The photograph could have been taken on any warm summer Saturday afternoon in the early 1970s on the Southside of Minneapolis. The sun hung low in the sky, giving the neighborhood that golden glow that always seemed to show up just before evening. The sidewalks were busy with kids riding bikes, mothers carrying grocery bags, and older men leaning against storefront windows talking about the Twins or the Vikings. In the middle of all of it stood Bryan and Alicia.
Alicia had her arm wrapped around Bryan’s shoulders, leaning her head against his like she had done it a thousand times before. They were laughing—really laughing, the kind that came from the stomach and made your eyes squint. Woody had run up and snapped the picture right at that moment. But the story behind that laugh had started much earlier that day.
Bryan had woken up that Saturday morning to the sound of his little brother Michael banging on the bedroom door.
“Man, get up!” Michael shouted. “You said we were gonna ride bikes today!”
Bryan groaned and rolled over.
“What time is it?”
“Almost eight!”
Bryan sat up. The sunlight coming through the thin curtains told him Michael was right. Summer mornings had a way of sneaking up on you.
“All right, all right,” Bryan said. “Give me five minutes.”
Michael ran down the hallway before Bryan even finished the sentence. Bryan stretched and looked out the window of their house on 34th and 5th Avenue. The street already looked alive. A couple kids were dribbling a basketball down the sidewalk, probably heading over to Park Avenue Methodist to play ball, and Mr. Johnson from next door was washing his car with a garden hose. It was going to be a good day.
By noon Bryan had already ridden halfway across the neighborhood at least ten times. He and Michael had raced bikes down Portland Avenue, cut through alleys, and stopped at the Ben Franklin Five and Dime store on 38th and Nicollet for grape sodas and candy.
Later that afternoon Bryan dropped Michael off at home. Michael had been tired from all that riding, but Derrick wasn’t ready to call it a day yet. As he rode down the street to his best friend Eddie’s house, and he saw the familiar group sitting out on the front steps. It was Eddie, Woody, Rhonda, Spencer, and sitting right in the middle of them was Alicia. She wore a….well, it didn’t matter what she was wearing because Bryan thought she was straight up “fine” whatever she wore.
He slowed his bike, trying not to look too excited. Woody spotted him first.
“Well look who decided to show up,” He said said.
Eddie laughed.
“Man been riding around all day hoping Alicia would be here.”
Bryan rolled his eyes.
“Y’all talk too much.”
Alicia smiled. “You been riding bikes all day?”
“Pretty much. Me and my little brother”
She nodded toward the empty space on the steps beside her.
“Well sit down then. You look tired.”
Bryan leaned his bike against the fence and sat down. Marvin Gaye was singing softly in the background. A breeze moved through the park trees, carrying the smell of fresh-cut grass and charcoal grills from somewhere down the block. Alicia nudged Bryan.
“So you gonna come to the talent show next week?”
“Talent show?” Bryan asked.
“Yeah. At King Park.”
Eddie leaned over.
“Alicia’s singing.” Bryan looked at her.
“For real?”
She shrugged casually.
“Maybe.”
Rhonda laughed.
“Don’t let her fool you. She been practicing all week.”
Bryan smiled.
“Well then I guess I gotta come.”
Alicia leaned back against the steps.
“You better.”
As the afternoon drifted toward evening, the conversation between the friends continued to flow. Finally, as the sun was just starting it’s decent in the west, Eddie’s mom called him in to eat, so everyone headed home. Bryan walked with Alicia, which didn’t go un-noticed by the others. He pushed his bike as they walked. They talked as they headed toward her street.
“You nervous about singing?” Bryan asked.
“A little.” Alicia responded.
“You’ll be good.”
“How you know?”
Bryan shrugged.
“Because you always are.”
She looked at him sideways.
“You always say stuff like that.”
“What stuff?”
“Stuff that makes me feel better.”
Bryan laughed.
“Well somebody gotta do it.”
They had almost reached her block when Woody and Spencer came jogging up behind them.
“Hold up!” Woody said.
“What?” Bryan asked.
Woody pulled a small camera from his pocket.
“I almost forgot. My cousin let me borrow this.” Woody grinned.
“He been trying to take pictures all day.”
Alicia laughed.
“Of what?”
“Everything,” Woody said proudly.
“Come on,” Spencer added. “Stand over here.”
Bryan shook his head.
“Man I ain’t posing for no picture.”
“You ain’t posing,” Woody said. “You’re just standing there.”
Alicia suddenly wrapped her arm around Bryan’s shoulders and leaned against him. Bryan looked surprised.
“What you doing?” Woody asked.
“Helping him take a good picture,” she said.
Spencer started laughing.
“Now that’s a picture.” Woody lifted the camera.
“Hold still.”
But Bryan and Alicia were already laughing. Not posing. Not trying to look cool. Just laughing.
Click.
The moment was frozen forever.
Later that night Bryan sat on the front steps of his house. The air had cooled and crickets were starting to chirp. Michael came outside holding two popsicles.
“Here.” Bryan took one.
“Thanks.” Michael sat beside him.
“You see Alicia today?”
Bryan nodded.
“Yeah.”
Michael grinned.
“You like her, don’t you?”
Bryan nudged him.
“Mind your business.”
Michael laughed.
“I’m just saying.”
They sat quietly for a minute watching cars roll slowly down 5th Avenue. Then Michael spoke again.
“You think we’ll always live here?”
Bryan thought about it. About the park.
“I don’t know,” he said finally.
“But I think we’ll always remember it. You always remember home”
A week later the picture came back from the drugstore photo counter. Woody showed it to everyone.
“Y’all gotta see this!” Everyone gathered around. Eddie whistled.
“That’s actually a good picture.”
Alicia laughed when she saw it. Bryan looked embarrassed.
“Man I look crazy.”
“You look happy,” she said.
He looked at the photo again. She was right. They both did. The kind of happiness that only shows up in moments when you aren’t thinking about anything except the people beside you.
Years later the neighborhood would change. Kids would grow up. Some would move away. Some would stay. Stores would close. Buildings would be torn down, but that photograph would stay the same. Two teenagers. Arms around each other. Laughing like the whole world was theirs. And maybe for that one second… it really was.