***Flashback-December 1990. Stacy's family's small apartment in Chicago***
“Joey, I can’t believe your mom let you come visit me all by yourself!” Stacy stared at her friend in shock as he threw his bag over his shoulder and strolled into the tiny apartment, greeting her with a hug.
“Well, how could I leave my girl all alone?” He smiled, looking around the apartment. His heart fell.The apartment hadn’t been cleaned in weeks and he doubted anyone but Stacy would get around to doing it. Dirty dishes lined the square kitchen counters and even cluttered on the coffee table in the small living room. The apartment reeked of cigarette smoke and beer. Joey swallowed the lump in his throat as he tripped over an empty beer bottle, one of many that lay on the floor.
Stacy blushed, suddenly feeling very uncomfortable. She smiled at him, trying to clean up a path for Joey to get through to her closet-sized room. “I’m, I’m sorry. I was supposed to clean today, but I had that photography contest at school and I just….I didn’t….”
Joey smiled, taking her hand in his and leading her to her own room as if he knew the way perfectly.
“That’s okay. You should see my room! Man, it’s like a hurricane went through it. You would be so disgusted Stace, it’s not even funny.” He chuckled, trying to make her feel better.
Stacy laughed, his remedy working, as Joey laid his bag down, taking a seat on Stacy’s twin sized bed.
“So, how did it go anyway?”
Stacy bit her lip in contemplation. “How did what go?”
Joey patted the empty spot on her bed next to him. “The contest silly.”
Stacy’s eyes widened. “Oh! It went great! My teacher let me borrow her camera and I took pictures around the city and I won 3rd place! My collection is up in the library at school!”
Joey’s smile grew wider as he wrapped his arms around Stacy. “Congratulations Stace! I knew you could do it! I knew you were like the most awesome photographer ever! Ever since that day at camp when you saw that guy taking pictures of the plays, from then you were hooked girly! And you are awesome at it!”
Stacy blushed. “Thanks. At least I found something I love to do. I just wish I could do it all the time, get a job or something, ya know? Get out of this damn house.”
Joey’s face dropped. “I’m sorry Stace. But listen, I am here for the weekend, so we are gonna go party it up, go out, do whatever you want to do! I promise.”
Stacy’s eyes lit up! “The whole weekend?! Your mom didn’t tell me that!”
Joey laughed. “It was supposed to be a surprise, did it work?”
Stacy nodded.
“And, I have another surprise for you. Close your eyes.”
Stacy’s eyebrows went up in expectation as she closed her eyes. “What is it?”
Joey pulled out a box wrapped in blue wrapping paper out of his bag, grunting as he set it down on the bed in front of her. “Okay, open them.”
Stacy stared at the box in confusion as Joey motioned for her to open it. She started unwrapping the box carefully.
Joey couldn’t contain his excitement. He started tearing off the wrapping paper himself. “Come on Stace! I am only here for the weekend, open it already!”
Stacy giggled as she finished unwrapping the gift and her eyes widened in shock and she squealed in delight. She opened the box quickly, taking out a professional sized 400-millimeter zoom camera. Joey smiled proudly as she unwrapped the camera from the protective plastic and examined it closely, fiddling with the settings and aiming the lens around the room. After a few minutes she dropped the camera in front of her and hugged Joey tightly, rubbing his back and digging her face into his shoulder. He closed his eyes taking in the scent of berries.
“Joey this is the best gift anyone has ever given me! Thank you so much! I…I don’t know what to say…it’s just so….”
Joey chuckled. “You don’t have to say anything that look on your face told me I was right to buy that for ya sweetie.” He paused, letting the moment set in. “Just promise me you’ll stick with this Stace, never give up your dreams. No matter what.”
Stacy nodded. “I promise. And Joey. You too.”
Joey nodded. “Never.” They broke apart giggling, just happy to be in each other’s company. “Now!” Joey sighed. “Let’s go do something!” He grabbed Stacy’s hand leading her out of the apartment, both ready to take on the world.
Stacy turned the camera on slowly and looked through the shutter. She sighed. It had been two long years since she had even touched the thing, let alone take any pictures. Photography used to be her life. She chuckled sadly. Used to be. Now, the only fun she had was braiding her sister’s hair at six thirty in the morning. She stared at the camera in contemplation.
Steve had trained her to use it properly and she remembered him telling her one-day that the reason she took pictures so well was because that was how she saw life. To her, life was something to capture, a beautiful picture to treasure forever. That was why she had made the choices she had made and followed Joey down to Florida and helped him to pursue what was now his reality.Stacy frowned, putting the camera down and rummaging through the box, looking for spare film. She smiled widely when she found it and placed it in the camera. She threw the camera over her neck and walked outside, aiming the lens and shooting whatever she could.
An hour later Stacy felt more alive than she had before her life had changed and she didn’t want to let it go. Her feet had taken her to the nearby park, a mile away from her home, where she was taking pictures of the children on the swings and the little boys playing catch with their fathers. She smiled, taking in the view in front of her, before finally placing the camera back against her chest and taking a seat on a nearby bench.
“If only I could make a career out of this.” She sighed aloud letting the soft afternoon sun beat down onto her face. Her thoughts were interrupted by a shrill ringing protruding from her pocket. She grunted, lifting the small object out of her pocket and flipping it open.
“Hello?” She sighed into the receiver.
“Hey baby. What are you doing?” Steve ‘s cheerful voice swarmed into her ears.
“Taking pictures.”
Silence.
Stacy frowned. “Steve?”
“Yeah, I’m here. Taking pictures? You mean with your camera?”
Stacy laughed. “Duh.”
“Wow.” Steve took a deep breath. “It’s been awhile hasn’t it?”
Stacy nodded, feeling guilty. “Yeah it has. Too long.”
“You thinkin’ about getting back into it Stace? You know it’s been your dream. You are such an….”
“And how could I do that without any income Steve? Come on….”
“Woah, sorry, didn’t mean to upset you. I just thought maybe it’s time you got back into the swing of things. Speaking of which, what time is it?”
Stacy glanced down at her wrist. “What do you mean what time is it?”
“Aren’t you supposed to be somewhere?”She glanced down at her watch once more. “It’s five o’clock. Not really.”
“Oh, like I don’t know isn’t it time to pick up Annie?”
A light flashed on in Stacy’s head. “OH MY GOD! I completely forgot! OH MY GOD! I am such a horrible person, I didn’t even know, I lost track of time and….”
The sound of Steve’s laughter could be heard from the other end of the phone.
Stacy scrambled to her feet, gathering her camera and taking off towards her house. “Steve, why the hell are you laughing. I am neglecting my little sister!” Her steps quickened as she turned onto the sidewalk of her block.“Probably because I already picked her up.”
Stacy stopped walking and stared at her phone in confusion. “What?” She said out of breath.
“I saw you at the park, so I figured I would pick Annie up for you. She needed some quality time with her uncle Steve anyway.”
Stacy sighed in relief. “Thank you Steve, you are a lifesaver.”
Steve chuckled. “Don’t thank me yet, wait till you see what we’ve been doing.”
Stacy rolled her eyes. “I don’t even want to know.”
