The "Boondock" Kids

*****

"Whoa..." Janet says in awe as the car she sits in passes all different types of buildings, admiring all the flickering lights and the Paris fashion the pedestrians wear. Apparently this guy had his own private accommodation which was a sleek, black Mercedes c-class. They both sit in the back.

"First time in Paris, yes?" Christiano asks. Janet preferred to call her Christian.

She didn't answer.

"Janet."

She turns her head and faces him. "Where we going?"

"To the heart of Paris."

"The Eiffle Tower!" Janet beams. "Christian...I thought we were just going to a bar or something. You really want to treat some ghetto chick you just met at some cheap ass hotel at the restaurant on top of the Eiffle Tower?"

"You are not just some...ghetto chick I met, bella," he says, sounding a little awkward when he speaks the slang, making Janet laugh at his attempt. "There is something about you. How old are you, bella?"

"...how old do you think I am?" She crosses her arms.

He studies her figure and Janet resists her common reflex to slap anyone who had done that. "...eighteen?"

"In three months, but for now? Seventeen." Yes, she had lied to the man at the bar, but hey, she really needed a drink. "You?"

"Twenty."

"Seriously??" The guy had looked young for his age, thanks to his sandy long hair and eyes blue like a lake she used to like swimming in. "Oh."

He shrugs. "I get that a lot."

"Psh. No kidding." Then Janet wondered what was it with her and strangers. She had been attracted to Nash the first time she laid her eyes on him. Christian too, but of course she was playing along. After all.

She was getting free food.

*****

"Janet...damn it..." Trisha sits up in bed, seeing that the other bed next to her is empty, she groans. That wasn't the first time Janet snuck out, and it wasn't the first time Trisha knew she had to find her. She throws her legs out of bed first before standing uo and stretching. She glances at the time on her phone.

10:59. Unbelievable.

She dialls her number and calls her, after six rings, there's a long beep. "Yo! This Lil Janny. I'm busy and shit. Holla at the beep." Beeeeep.

"Janet where in the hell are you? If your daddy finds you gone imma be the one in trouble. Come back, please." She cuts. Then sighs and rubs her eyes, falling back on the bed.

"I can't. Not now," she mumbles into the pillow.

*****

"This is delicious!" Janet says with her mouth full. A nearby table of people give her a disgusted look. "The fuck you lookin' at??"

The woman makes a loud "Hmph! Well I never!" Before waving over a waiter and asking for her bill.

Christiano laughs. "You do not mind what others think of you, do you?"

Janet shrugs one shoulder. That had been the most luxurious restaurant she had ever been taken to, and she realised that her manners weren't top notch. She straightens her posture and begins to chew quietly, looking town at her plate with fresh lobster.

"Most times," she answers. "Worrying about what other people think can really lower a person's self-esteem."

"I bet you never worry about that."