-
"I didn't think you'd actually meet me
here!" He shouted across the parking lot.
"Did you not see me following you?" I ran up to him.
The whole drive there I couldn't take my eyes off of a sticker on the back of his car that read "MY KID IS AN HONOR STUDENT."
I pointed to it and laughed to get him back for the bra incident. I was waiting to do that the whole ride to the park.
"Is this your moms car?"
He nodded.
"No shame."
The trunk was being opened, bringing out the smell of air freshener into the environment. He had some random cans of spray paint stashed away.
Does he want us to vandalize? I can't vandalize. We'd get caught. I'd be dead. My dad and I would break all of our progress and-
"I thought you'd want to do more art-involved things, so I remembered my mom had these leftover from a few chairs she did for a neighbor."
He picked up a can with a teal lid on it and popped it off. The lid dropped into the trunk. You could hear the ball fall around in the can as he shook it.
Blue-green dusty spray splattered from the nozzle. The smell of it was addicting like car gas, but tonight, it made me sick.
"It's a little old. But who cares."
-
Austin had planned this trip for after Garrett's. That was the whole reason he took his mom's car- he was too lazy to lug all of the cans to his. He wasn't even sure his fragile car could take the extra weight. The one thing he didn't plan was the way it ended when they had to leave. Garrett should've been fine with him. He did write another note to Rhiannon and stuffed it in her bag at the right time as a favor. Garrett had his plans to himself, and Austin had his. At least Austin wasn't such a fake. At least he could do his plans himself.
Rhiannon's face was turning a ghostly pale shade. She stood still like a sculpture, worry evident in her face.
"Hey, it's ok. It's art. Art causes no harm, it's just a little freedom. We won't be spraying penises or gang signs anywhere. I promise. Okay?"
He stretched out his warm palm for her to grab.
She took it into her hand. They were small and bony, almost creamy feeling. It felt like she used a ton of lotion.
There was a wall left of the old basketball court that was made of concrete. Wirey loops of barbwire sat at the tops of it. This place looked like more of a prison than it ever had a park.
Austin led them to it in silence. The sounds of crickets chirping and insects buzzing filled in the lack of conversation.
Her frail body stood in front of the wall, shoulders slumped over. She pouted like a child.
"Hey," Austin held her chin and lifted it up so her eyes could meet his.
"It'll be ok. Look at how many people already vandalized this wall. I think we'd be doing some justice in covering it up."
He was right. The wall was completely covered in words with exotic fonts and colors. They both payed attention to scanning it and plotting out what they wanted to create. He took his fingers off of her chin and turned around to get some cans out of the car.
He chunked her a can and she caught it with one hand. Her movements were definitely more confident than before he had assured her that they were fine.
