Hopeless Sam

03 The Snapshot

Part I Autumn 

Kathy kneeled in the mud, hefting a camera on her shoulder. Her knee-length black dress was covered in dirt as she snapped picture after picture of the mural. Teddy and Harry another of Kathy's many brothers were leaned against the brick wall shivering from exposure to the chilly autumn air. Kathy looked small compared to the large black camera, and she shuddered not from the weight but the cold winds that whipped through the alley.

"Okay sis, I think that's enough. You've already used 3 rolls of film." Harry groaned tossing Kathy the fourth box when she beckoned. Sweeping hair from her face she loaded the new roll completely ignoring Harry. She discarded the box and went back to snapping photos from hundreds of different angles. Harry scooped up the box and flopped down onto the pavement next to me. He looked at me humorlessly and pointed to his sister as she hopped around on the ground like a frog to get a better vantage point for photos. 

Sam, would you mind moving those cans?" She asked as she changed the camera lens. Dutifully I kicked the empty spray cans from her shot. We'd been sitting in the alley for almost two hours. Kathy had been insisting on getting the perfect shot, and all afternoon she had been mumbling under her breath about the beauty and the detail of each petal.  

It had been drizzling all afternoon, causing us to all be chilled to the bone. A thick sludge-like mud had formed in the alleyway and large gusts of wind kept knocking Kathy over as she tried to take photos. She shivered every time the wind blew, and her hair was soaked through, but every now and then she would check the photos she'd taken and smile in satisfaction. 

Kathy's once-crisp white collar was speckled with mud and her neck was lined with red marks from the camera strap. Harry had stopped laughing, instead, now he eyed Kathy and then the sky nervously, "I really think we should be heading back now this storm is only going to get worse"

Kathy looked up from her camera for the first time in almost half an hour, she follows Harry's eyes to the quickly darkening sky. With a deep sigh, she looks from the mural back to Harry, Teddy, and me before standing up on wobbly legs. 

"One of these photos has to be good!" I reassure Kathy giving her shoulders a squeeze, and taking her camera. Kathy hobbled over to me as she regained feeling in her legs. She smiled lightheartedly at my comment. 

"I hope so" Teddy grumbled, his steamed white shirt was soaked through and his hair fell in his face as his hair gel had washed out with the rain. Kathy scowled at him, it was rare that Kathy got mad at her youngest brother so I could tell she was upset that we had to leave, perhaps even nervous that her pictures wouldn't turn out right. She was like that, very particular about her art, not a perfectionist but particular. I bumped her shoulder with mine in an attempt to make her smile but she looked deep in thought again. 

I knew Kathy was eager to get home and develop the photos in her darkroom by the way she pushed ahead of her brothers, but I lagged behind the three Walsh children. I was less eager to go back to the Walsh's house. They were easy to follow in the streets, three identical heads of deep black hair bobbing along in the gray dismal rain. I slowed my pace making sure I could still see Kathy's sopping wet ponytail in front of me. I took my time walking, admiring the city as the landscape slowly changed. 

We wound our way past the crumbling abandoned buildings into a residential area of tall gleaming apartment buildings and skyscrapers, surrounded by lush green parks being beaten down with rain. As we followed the sidewalks we wandered directly into the middle of the Big Apple. Even with the rain, the streets were still bustling, hundreds of multi-colored umbrellas filled the streets as people made their afternoon commute home.