, but otherwise, he looks clean. He heads to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water.

"What's for dinner?" he asks, reclining against the kitchen counter and chugging loudly, the plastic bottle crackling.

"Whatever I cook. Jeez, you stink," I say, scrunching my nose at his unpleasant scent. "Did you even put on deodorant this morning?"

"I'd rather call it musky," he shrugs.

"Musky?" Cadence asks. "Like a deer?"

"I'm not sure about that. I saw this TV show where the guy was all sweaty, and the girl said he smelled musky. He was probably sprayed with water droplets, but it sounded cool, so I thought, 'that's something I can use'," he shrugs.

Cadence rolls her eyes at Maurice, making me laugh. My baby brother just turned 22 years old and is quite amusing.

"Is the garage done?" I ask him.

"Yeah," he replies. "I also lacquered the doors."

"But how come your clothes are clean?" Cadence asks, annoyed, while stretching her top to show the splatters on her clothes.

"Sorry that I know how to paint walls without getting paint on me," he says, giving her a bored look as Cadence glares at him. "I'm going to shower. Mom and Dad are coming tomorrow to help with the floor."