1 | Almost Happy ▷ Sam Wilson | ✓

35 - PUT YOUR RECORDS ON

SAM DIDN'T EXPECT TO SEE NICKY GREEN. He shouldn't have been that surprised, though, considering most of the seniors had ditched class that day; their official ditch day had been revoked, so they had all decided that to collectively leave school, though some had to stay for various reasons, but most had decided to leave, either heading off in groups to have fun or choosing to stay at home and relax.

He had decided to go to New York City for a bit, get out of Harlem—he just needed a break from his siblings, just for a bit. He decided to head to one of the parks, since it was early enough that most people would be at work, but late enough that the last early joggers and dog walkers would be gone, which mean thtat he could be alone; he didn't really like people staring at him when he played with the birds, it made him feel uneasy.

His dad used to take him there sometimes, because he liked that it looked out towards the rivers, and apparently Sam used to like it because the birds would play with him, so he figured maybe they still would.

He was extremely happy to see that it was basically deserted, save for a few people who didn't seem to pay him any mind, and he honestly couldn't believe his luck. As he made his way along the path towards the central area, he heard the faint sound of music.

Raising his eyebrows, he continued to walk, wondering where the music was coming from, finding that he was getting closer and closer to it. He paused when he heard some birds chirping, and he moved to stand under the tree, calling towards it.

The bird looked at him for a moment, as if confused by his existence, but decided that it wouldn't do any harm to trust him. So the bird flew down and sat on Sam's shoulder, and Sam continued to walk.

He was reminded of Redwing at that instance, and he sighed as he remembered the day he had finally nursed the hawk back to full health and released him. He had cried for days after that, much more than he had when his grandparents had died, and it was a close second and third to how hard he had cried when his parents had died.

Pushing the thoughts out of his mind, he just chatted with the bird, using English, telling it about his day and his plans and how it scared him that he was going to go into the Air Force, since his siblings couldn't afford to put him through college.

He slowed down as the music became louder, looking around and finding that he was much farther into the park, the trees blocking view of any buildings nearby and the shade and darkness above providing a cover.

"You wanna be my lookout?" he asked the bird, turning to look at it. The bird just tilted its head, not moving. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "Freeloader."

The music was clear as day at this point and he listened closely, finding that he was enjoying the playlist the person had put together, which made him all the more determined to find this person, because if they were dancing, he wanted in.

He continued to search as he continued along the path, drawing closer and closer to the central area, when he caught sight of movement a distance away, hidden from sight by a gathering of trees and the shade they provided, out of the way and scope of nearly all who passed by.

If Sam hadn't been actively searching, he wouldn't even have caught the music coming from there.

He didn't want to just march over and scare the person, but he also did want to see what they were up to, as he couldn't get quite as good of a look as he wanted.

He looked around, trying to think, when he remembered the bird on his shoulder. Looking around, he found a climbable tree close enough to the source of the music that he would be able to see, but just far enough that he, hopefully, wouldn't be caught.