Page 74 of The Guy in the Alley

I bumped my hip to Ben’s, and he grinned and shook his head at us.

Chip made time move faster, and the line got shorter and shorter until it was our turn. I added his name to the roster, and a woman gave him his number for me to pin to his shirt. Scripted instructions were rambled, and I got the gist.

The line for the photography was a hell of a lot shorter, and no wonder. I pointed to the price tag and leaned closer to Ben.

“If you ever wonder if I love my nephew…” I said.

He followed where I pointed, and he lifted his eyebrows. “Jesus Christ. That’s highway robbery.”

Exactly what I’d thought!

“Is the camera included?” he joked.

I laughed. “Right?”

When it was our turn, I filled out a form with Chip’s name and, more importantly, his race number and my email. One of the photographers would keep an eye out and guaranteed ten photos we could choose from. One print and three digital files were included in the price.

Fifty bucks poorer, I headed over to the staff that was gonna guide the kids through their run, and due to the growing crowd on the last day, they were adding extra runs. That suited me perfectly, because it meant less waiting.

A woman introduced herself as Terri, and she had nine helpers to make sure no kids veered off track.

“You stay close to Terri, you hear?” I leveled Chip with a serious look. “You listen to what she says.”

“I will!”

“Good boy. Ben and I will be at the finish line. Oh, and remember to close your eyes when they shoot the color dust, okay?”

One of Sarah’s reminders.

“You sound like Mommy—that ain’t cool,” Chip laughed.

I sucked my teeth. Fucking brat.

As I’d guessed, the run started just on the other side of the lawn, over the small hill, but it still made me a tad nervous to let Chip out of my sight. Thankfully, the race was gonna start in a few minutes.

I bit at a cuticle as I watched Terri and her staff usher approximately fifteen young kids up the slope, and Chip turned around and waved excitedly to me.

I smiled and waved back.

Ben came up next to me. “I never wondered, by the way. If you loved him.”

I glanced over at him.

He smiled, still looking in Chip’s direction. “I miss those days sometimes. Alvin was never into activities that tend to attract crowds, except for one thing. He was obsessed with watching marching bands at games.”

I smiled too.

“He’d wear noise-canceling headphones and fuse himself to me right up until the band started playing,” he said. “He became a whole other person.” He nodded up the hill. “Kinda like Chip. For a short moment, Alvin was all energy and excitement. Couldn’t sit still to save his life.”

I was looking forward to meeting him tomorrow.

“And now…” Ben sighed. “Now he’s into bath bombs and chalk.”

I chuckled—wait, chalk? “Chalk?” I’d heard about the bath bombs, and I’d actually read up on it. Because every now and then, in between reels of bar food and sports, I sometimes saw those videos pop up on Facebook. Bath bombs being taken apart, sparkly fingernails clicking against glass, people cutting soap of all things…

It was a whole thing where visuals and sometimes primarily sounds gave off pleasing vibes for viewers.

Ben laughed through his nose and nodded with a dip of his chin. “Yeah, that’s the latest. He orders blocks of gym chalk online and breaks it apart in his videos. Can you fuckin’ believe it? His last one got four hundred thousand views.”

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