Page 28 of Meet Me In Central Park

‘I am starting to accept that I’ll never know if there’s anything I could have done to change what happened and that the accident wasn’t my fault.’ I’d never have dreamt I could say that and really believe it, but I did.

‘And what about what happened afterwards, with the court case for that worthless piece of—’ Aunt Dottie didn’t finish the sentence, but she didn’t have to. I knew exactly what she thought of Grant Bailey and it was spot on.

‘That’s a bit more difficult to accept. I still feel like I could have done more.’

‘Not according to your grandparents.’ Dottie shook her head. ‘You weren’t the judge and you didn’t write the laws. None of it is your fault. But even if all of it was down to you, making decisions for the future, because you want to punish yourself for the past, might be the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.’

‘That’s what I like about you.’ I couldn’t help laughing. ‘You always give it to me straight.’

‘I’m a little old lady.’ Dottie shrugged, knowing the description had never suited anyone less. ‘And if I can’t say it straight, who else is gonna?’

‘Thank you.’ I squeezed her hand. She’d given me a lot to think about, but she clearly wasn’t done yet.

‘I’ve got the package Ruby sent over for you and I’ll get Brian to drop it off when he comes to pick me up.’ Dottie ran a hand through her stripey hair. ‘Don’t you think the fact she went to all that trouble tells you everything you need to know about what she wants you to do?’

All I could do was nod in response. I’d spent so long telling myself that my grandparents needed me, when it was me who’d needed to hide myself away in their world. I had to give them the space to work out their next steps, as much as I had to decide on mine, and the reasons for leaving New York were fast disappearing.

12

I saw the huge piece of street art, on the wall that was causing all the problems, from the end of the street.

‘Wow, did one of you guys paint this?’ I stood next to DeShawn, who shook his head.

‘I wish.’

‘We think it’s a Parsy! Isn’t it great?’ Abbie said as she came over with Karly. George and Olly – Karly’s pugs – were trotting behind.

‘It definitely looks the same style as the one under the arch in Central Park.’ It was like a depiction of the last supper, but everyone sitting around the table represented someone who used the Community Center, from lone parents, holding sleeping children, to elderly people, and even someone holding a paintbrush. I didn’t recognise any of the faces, but it captured perfectly what the place was about. If Parsy was just an anonymous artist, somehow he’d got the inside track.

‘He usually tweets a picture, if it’s one of his, and claims responsibility for it.’ Abbie glanced down at her phone for about the tenth time since we’d started talking. ‘If he does, it might be enough to save the Community Center on its own.’

‘I’m really trying not to pin all my hopes on this. But, if it is confirmed as a Parsy, we’d be able to auction the wall off. Which means not only could we make the area safe, and get the electrics done, but we might even be able to extend the building into this space.’ Karly couldn’t stop smiling, and I was already desperate to get my phone out and start checking Twitter too.

‘You’re right, let’s try not to get ahead of ourselves, until we know for sure.’ Paula was the voice of reason, but I so wanted Karly to be right. I just hoped it wasn’t all too good to be true.

‘What’s going on? What are we missing?’ Dannie walked up behind us, followed by Rob and Harry. They were wheeling the street food cart that Rob had borrowed from a friend, who, according to Dannie, usually ran it down by Battery Park, but was away visiting family for the holidays.

‘We think it might be a Parsy.’ Karly was grinning again.

‘But how?’ Rob looked at his sister. ‘How did no one see him do it?’

‘I don’t know. But, if it really is his, it could save this place.’ Karly picked up one of the pugs. ‘What do you think, Olly, is it the real deal?’

‘Oh my God! It is, it is, it’s one of his!’ For a moment I actually thought the pug had gained the power of speech, but then I nearly got knocked off my feet by Abbie, who was running around high fiving everyone in turn. ‘It’s just come up on his Twitter feed, it’s definitely a Parsy!’

‘It’s such good news, isn’t it?’ I finally managed to speak to Harry when then celebrations started to die down. It still seemed almost impossible to believe that a Parsy had appeared on the wall overnight. But it was there in front of us and the more I looked at it, the more beautiful I realised it was.

‘It is. I’m so pleased for Karly, and everyone else who relies on the Community Center.’ He smiled, but there were dark circles under his eyes.

‘So how did it go last night?’ I waited for an answer, and he looked at me blankly for a moment. ‘The tour, and the other stuff you had to do?’

‘It was good. I got a great tip from the family I showed around. Although it’s like small change compared to a Parsy.’ He smiled again, taking my hand in his and giving it a squeeze. I noticed there were flecks of different coloured paint on his sleeve. He saw me looking and added, ‘And the other stuff was for the book. I don’t want to tell everyone else yet, but I’ve had some interest from one of the agents I approached. They think they can find a publisher for it, but they want to see some more illustrations first, so I spent a lot of last night doing those.’

‘That’s great.’ I put my arms around his neck, all the good news making me forget about keeping things low key in front of the others.

‘Much as I hate to interrupt this, I need to borrow Libby to help set up the stall. Abbie’s just retweeted the Parsy, and told the whole world about the art jam, so we better get ready to serve the world too.’ Dannie virtually dragged me away from Harry, pushing him in DeShawn’s direction at the same time. ‘Well, chicken, you kept quiet about how serious you two have been getting!’

‘I wouldn’t say serious.’ I tried my best to look casual, but I had a horrible feeling I had the same sort of look on my face that Madison had been wearing for the last couple of weeks.

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