My mother was beaming as she gazed up at the abandoned building. “It’s just how I remember.”

“You played here?” Erika looked at the theater with disgust.

“It was when I first started as a concert pianist. This place has always been a little rough around the edges.” She hummed. “So many beautiful performances took place here. Your father was during an internship, and he’d come to see me perform. He said it was love at first song.” She gave us a smirk.

“Cool story,” breathed Erika. “Why are we here?”

My mother shrugged. “It’s the only place I could think of that might be empty. I heard it was abandoned after the owner went bankrupt.”

“It’s great, Mom.” I started up the steps.

It wasn’t like we could afford a hotel room and sleeping outside didn’t seem like a good idea in this part of the city. I tried the doors but they were locked. The one on the end was half broken off its hinges. It didn’t take much effort for me to yank it the rest of the way off.

“Way to go, Zale,” muttered Erika. “It’s not like this place doesn’t look like it’s close to collapsing already.”

“A ‘thank you’ would have been enough.” I waved my sister through.

She stepped inside, followed by my mother. I entered and jury-rigged the door back into place. Dusting off my hands, I hurried to catch up with the girls.

“Nothing’s changed.” My mother clasped her hands together and pressed them to her lips. “I’ve forgotten how much I’ve missed this. Oh, come, come. This way.”

My sister and I followed her down the hall into the auditorium. The chairs were covered in dust, and some sections had been completely ripped out. My mother was reminiscing about her past as she made her way to the stage.

Erika and I watched from the back of the room.

“How are we going to live for the next three months?” she asked.

“We have a place to stay, at least.”

Erika shrugged. “What will we eat?”

“We’ll find a homeless shelter or something. I’m going to start looking for work tomorrow.”

“I’ll look for a job, too.”

I shook my head. “I don’t know if you should.”

She left her chin. “I’m capable of working, Zale. I can take care of myself.” She walked down the aisle to the stage.

Folding my arms, I followed. I stood in the front row as the two wandered around the stage.

“I would be seated about here.” She grabbed Erika and placed her near the edge of the stage in the middle. “The conductor would be here, standing on a box. Come on, Erika. Let’s see how you command an orchestra.”

My mother stood behind Erika and showed her how to wave her arms. She tickled my sister’s sides. I smiled at the pair as they laughed. My mother began to prance and twirl across the stage, humming a melody.

“Zale.” She waved for me. “You can be the strings section.”

Chuckling to myself, I climbed onto the stage and went to where she pointed on the floor.

She danced across the room to her own song. “I wish you could’ve seen it. Oh, the music that filled this room.” She motioned for us to follow. “Come here, come here.”

My sister and I stood on either side of her and peered out over the rows of seats.

“Can you imagine a full house, a nervous energy filling the room? It was a moment that I dreaded but lived for.” She let out a deep breath and leaned into my side. “Let’s go to the practice rooms and see if we can find a place to stay.”

I put my arm around her shoulder, and we disappeared behind what was left of the curtains. We walked down a hallway to the backstage area. My mom and sister went to check the rooms while I gathered up the cushions off a bench.

“Over here,” said Erika, motioning for us.

My mom grabbed a couple other cushions, and we went to see what Erika had found. A couple dusty couches were pushed against the wall. A piano without any legs was sitting on the floor. I dropped my load on the ground. My mom and sister went to flip the cushions on the couch and bang out the dust.

Walking to the piano, I ran my finger through the thick layer of dirt. “Why would they take the legs off?”

My mother shrugged. “I don’t know. There might be something wrong with it, so they used it for parts. The lid is missing as well.”

I sat down and pressed a couple keys. It needed to be tuned, desperately. Every single one was off and some sounded horrible. I heard something rip and looked up to see Erika tearing down the curtains gathered in the corners of the room. She dragged them over. The girls curled up on the couch, while I spread the cushions I had found on the floor.

“This isn’t too bad,” said my mother, resting her head against Erika’s.

“It’s better than being in that crowd warehouse,” said my sister. She sank lower and pulled the makeshift blanket over her shoulder. “I wish we could’ve seen you play here, Mom.”

“I was given a better job.” She beamed at us. “Being a mom was far more worth it to me.”

Erika smiled at her before closing her eyes. I grabbed one of the curtains and rolled onto my side. Ninety days, it wasn’t going to be easy, but we’d find a way to make it through.