"Thanks, you two," said Alice, but she wasn't mad.
"Look what I drew," said Rachel, showing me a bunch of random shapes on a big sheet of paper.
"That's nice?" I guessed.
"It’s called contemporary art."
"I see that now. I like all the colors."
"Mine's all about using blue," said Ben, passing me his drawing. "I got to use all the blues and make thin and thick stripes. We're looking at lots of famous painters' art."
"That's a cool idea. I like all the stripes and how you drew some straight and some all wobbly."
"You can have it if you want?"
"I'd love to have it."
"Mine too," said Rachel as she smacked hers into my hands.
"Thanks!"
"Go wash up now and take off your aprons and grab your jackets. We need to drop Lexi off before we go home."
"I'm so happy you're here," said Rachel, opening her arms for a big hug and approaching me with paint-spattered fingers. I stepped back in alarm, making frantic "shoo" movements as she advanced.
"Not with those paint fingers," said Alice, stepping into her daughter's path and grabbing her by the shoulders. She turned her around and set her in motion towards the sinks. "Use lots of soap," she urged Rachel as she gave her a helping push in the right direction.
"Parenting must feel like a constant battle between cleanliness and avoiding sticky handprints," I observed.
"Yeah. I largely gave up when I had Rachel."
"Paints..." I muttered, frowning. The same strange thought still bothered me. "Paints."
"Don't worry. You don't have to keep their paintings."
I waved her comments away. "No, it's not that... It's... huh!" I reached for my phone and called up my emails. The one I was looking for was one of the last to arrive. I opened it and waited for the attachments to download, wondering if I were the one who was crazy, and not the world. No, there it was, paint on the fingertips. I dismissed it before but now I zoomed in and I could see it clearly.
I made a mistake. A very big mistake.
"Hey, I know you." A woman stopped next to me, smiling cautiously.
"Hi?" I said, frowning. She looked familiar to me too but I couldn't place her.
"From the bank," she explained. "We were standing next to each other in the line at the bank and then we dropped to the floor together. You helped keep my son calm. I looked for you afterwards to say thank you but there were so many people around."
"I remember you. How is your son? He was super brave."
"Thank you, and he continues to be so. We've arranged for him to go to therapy, just in case, but Jake seems fine, with no adverse effects, which is amazing really. Oh, there he is!" She paused to wave. "Do your kids come here too?"
"I don't have any kids. I'm with my sister-in-law, Alice, picking up her kids, Ben and Rachel."
"I know Alice, but only in passing," she said as Jake jogged over to her. "How was art class?" she asked. "Did you draw another cool painting for the wall?"
"Just this," he said, handing over his sheet. "I gotta clean up my stuff." He turned and scampered away.
"Huh," said the woman, looking at the sheet with raised eyebrows.
"They're replicating contemporary artists," I explained.
"I'm sure the rest of them are. Jake keeps drawing this picture over and over. I don't know why."
I leaned in and looked at the drawing out of simple curiosity. Endless infinity symbols filled the page, in all different sizes and colors.
"I thought it was something he saw at home," she said, "or maybe something at school but it's so repetitive. That's just kids, I guess. They see something they like and repeat it over and over. I hope he hasn't wasted the teacher's time."
"I've seen that before," I said, staring at the paper.
"Oh? So it is art?" She brightened.
"Not necessarily, I've just seen it somewhere," I said and she shrugged. Jake ran over to her with his backpack and she zipped it closed when it flapped open.
"You're the lady from the bank," he said, looking up at me. "You helped the man that got shot."
"That's right," I said.
"Is he okay?"
"I believe he's going to be fine."
"Cool."
"Jake hasn't really spoken about it yet," the mom said in a low voice. "We haven't pushed him."
"Your mom showed me your drawing," I said. "I like all the colors and the symbol is cool. Did you know it means infinity?"