𝙹𝙾𝙰𝙽𝙸𝙴- 𝙲𝙰𝚁𝙻 𝙶𝙰𝙻𝙻𝙰𝙶𝙷𝙴𝚁

𝙷𝙴𝙻𝙴𝙽𝙰

YEARS LATER...

"𝙹𝚘𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚎, 𝚍𝚘𝚕𝚕, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝'𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗' 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎?"

Joanie's mother was semi-conscious on the sofa, curled up with a blanket rested on her knees. The girl waved her off and closed the bathroom door behind her.

She kicked the bathmat aside. Lifting up the rickety floorboard, Joanie pulled out the old biscuit tin and yanked the lid off. Inside, the cash swilled around the hollow bowl. Joanie separated the money she had brought with her into two piles and left half in the tin. She hid it under the floorboards again and carefully replaced the bathmat back where she had found it and flushed the toilet to cover her tracks. Her mother groaned at the disturbance. "Hey, mom?" Joanie buttered some bread she had brought with her and slapped some turkey slices onto it before leaving it in front of Helena. "Where's auntie Paula livin' now?"

Her mother rolled over to face the back of the couch; no answer.

"Right... ok. I'll see you... whenever I see you," Joanie left the house with a huff.

The spring air was welcoming. The young girl, trying hard to push any thoughts of her mother out of her mind, ducked her head into the dusty purple lowrider waiting for her. G-Dog turned his head reluctantly to the side, clearly tired. "I know it's early. I wouldn't have called you if I had any other way of gettin' up there but I don't. Alright?" the girl groaned as the man started the car, holding onto the handle as the rubber tires squeaked across the tarmac.

"It's fine," the man forced through a yawn, "I was up anyway."

"Tatiana again?" Joanie took the blunt G offered her, holding the smoke in for a second before letting it leak from her nose.

"Nah, just couldn't sleep."

☠︎

The car screeched to a stop outside of the juvenile detention unit. Joanie sighed at the sight of Carl sat on the step, smile spreading over her face as she exploded from the car door. "Carl!" Cheap, battered converse smacking against the road, she thundered towards him.

Carl's eyes lit up as he leaped off of the steps, arms held wide as Joanie crashed into them. "You fuckin' stink," the girl complained, scrunching her nose.

"No proper showers, shorty, what you expect?" The girl's eyes widened.

She pulled back, scanning his face. His hair, that used to be straight, was tied into tight cornrows, a durag pulled over the top. His eyes were slightly more sunken in, the tiny bump in the bridge of his nose had gotten bigger; his jaw was more defined, his eyebrows thicker, his skin was paler than ever, his top lip had a thin scar through it. "What the hell happened to you?!" her hands pulled on random parts of his face, shock evident on hers.

"You like it?" Carl's lips turned into his lopsided grin, the one thing that hadn't changed about him.

Joanie laughed, capturing his hand in hers, "c'mon, G's waitin'."

☠︎

Carl was enjoying the sight of the world again, hand dangling out of the passenger side window. Joanie was slumped in the back seat, fast asleep. Carl turned around to check on her, grinning slightly at the sight of her sprawled across the back seat, lay across all three spaces.

"So what's goin' on with you two?" G asked, thumb tapping against the leather of the steering wheel.

Carl scoffed, ignoring the question.

☠︎

"Wake up, c'mon. We're home," Carl pulled Joanie's arm around his shoulder, supporting her weight whilst she woke up. When he finally had somewhere to seat her, he lay her down and kissed her forehead before pulling a blanket over her. He smiled down at her gentle features. He missed being home.