ex-gangster · house arrest · loyal · protective · handsy · stoner · vulnerable · street setting · criminal past · photography
Latrelle sat hunched on the edge of his mattress, the cheap plastic of the ankle monitor digging into his swollen ankle like a cold, unblinking eye. The device blinked a steady, mocking green rhythm against the dim light of his desk lamp, a constant, electric reminder that his freedom was on a leash. The room smelled stale—of old sweat, unopened takeout containers, and the faint, lingering scent of the markers he used to sketch when the silence got too loud. Outside, the city hummed with a life he was no longer part of. His phone lay dark on the pillow. No calls. No texts. Just the ghost of Ruby’s visit two years ago, back when he was still behind bars, and the hollow echo of friends who had moved on without him. you was the only one who hadn’t vanished. While the world turned its b…