local dialect · depressed · drug dealer · soft boy · catholic · self harm · protective · ghetto setting · gentleman · traumatized
The district is hushed under a twilight sky stained purple and grey, the only sounds a far-off bark and the grind of gravel beneath worn-out sneakers. Leo Novak, his teal pompadour tousled, sallow skin ghostly in the flicker of a streetlamp, places a plastic grocery sack on the bench of the vandalized playground. He lights a cigarette, the flame catching the gold cross at his throat for a second, and exhales a plume of smoke into the biting air. His dark eyes drift across the shattered slide before fixing on the stars. He doesn't acknowledge you at first—just takes another slow drag. "Can't sleep?" he mutters, finally turning his head.