Noni closed her eyes for that split second then reopened them and pushed through the rest of 'Hardened Heaven'. Chad had messed up again, and had been doing so the last three gigs. It was grating now.
   Ending the set, she ignored him and hurried upstairs to wait for the waitress to bring them their free rounds of sodas.
   Grimacing at how Chad talked Mathew into staying down on the floor and flirting with the groupie's. Noni quickly finished her drink, made her phone call, and went back down to pack up her bass.
   For her, the night was over and the next band was waiting to come back on.
   "Stay, Non!" Chad called over some blonde's head. "Have a few drinks and relax."
   Ignoring him, Noni waved a hand at Mathew surrounded by a few faces she didn't know, and headed out the door. Leaden down with an amp and guitar case in her hands.
   "Need some help?"
   The soft voice came from behind, and Noni trudged on without a backwards glance. "No."
   "You sure?"
   The pulling up taxi assured her, "Yes."
   Loading her stuff quickly in the trunk, she gave her street address and slid inside the cool interior. Managing to avoid looking straight at the so-called helpful stranger.
   The ride was as long as it was uneventful. The cabbie was bright enough to realize that she wasn't a talker, or a believer in unloading one's problems onto some stranger. Even if they were a cabbie.
   Tossing them money into the little box, Noni scrambled out and moved swiftly to unload her burdens off the cabbie and back upon herself.
   Grimacing, she walked up the dark walkway and set her guitar case to pull the key from around her neck and unlocked the front door. "Home!" She called as she banged it open and proceeded to move in, grabbing her case again along the way.
   "Chad called here already." Her mother informed wearily, still in her nurse's smock and sensible white shoes.
   Nodding in answer, Noni started storing her equipment in the hall closet for the night. "Couldn't understand a word he said, but then Mathew came on." Her mother continued, smiling weakly, "such a nice boy, Mathew is. He said you're going to play at some bash this Friday."
   Noni bit her lip; "Tomorrow's Friday." She shrieked, "I've got class this Friday."
   At her mother's shrug, she groaned and started picking up the trash from around the living room. "Matt and Chad both know that. That's why we always schedule gigs for Saturday nights."
   The late Mrs.Wagner sighed, "I'm only the messenger, darling."
   Nodding again, Noni moved into the kitchen and started putting the dishes away and storing the left overs from dinner into the refrigerator.
   Opening the Blues Clues lunchbox, she grinned at the watercolor painting Kit left for her. Grabbing a napkin and writing out a new set of lyrics swimming in her mind, she started preparing a lunch to be envied by all the other second graders.
   Kitten's the light in this salty world. Chasing away bitter tears. She's the cure.
   Starting the dishwasher and washing her hands, Noni moved to the back porch and removed her clothes from the wash machine and shoved them into the dryer. Twisting the knob she started that as well so that her work clothes would be dry by morning.
   "You know, I would have gotten these." Her mother murmured softly, as her eyes took in the now pristine kitchen.
   Moving back inside, Noni smiled falsely and hugged her. "I know you would have." She answered, pecking her check. "But I thought I'd give you a break anyway."
   Mrs. Wagner patted her daughter's arm that hung loosely around her neck. "Thank you, Noni."
   Shrugging, Noni pecked her cheek again. "Welcome."
   They stood, in awkward silence, before Noni picked up a glass of water and started walking away. "Night, Mom." She called over her shoulder, but due to the choking of bitter emotions in her throat it was strangled.
   The bare hallway with it's sagging floors and warped doors always made her nauseated. Not even the ghoulish yellow light hanging limply from the ceiling softened things here.
   Closing her eyes for a split second, Noni prayed for better things, then hurried into her room. Kit was already asleep on the tiny mattress against the far wall. The images of Blue the cartoon dog duplicated on the ragged sheets and pillowcase gave another heart lurch.
   Stumbling to her own singles mattress, Noni kicked off her shoes and fell onto it gracelessly. Clicking her alarm on, she was too tired to change into mismatched pajamas and too depressed, she slept in her performance ensemble.