She's tall. Brown dreadlocks with purple ombré at the tips. Full sleeve of tattoos winding from wrist to shoulder. Hazel eyes pin me in place.
"Ugh. These are custom." She says, gesturing to her pants, now having a huge wet stain on one leg.
"You can wash those! But my mask is limited edition." I hold the pieces higher so she can see the cracked scales.
"It was an accident."
"Accident? You're standing right there without paying attention to where your hands go."
She purses her lips and steps closer. "I'm sorry, I'll buy you a replacement."
"You can't. What I had is gone."
"Right, how about I buy you regular one?"
"I don't want a regular one. I want the one your elbow just murdered."
"This is ridiculous," she says, running her hand through her hair. "You're going to stand here and keep arguing."
"It was a limited edition mask!"
"Well, what did you expect? You were standing in the middle of the venue floor."
"That's where people stand, I was within my right to stand."
She stares at me. "You were on your phone, in the middle of the venue floor. Not paying any attention to your surroundings is not my problem."
"The irony of you breaking something while acting like I'm the problem is not lost on me."
We stand in the wreckage of our respective damages.
"Enjoy your evening," she says, in a voice that means the opposite, and walks toward the stage door.
I stand at the merch table holding the two broken pieces, watching her disappear backstage.
"That was Rhonda," the guy behind the counter says, nodding toward where she went. "Sorry she's not usually like that."
"She was really rude."
"She's usually more—I don't know. Professional? Tonight she seems off."
I buy the tour print. I run my thumb along the fracture, feeling where the ombré shifts from teal to violet. The edge is sharp.
The crowd noise is enormous. I'm maybe thirty seconds into turning around when Jani's voice cuts through it.
"Lena?"
My sister is standing behind me with a towel over her shoulder and her bass strap marks still red on her collarbone.
"You came! What are you doing here?" She asks.
"I'm watching a show like everybody else here."
Her eyes widen. "Is that our super limited edition mask?"
"Yeah…"
"What happened?" she says.
