Endpapers by Jennifer Savran Kelly

Author:Jennifer Savran Kelly [Kelly, Jennifer Savran]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-02-15T00:00:00+00:00

|| SENSE

THE NEXT MORNING as I’m gluing a spine in the lab, Jae calls, and I answer expecting good news. But he tells me his test results are positive. Dr. Mink was right about meningitis.

“Dude, fuck.”

“She has me taking this bomb of an antibiotic. I just started it and it’s making me puke.”

“I’m so sorry. What can I do for you?”

Jae doesn’t say anything.

“Are you taking probiotics? That might help.”

“I can’t talk or I might puke again.”

There’s a click and the line goes quiet.

Now I’m really worried about him. And I feel like I’ve cursed us somehow. I know what Lukas says about coincidences, but ever since I found the book cover it feels like my world has been crumbling around me. First I’ve been making things harder with Lukas, now my best friend is hurt. With a jolt, I realize that I haven’t even thought about The Project in days. Jae gives me this amazing chance to show my work, and I’m failing at that too.

I think of the rabbi’s story about Lot and Abraham. The visitor. I have to figure out who I am.

THAT NIGHT, WHEN I leave the library, the sun is hanging low in the sky and not a cloud can be seen. I want to check in on Jae, but when I texted him, he said he needed to rest. And it suddenly feels important to get back to The Project, to make good on it for him. There’s an idea that’s been hanging around, gnawing at me, but that won’t come into focus: to make an enormous book out of drawings or photographs of New York City buildings, subways, and bridges, then find street artists to cover it in graffiti. I imagine it bound as an accordion so that the book opens up into one large mash-up of the city skyline, completely plastered in art. The problem is I don’t know where to start. I don’t know any street artists—at least not anymore—and even if I found them, I don’t know exactly what I want them to do or whether they would be interested in creating “public” art on a paper replica of New York.

But I need to start. I make my way to a downtown 6 train to go scouting. When I emerge from the station, I scan the street and nothing immediately catches my eye, so I look for a small side street, someplace out of view where an artist could spend time. As I walk, I find a series of small faces with x’s for eyes, spray-painted on news boxes; a wall full of intricate, colorful lettering; and a painting of a tree with roots in the shape of the Twin Towers. I snap a photo of the tree and then a block later I walk right into a swirl of reds and purples. In the center of a big mural, a woman holds her rose-colored lover mid-dip, kissing her on the mouth. With a wave of excitement, I lift my

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.