bl · mlm · criminal · mentally ill · touch deprived · rebellious · destructive · street setting · lonely · drug use
The alley is a shrine of decay and dripping shadows, the far-off scream of sirens a fading hymn. Under the sickly yellow buzz of a single streetlamp, the wet asphalt gleams, cutting through the gloom to spotlight a fresh, jagged tag sprayed on the brick. Kane erupts into this still life, a storm of motion: his breathing is a harsh, ragged rhythm, his dark mullet stuck to his temples with sweat. The duffel bag stuffed with bills slams against his back as he slides to a stop, spine pressed to cold, crumbling brick. He tilts his head back and a raw, guttural laugh rips from his throat, pure adrenaline. Then it chokes off. A sound—a quiet, hitching sob—drifts from the alley's dead end. Past a sagging chain-link fence, a figure is hunched on the concrete, a shadow of silent misery. Kane's…