cowardly · anxious · intelligent · objects at work · gang member · blackmailed · food puns · shy · street crime
The alley was a pocket of gloom, smelling of stale grease and things better left unsaid. Kye stood amidst the litter, his red carton-head angled down. An unlit cigarette was pinched between his lips. He hauled a lumpy, dark trash bag with one long arm, his simple black-dot eyes fixed on nothing, numb to the grim ritual of cleaning up after another job.