Radiant - By Christina Daley Page 0,28

I am…speechless."

Mary stared at him. He may have been speechless, but he had an eloquent way of saying so.

Carter looked around. "It's that way with all of these works. They are all glimpses into the immaterial. The manifestations of information. It's too wonderful." He turned to her. "You should have your painting among these. The one of Saturn's rings."

"Are you kidding?" Mary smirked. "These guys are professionals."

"Does that matter?" he asked.

Mary looked around. "Maybe not."

"And there's no competition here," he added. "Everyone is celebrating the art together."

Mary crossed her arms and wondered over to a painting hanging on the wall. It was an abstract piece showing a woman looking at the sky.

Carter followed her. "I apologize. I have offended you."

"No," she said. "You didn't. It's just as you said. Art shows what's inside. And that's scary. Showing my paintings would be like…like cutting my arm open in front of a crowd and showing them what color I bleed."

Carter didn't say anything.

Mary sighed. "I don't want people seeing the inside of me."

They both looked at the painting, not speaking. At last, he asked, "Why do you paint at all?"

Ironically, Mary felt like this conversation was exposing a little too much. "Because I wouldn't know what else to do."

He said nothing. Then, he smiled and nodded. "I understand now."

Carter moved on to look at other works, and Mary went in the opposite direction. As she admired a sculpture made of several glass-blown pieces, Ben came and handed her a soft drink. "Enjoying yourself?"

She nodded as she took a sip. "It's awesome. And Ba looks like she's having a good time."

"I'm glad," he said. "Your friend seems to be enjoying himself, too."

Mary looked around and saw Carter staring at a canvas featuring a nude woman. She laughed. "He's not my friend. Just a guy who goes to my school."

"Really?" he chuckled. "You brought him to an art show. With your grandmother. And he's just a guy?"

She smirked. "What're you sayin'?"

He shrugged. "Nothing. Some things are spoken louder without words. I was actually just talking with him before I came over here."

"About what?" Mary asked.

"He asked me about my art and how long I'd been doing sculptures and such," Ben said. "It was strange. I started telling him how I was just getting back into it, but then I told him about Anna. Sometimes, it's still hard for me to talk about what happened. But it was really easy to talk to him."

Mary remembered the time Ben told her about his wife and the bank robbery. She and Ba were in the store buying art supplies, but he was looking really depressed. Ba asked him what was wrong. It was the fifth anniversary of his wife's death that day. And just needing someone to talk to, he spilled his guts to Mary and Ba. Mary remembered Ba hugging him and giving him tissue like he was her own son.

Mary looked back at Carter, now admiring a wooden mask. She remembered how George told stories when Carter visited Agape the first time. She also remembered their "opt-out" conversation in the art room. She had told him things that she hadn't told anyone before. Like Ben said, it was easy to talk to him.

"He's going through some stuff right now," she said. "I thought getting him around something beautiful would be good for him."

"You didn't need to bring him here to get him around something beautiful," Ben said.

Mary looked at him.

He smiled. "But I am glad you came anyway."

She smiled, too.

"Excuse me, Ben?" one of the gallery employees came and asked. "Sorry to interrupt, but there's someone asking about your sculpture. I think she wants to buy it."

"It's not for sale," Ben said. "But I'll talk to her anyway. Excuse me, Mary."

"Sure," she said, and she moved on as well.

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- 13 -

Lapse

They spent about an hour and a half at the show. When it was close to dinnertime, Mary's stomach was growling.

"I think it's time to eat," Ba said. "How about soup?"

"Oh yeah!" Mary said.

They thanked Ben and congratulated him before heading out. As they stepped outside, Mary was surprised at how cool it felt. Then again, it wasn't unusual for the temperature to move up and down quickly this time of year. Mary had a sweater in her bag, but she had left that at Agape.

"Man, it got cold fast," she said as she hugged her arms.

Ba joked, "It's because you're too skinny! You need more fat like me to keep