Aidan pocketed the phone and climbed on the bicycle again. As he approached the wooden pier, the crowd got denser, so he dragged his stare from the bay to the lane ahead of him, swerving around infants, dogs, and other bikes. The annual musical festival turned the usually busy boardwalk into a bustling congregation of people. During the day, people could go wall climbing, skate boarding, and bicycling. At night, the proper festival showcased local as well as international talents. He had heard good things about the festival’s headliner, a rapper from Floripa who was making waves in the Brazilian musical scene. He was curious to check the young man’s work later in theevening.
After returning the bicycle, he glanced at his phone and realized he still had to wait another three to four hours for the concerts to start. He should try one of the other activities. He would not be able to stand on a skateboard even if his life depended on that, so that was out of the question. Wall climbing it wasthen.
It should befun.
Finding the area wasn’t difficult with the fake wall structure towering over the pier. He approached a table and asked the volunteer sitting behind it, “Do you speak English? My Portuguese is still non-existent.”
“Sure. How can I help you,sir?”
At twenty-two, that title sounded inaccurate, but the volunteer didn’t look a day older than fifteen, so Aidan didn’t correct him. “Where do I sign for wallclimbing?”
“How many in yourparty?”
“Party ofone.”
“Oh, that’s fine. The reason we ask is because the climbing is actually a competition between two contestants. When people come in groups, we ask them to sort out who’s going against whom. We don’t want to be breaking up any friendships,” heexplained.
“I hear you.” Aidan grinned. “Smartmove.”
The volunteer handed Aidan a form on a clipboard and a pen. “If you could go ahead and fill this one out for me, I’d appreciateit.”
Aidan skimmed the English version of a standard waiver form stating he was aware of the dangers involved in the activity and would not seek monetary compensation from, or engage in any other legal action against the company, in case of an accident. He signed on the dotted line and rubbed his hands. “What’snext?”
“Just go ahead and join that group.” The volunteer pointed to the almost two dozen people gathered around the climbing wall. “One of the instructors will guide you through theprocess.”
Aidan did and found out the process consisted of waiting his turn until someone willing to climb didn’t have a partner with whom to share the adventure. Among the Brazilians, he overheard some people speaking in other languages. Two tall Americans drew his attention as the younger did his best to convince the older one to climb withhim.
“Afraid of heights, Big T? I never pegged you for the cowardtype.”
“You’ve got some nerve there, Baby Face. I don’t feel like kicking your sorry ass in wall climbing today. That’sall.”
“Maybe, you just don’t want to admit age is finally getting to you. After all, you’re almostforty.”
“Not even thirty-nine.”
“Samedifference.”
“You’re not that much younger, so cut thecrap.”
They laughed, and the younger one glanced about as if searching for a partner in crime. His stare zeroed in on Aidan, who smiled and nodded. The American dipped his head and waved for Aidan to jointhem.
“Hey.” Aidan accepted the silent invitation. “Looking for a partner to climb thewall?”
“Yep. You up forit?”
“I’d love to. I’m Aidan Gallagher, by theway.”
“Noah Cartwright,” the American replied, shaking Aidan’s outstretched hand. “This is my former friend Tristan Knight, the traitor. He agreed to doing this only to get cold feet when he checked the wall upclose.”
“Hey, what’s up?” Tristan also shook Aidan’s hand. “Don’t listen to the goofball. He’s got it backwards. I don’t feel like doing this. I’m glad you want to, though. Noah has been nagging me about climbing the fucking wall for the last hour orso.”
“Let’s do this.” Aidan gestured for Noah to follow him as he searched for aninstructor.
A woman with pink hair, and body covered in colorful tattoos, showed them to the preparationarea.
Noah flashed a wide smile at the older woman and said something in Portuguese that went way over Aidan’s head. A streak of pink cut the air as she shook her head and replied, handing him the safety equipment. A crestfallen Noah drooped his shoulders and began to fuss with thestraps.
Aidan was halfway through adjusting his harness, but watched the exchange with curiosity and amusement, even though he got lost in thetranslation.
