Page 10 of Paint Eater
When he finally moved to take pictures, he’d been still for so long that everyone but Jay had forgotten him. He crouched and took candid after candid of the people talking and eating in front of the mural, a community affected but resisting. Living.
When Logan finished, he stood, talking soberly with an older woman by the mural. She nodded and smiled softly, patting his cheek before they parted. Jay had finished his food and was holding onto Logan’s plate, handing it over as they excused themselves from the gathering and left. Logan ate slowly as they walked, bypassing the subway stop Jay knew they needed to take and onto the next one.
“Good, huh?” Jay prompted.
Logan nodded, finishing his food and throwing the remains into a nearby trash can. “Yeah.”
They were mostly silent as they made the long subway trek to Queens. The train car was packed, and Logan and Jay stood tucked into the corner, swaying with the ride. Jay tried to be subtle in his staring, but Logan seemed too caught up in his thoughts to notice. So stare he did, looking at the curve of his biceps as he held the pole. The way he pushed back his broad shoulders against the train’s bulkhead, making his shirt stretch across his chest. Jay stood between him and the rest of the train, and he wondered what it would be like to take a step closer. To push a little more into that heat, to have Logan look up with his dark eyes, surprised and willing, parting his mouth, how warm his lips would be in the air-conditioned car.
He was so distracted they almost missed their stop, but Jay managed to catch it in time, pulling Logan along.
“Welcome to Elmhurst,” Jay said. Logan, despite living in New York all his life, had said he’d never been to that neighbourhood before—that he rarely went to Queens, which had made Jay scoff.
“You’re such a Manhattan boy. I’m gonna show you some Thai food that’ll blow your mind.”
They walked down one of the many, many Broadway Streets in New York until they reached a Northern Thai restaurant. The art inside was cool enough, colourful women singing and moving, adding life to the fragrant room. The outside, though, was amazing—an optical illusion that stretched onto the pavement, looking as if you could fall right through. The walls themselves looked like they were holding life-sized, robotic dolls, their wide eyes staring out, heads tilted, expressions surprised.
There was already a couple trying to take selfies against the wall. Jay offered to take the picture for them, and they agreed laughingly, thanking him.
Once they were gone, Jay turned to Logan. “Better hurry. This might not be a tourist attraction, but anybody who passes is gonna want some pics.”
Jay left Logan to it, only jumping in when it was apparent Logan was about to wrap up, standing beside one of the painted dolls and mimicking her posture. Logan snorted and played along, taking a few shots until Jay broke his pose.
“Okay, since we’re here, wehaveto try some Thai food. There’s a park nearby; if you want, we can hang there until we get hungry?”
“Sure.”
Jay smiled, relieved. Logan seemed to be enjoying himself, expression light despite the heat and the tiredness.
They settled in one of the few pieces of shade left unoccupied once they got to the park, Jay sprawling out without caring about the dirt. There was a breeze like a sigh of relief brushing across them, and Jay closed his eyes, letting the moment sink in. His feet were sore and hot, the sweat cooling on his skin itchy, his hairline damp, but somehow everything felt utterly perfect.
Jay opened his eyes and caught Logan looking at him. A jolt went through him, more at the guilty way Logan’s eyes quickly averted than at the fact that he’d been staring in the first place, although that, too, made his hands clench for a moment, confused as to what, exactly, they wanted to do.
“Have you photographed much before?” Jay asked after a moment of silence. He watched Logan relax as if he’d been waiting for Jay to call him out for staring.
“Not really.”
“Do you like it?”
Logan was silent for a moment. “Yeah. But it’s kind of…I like the pictures of the church mural, but there’s something a little weird about just taking pictures of someone else’s art.”
Jay hummed thoughtfully. “Yeah, I get what you mean, actually. Some action shots would be cool. You got some today, though—with the kids and the barbecue.”
“Yeah. It’d be cool to get more of that. Or people actually in the process of painting. Something like that.”
“I was actually gonna do a piece on Tuesday night if you wanna tag along.”
Logan looked at him for a moment. “On the street, or…?”
“Yeah, like a graffiti piece. Not exactly sanctioned so…I don’t wanna get you into trouble.”
Logan tsked. “It’s fine. That’d be cool.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. If you don’t mind.”
“No, that’d be cool!”
