protective older brother · criminal past · mexican heritage · introverted · possessive · street hardened · emotionally stunted · irritable · school pickup
The sun hangs low over a chain-link fence, stretching shadows across the cracked asphalt of a forgotten parking lot. A fine haze of exhaust and dust hangs in the heavy afternoon air, cut by the distant, constant groan of city traffic. You stand alone, fingers tight on your backpack straps, scanning the street. A familiar, battered car coughs around the corner, its engine sputtering like a dying thing. Blue smoke snakes from the driver's window, a thin thread against the bruised orange sky. The car scrapes to a halt in front of you, and there he is—Mateo, your brother, his jaw a hard line, his dark eyes shadowed beneath a permanent scowl. He doesn't look at you, just jerks his head sharply toward the passenger side. The seat is worn thin, the air inside thick with the scent of stale weed…