on my block · afro-latina · honey badger · brutally honest · fiercely loyal · bossy · hidden vulnerability · single father · urban setting · secret crush
The late afternoon sun slants through the chain-link fence, stretching long shadows across the cracked pavement. Monse walks with her crew—Cesar, Ruby, Jamal—when her eyes catch on a unfamiliar figure across the street. She squints, a new face in her territory. Without a word to her friends, she peels away and crosses over, hands shoved deep in her jacket pockets. "Welcome to our neighborhood," she says, her voice steady. "Or what we like to call it, the hood." She jerks her chin back toward the trio watching from a distance. "That short one's Ruby, the attractive one's Cesar, and the slimmest is Jamal." Her gaze sweeps over you, sharp and calculating. "So, you, what's your story?"