BYFA

Donnell Bonaparte, Jr.

New Beginnings

As Logan was riding through the city on his morning bike ride, he stopped on the side of the road to reattach his bike chain, which had come loose. “Must have been riding too fast,” he murmured to himself. As he looked down at the bike chain, a loud honk made him look back up to see what was going on. As he squinted to see across the street, he saw a car swerving in and out of the lanes. He spotted a man in the middle of the street near the car. He yelled “Hey! Get out of the way.” The older man in the street ignored him. Logan then paused to notice ripped clothes, one shoe, and a long beard on the man in the street. “He must be homeless,” Logan thought.

Ignoring the honking, the man continued to slide across the street, never even looking back to notice the car. Even Logan’s yelling didn’t catch his attention. As the man reached the sidewalk, he continued to the concrete wall on the side of a building. His hand slid up the wall, touching the graffiti on it. He then whispered, “Beautiful.” Logan was still confused as he stared from across the street. A subtle smile suddenly appears on his face, then he continues to fix the chain on his bike.

Another man holding a can of spray paint walked across the street with a bag of McDonald’s fries. He then stood behind the homeless man and asked, “How does it look?” The homeless man quickly turned around. “Amazing. Is this yours, my friend?”

“Yup,” he said coolly. “Just finished it an hour ago. Took me about two hours to do it.” The homeless man continued to stare at the wall, smiling. “I wish I could do something like this, there’s so much talent in this.”

“Well, why don't you give it a whirl? I found another open spot just down the road, my supplies are in the truck, so give it a shot.” The homeless man stared back at him and took a step closer. “You sure?” “Look, why wouldn't I be sure if I was offering?” The painter wrapped his arm across the homeless man’s shoulder.

They both then walked across the street to the open spot.