Vi holds my hand as we walk through the lobby of my favorite cinema The Chestnut Tell me about the posters I say as she guides me past the ticket booth and into the cinema’s lobby She doesn’t have to guide me I know this place almost as well as I know my own living room But I always let Vi hold my hand Her skin is soft and warm Same posters as last week Preston she laughs Dracula Versus the Zombies Sweet Tooth The Untold Love Story of the World’s Two Greatest Chocolatiers and Secret Agent Granny You’re making those up I nudge her and she lets out a chuckle You’ll never know she teases Vivien Henry always teases me If it were someone else maybe I would be bothered by it But Vi is one of the few people who knew me before I was blind We met when we were babies 2 Mere Joyce
Our mothers are friends and we’ve grown up together Besides I can barely remember a time before I got glaucoma and lost my vision So it doesn’t bother me when Vi makes up fake movie titles and tries to pass them off as real films I think it’s actually pretty awesome Vi’s a serious girl usually I’m lucky to be one of the few people she jokes around with Come on she says now leading me past the concession stands Mrs Colander’s waiting for us up in the booth Mrs Colander is the teacher in charge of our school’s film club She’s the one who helped us organize the amateur film festival The Chestnut will be hosting two nights from now Are the others here yet I ask Janelle’s babysitting so she can’t come Vi says as we head into the theater When we start up the stairs leading to the projection booth she is 3 Shadow
moving so fast my arm is completely outstretched in front of me One stair at a time Vi I remind her She stops and waits for me to catch up before she continues forward again Sorry she says She gives my hand a squeeze and my whole arm tingles So Janelle’s not coming And Nico’s never been on time for anything in his life I smile She’s right about Nico He is always stumbling into class well after the bell rings I can hear the sound of nails clacking on a keyboard when we enter the projection projection booth The typing stops Hello Mr Craft Hey Mrs Colander I say feeling my way over to a seat against the back wall of the small room Vi stands beside me Her foot bumps against mine but I don’t think she notices 4 Mere Joyce
My mom hooked the laptop up to the projection system before she left this afternoon she says to me Mrs Colander just tested it When we hit Play on the laptop the movies appear on the big screen Vi’s parents bought The Chestnut before she was born They divorced when Vi was eight but they still run the theater together Vi and I grew up in this cinema It’s the best spot for the film festival I still can’t believe Vi’s mom gave us permission to use it on Friday night Okay so I think everything’s ready to go for Friday Mrs Colander says She begins typing again her long fingernails loud against the keyboard I’m just finishing up my report for Principal Saunders I’ll email it to myself and then I’ll be ready to go Are you sure you don’t need anything else from me 5 Shadow
