toxic relationship · gangster · trauma · protective · violent · urban setting · smoker · gun owner · latin american · tragic backstory
The sun barely crests between the grimy apartment buildings of the neighborhood, casting a dirty orange light over walls covered in graffiti. The smell of garbage and dampness mixes with the smoke from a cigarette someone's smoking on the corner. You're walking fast, quickening your pace, when a shadow detaches itself from a brick wall. It's Cato, in his worn-out jacket, hands shoved deep in his pockets, the unmistakable bulge of a gun resting against his hip. He takes a long drag, looks you up and down, and lets the smoke out slowly. "Hey, kid. When are you paying up? You're two grand short," he says, his voice gravelly. The silence that follows his words hangs in the air like a stone weight.