Fiction/Young Adult/Betrayal
Worth the Risk — Chapter Sixteen
Are you willing to lose it all
“Why are we here?” Marcus stepped out of the Porsche. He looked around the neighborhood and then to the entrance of Gramercy Park.
I held up a single key. “One of my dad’s business partners lives here and gave him a key.” I took his hand and led him to the gated entry. “I like to come here and escape from everything.”
Marcus hesitated like he was afraid to enter.
“C’mon.” I jerked him through. “It’ll be fun.”
There weren’t many people out today and the ones walking around greeted us warmly. It was nice to be away from people who were so judgmental against us being together, mainly everyone from both sides.
It took us about two hours as slowly as we walked, but it gave us so much time to talk and be together. I learned more about his family and how his mom practically raised them all on her own since his father worked out of state with some trucking company.
I was surprised to learn how he wanted to move out of their neighborhood and maybe try to attend nursing school. Marcus said he needed to stay out of trouble and maintain his good grades so his counselor would be able to maybe get him a minority scholarship to a four-year university.
I told him about my acceptance to my dad’s alma mater and that they sort of forbade me to accept any type of dancing internship unless I was willing to give up my inheritance and live on a starving artist salary.
He couldn’t believe a parent would be so cruel and not support their child in what they wanted to do.
Marcus tried to persuade me to rethink my options and maybe try to convince my parents otherwise, but that would be a fight I would definitely lose.
“Make a left up here.” Marcus gave me another direction to follow.
We were on the outskirts of his hometown, going into parts I’d never seen before. It was rundown but colorful with all the graffiti that livened up the buildings and underpasses of the bridges.
Marcus had me stop at a small hardware store along the way. He wouldn’t show me what he got but said I was ready for the adventure of my life.
“Park over there.” Marcus pointed to a section of gravel that was on the corner of one of those big concrete pillars that held up a bridge.
I didn’t think it would be safe, and I had no clue what he had planned, but I did as I was instructed.
Marcus exited the car as soon as I parked; I guess that was my cue to follow.
“What are we doing here?" I looked all around but didn’t see any points of interest that we would be here for sightseeing.
My eyes followed Marcus’s hand as he pointed to the bridge. All along the ledge, the part that no one can see unless you are standing or driving underneath was covered in painted works of art.
“You did that?” I looked at him with new eyes. Not only was he handsome, sweet, and brilliant in writing, but he was also truly artistically talented.
Marcus shrugged. “Me and Ricky.”
“Holy shit. That’s awesome. And neither one of you wanted to go into art, really.”
I looked back at the names that were written, and I noticed him once I scanned the whole bridge. There were so many signs and symbols, many of which I had no idea what they meant, but they were all done with a creative edge to them.
“Ready.” Marcus held out his hand.
“For?” I put my hand in his.
“Time to create our own art.”
We began walking towards the bridge.
I thought maybe we would write something on the pillar, but nope, Marcus stopped at the ladder that went to the top.
“Uh, hell no.” I pulled back on his arm.
“Chelsey, trust me, you’ll be okay.” Marcus stepped onto the first rung of the ladder. “Just follow my lead, baby.”
How could I say no to that?
My hands shook the whole way. I didn’t look down in fear of throwing up being so high up.
One benefit was that I got to look at Marcus’s backside while I climbed.
“Okay, now what?”
We finally made it to the top, right under where all the cars were zooming over our heads.
Maybe we could spray something there on the front and get going back down.
Marcus unlatched a gate and took hold of my hand. “Now we go over there.” His head motioned in the direction where all the other graffiti had been written.
“Oh, fuck, Marcus, I don’t know if I can do that.” I tiptoed onto the platform that spanned the whole bridge. It was only a two-board catwalk for someone to walk on and a makeshift wire barrier to hold one back if they stumbled to the side.
By the looks of the fence and the holes in several spots, this type of railing couldn’t be counted on.
It would be okay if we were a few inches, shit, even a couple feet off the ground. But, fuck, we were at least...
TWO HUNDRED-PLUS FEET IN THE AIR!
I held Marcus’s hand, no, I squeezed his hand to the point it turned red until we stopped halfway across the platform.
“This should be good.”
Marcus took out the brown paper bag that he had tucked into the waistband of his jeans and pulled out two cans of spray paint. He shook the one can, popped the lid, and sprayed a little to make sure it worked.
“Here Chels.”
I took the can and looked at the bridge. “What should I write?”
“Your name—that would be a good start. And then everyone would know that you made it up here.”
I wrote out my name in huge, black lines on the spot that Marcus showed me where to write.
Marcus took the other can and wrote his name beside mine.
I put an ‘and’ sign in-between and he wrote 4ever at the end.
CHELSEY & MARCUS 4EVER was now eternally on display for everyone to see.
“Forever, Chels.” Marcus turned me around and wrapped his arms around me.
“Forever.”
I leaned back and rested my head against his chest. We both stood in awe as we looked out at the city and listened to the roar of vehicles above us.
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