linked

“You scared to climb?” James called back. 

“My dad says I can’t climb fences that are locked off. I’m not supposed to. Ever.” 

Their eyes locked in for a moment. Although they shared names, they shared schools, they shared friends, and favorite tv shows, and even the same street in their address line, the magnitude of the barrier that still divided them was now represented in this chain link fence. 

James now second guessed his assumption of safety in his actions. Having just hopped the locked gate, his encouragement fell back into his throat as he sensed his friend’s heightened hesitancy. 

“I want you to come with me.” 

“Me too. But I told you, I can’t climb over. I’m just not allowed,” his friend called back, his brown fists stuffing themselves into his pockets.

“Ever?”

His friend shook his head.

“So what do we do?” James called back, his peachy palms pressing up against the cold metal links.

“We find a way to take the fence down.”

-b 

June 8, 2020

Photo credit: Calvin Ma