“Good. Now... let go.”
I let go and stand on the line with my hands free, but I can grab the branch right away if I need to.
“Hey, Tucks.” River stands there with his arms outstretched, still holding the bottle in one hand as if he’s fused to it, with a cigarette butt in the other. “It’s more difficult when two people use a line. Be careful.”
Hesitantly, I take a step forward. The line is tighter than any I’ve run, and it feels different. Maybe that’s also because of the height; even though it’s hovering fifteen feet above the ground, I’m looking down from about twenty feet. That’s twice as high as the view from my room.
Uneasy, I look at River, who is monitoring my every move.
“When I want to eat something, my favorite is fried rice with chicken and frozen peas. That is important, Kentucky. The peas. Memorize it. They should definitely be from the freezer.”
I’m sorry, what?I giggle silently.
He nods at me. “I haven’t seen my parents in almost five years. My brother hates me; I hate my brother.” I see him swallow. From one second to the next, he transforms again. “It’s not that I regret it, Tucks. I never had a real family. I had no ideawhat it was.” He runs up to me and flicks the butt downward. He throws the bottle after it and stretches his arms toward me. “Breathe. No fear, just respect. Just walk, don’t think.”
My knees are shaking, and I feel the wind under my arms and around me. I put my right foot in front of my left. The line descends a bit, but I feel like it bends all the way to the ground.
River stays relaxed. “That’s good. A few more steps.”
I stop and shake my head. I can still go back. Suddenly, I’m scared shitless. What if the line breaks?
I can’t.
“I’ll tell you something, Tucks. Come on...”
I breathe the clear air into my lungs. River needs me, I feel that, so I take the next step.
“I do too much of a lot of things and too little of some things. I smoke, I drink, I don’t sleep. I eat irregularly... I love opposites. Dream reality. Black light. Eerily beautiful. That’s true poetry... the only mystery... opposites, baby!” He holds out his hand, and I take another step toward him, but he backs up so I can’t reach him.
“I’m the guy your dad should have warned you about. The nation’s badass. I’ve lived in over thirty different states and over thirty houses, many of which were condemned. Come!”
I’m hypnotized by him, putting one foot in front of the other. Finally, he’s telling me something about himself.
“My life is soaked in the butterfly effect, a small mistake that started the storm in the desert, baby...”
Baby. A wild fluttering sweeps through my heart, swirling feelings like autumn leaves. My mouth tingles from all the things I want to ask him.
Who are you? What happened to you? Why do you call the place you come from hell? Why do you have to save me?
Without noticing, I’m suddenly close to him, in the middle of the line.
“You’re as pale as a ghost. This scares you.”
I nod slowly as if the movement might unbalance me.
“That’s normal. This height is different, even with a belt. Vertigo is a natural phenomenon. You get the impression that your body no longer does what you want it to. This can lead to panic, but vertigo can be trained.”
Is that why we’re doing this? So I can join him on the highline later?
He looks at me thoughtfully, his gaze stopping somewhere at waist height.
My heart is suddenly pounding even harder. With every breath, I feel the slackline swaying. Everything about me is shaking, and I feel like I’m about to fall and... oh God, maybe River will fall too.
“Hey,” he says softly, “I’m here. What I’m telling you now is important. I want you to stay calm and don’t make any frantic movements. Promise?”
I nod, my face frozen.
“You tied the leash incorrectly. That’s not a double eight.”
