run.

he stares at the wet concrete in front of him. his old dirty converse move quickly. the rain lightened up. the bright headlights of a car speed past him on the street. he starts moving quicker. his bony arms shivering and his thicker thighs rubbing against each other. he regrets eating his last meal. the rain starts up again. he can see the drops hit the sidewalk. another car speeds past, splashing a bit of water on him.

he hugs himself, because who else would do it? he can't tell if it's tears running down his cheeks or rain. the yelling is fresh in his mind. his name, Dakota, being screamed through the trashy house over and over. an angered father throws a remote at the tv, his girlfriend throws his food on the dirty carpet. a cycle. they fight, they break up, they make up, they have sex. and Dakota has to hear it all.

the rain gets harder. Dakota's sprinting now. he doesn't know where he's going, he doesn't know why. but he's going. his hair sticks to his face and his fingers are frozen. he's running faster now, running past houses, running past yards he used to play in and trees he used to climb. the rain hits the sidewalk, almost threatening him to fall.

it was all his fault. he was the reason his father cheated on his mother. he was the reason they divorced and he was the reason his father got mad so much. he knew if he went back home, he'd get punished. he could almost hear his father screaming his name through the rain.

his lungs burn. he has to stop running. he isn't used to it. he's used to slow walking and failed skateboard tricks. another car zoomed past him. the rain doesn't stop though, it got heavier. it's definitely tears on his cheeks now. he turns around and walks back in the direction he came.

he hugs himself. no one else would do it for him. he stares at the wet concrete in front of him. his wet converse drag on the sidewalk. and as another car drove past him, Dakota wishes he was in front of it.

but Dakota wasn't in front of the car. he wasn't smashed to the wet asphalt, screaming in pain. he was standing in the pouring rain, staring at a car he's never seen before.

he thinks about what's going to happen when he gets home. Dakota's dad would scream at him for getting water in the house, it wouldn't matter though, the house is dirty already. the water would help. the leftover dinner is probably still on the living room carpet. his girlfriend is probably talking on the phone with a 'friend' from work and smoking a cigarette.

Dakota thinks about his punishment and squeezes his arms around him. he should've grabbed a jacket. if Dakota was punished for no reason, it would be a thousand times worse. now his father has a reason. Dakota looks to his right, into the highway. if he walks for twenty minutes, he could be gone. no school, no shit girlfriend, no online drama, he could get away from it all.

so he runs.