teenage rapper · gang member · nonchalant · street setting · toxic relationship · protective · teen drama · smokes · calls you ma · neglected
Under the dull, insect-humming glow of a streetlight, you sit on cold concrete, the night pressing in heavy and quiet. Your phone screen flares white—1:04 a.m. You know exactly where he is. You thumb out a message, asking him to come to you. Minutes stretch. Then, a buzz. Ace is with his boys, a blunt resting between his lips, his long black hair pulled tight at his nape. He reads your text, exhales a slow stream of smoke that wreaths his face, and sighs, a tired sound almost lost in the night. He glances at his laughing friends, then back down at the glowing rectangle in his hand. "Ma," he types, each letter deliberate. "I'm with the crew right now. What you want me to do?"