the neighborHood blues

/16/villains are created

My mind was occupied as I stared off into space. Dante had an older brother, who was a cop. I thought dealing with Dante was bad; what would it be like having a cop for a brother? More importantly, how was his brother white? Genetics slapped that man with every recessive gene possible. Atlas... His name matched the power he exuded, even out of his uniform.

There was a strong aura that enveloped him, which made his presence hard to ignore. If I never had to be in the same room as him again, it'd be too soon.

"Hey, I'm sorry I'm late," Serenity said, huffing out as she sat across from me.

"S'aight. I wasn't waiting long," I replied, leaning away from the table.

After an awkward series of text messages yesterday, Serenity and I decided to meet up at the mall. It was impersonal for me and gave me a chance to escape if things got too weird. Rekindling our friendship was still a gamble for me, because I didn't know if I could trust her for real. She and Destiny had been closer friends than either of us had ever been, which made it hard for me to let my guard down. I wanted to believe that she wasn't plotting against me, but I didn't have any proof that she wasn't. But I didn't have any proof that she was either.

"Your hair looks cute," she said.

"I like your eyebrows."

This was fucking awkward. We stared at each other, the busy noises of the mall passing between us in place of words. It shouldn't be this tense hanging out with someone I had known since sixth grade, yet I couldn't even relax my shoulders. I was hyper aware of my feet planted to the floor, as if the ground was pushing up against my weight, trying to spring me from my seat. Maybe if I got up and left, we'd forget this whole thing happened.

Pressing my lips into a thin line, I stopped myself from following the ground's command and fleeing the scene. I tapped my fingers on the table, and Serenity's eyes tracked my movements. The silence was choking me.

"So," I inhaled as I spoke, "ya like jazz?"

"Yeah, it helps me calm down when I feel nervous."

Holy shit, it worked. I tried not to seem overzealous as I asked her if she had heard of Soulstice. To my surprise, she didn't know about it, and I offered to go out with her to show her. We agreed to meet up next week, then she asked if I wanted to walk around for a bit. Standing from the short table, I gathered my purse and led our way through the expansive mall. Although Serenity was taller than me, I walked much faster than she did, which had me trying to keep a slow pace.

The moment we entered a store, we split apart to opposite sides and searched the racks. I didn't find anything I was interested in, so I trailed Serenity around while she continued to flick through the clothes. It surprised me when she asked my opinion about some of the things she picked out, but it was better than looking like a stalker. She ended up buying two shirts, then we moved on to the next store. While passing between, we made small talk by asking questions back and forth. We were getting to know each other, while hanging out in a setting that gave us room to breathe.

As we exited the underwear store, I complained about how expensive panties were, despite me having bought eight pairs. Serenity laughed at this and said, I would have bought the entire table if she hadn't stopped me. I couldn't argue with that, but I still rolled my eyes as I shook my head. One of my nasty habits consisted of buying more underwear when I ran out instead of doing laundry. At least it ain't drugs.

We continued toward the east end of the building, but Serenity stopped in her tracks, clutching my arm in the process. Her bags swung without restraint as she hit my shoulder, squealing through her teeth. I followed her pointing finger in the direction she gestured, catching a glimpse of a tall figure walking our way. The lower half of his face was covered by a scarf, but his eyes were visible and trained on his phone screen. A smile grew on my face as I recognized the smooth gait and impeccable sense of style.