lemonade | ethan

twenty one

devon's pov

i remember thinking about how crazy this all was. what made me feel the worse about it, was i wasn't even surprised. i felt a sense of disbelief for only a split second. but throughout it all, something deep down in me, i knew it would end up being a south sider.

my mind kept telling me it could be anybody. to not be biased. but what clayton said was right that night. no north sider would steal money they already had.

and i hated that i thought this way. i absolutely did. but i just couldn't help it for the life of me. i grew up with this lifestyle.

"what're you thinking about?" ethan asks, as we walk side by side to his car. we walk slowly, in an empty parking lot. it was noon, sunny yet cloudy, the air was bland.

ethan knew how shook up about this i was. i guess i just needed time to take it all in. he asked if i wanted to skip school and i couldn't pass up on that offer.

i shrug, my arms feeling the warmth of his skin as it rubbed against it. "sonny."

i watched as ethan went from previously looking at me to looking away slowly. his head hung low, like he was disappointed in sonny for doing such a thing.

"i can explain." sonny says, a scared look on his face. ethan urges him to go on, without saying a word.

he sighs, pulling at his hair. "i saw the money that night... and i immediately knew i had to have it." he explains.

"i'm a poor kid with a sick mom and an older brother who's in prison." he says. "in my family, i'm the only one who can provide. but it's impossible in this shit hole town."

he shook his head slowly, his chest heaving up and down from feeling like his heart was going to explode. he rubbed his eyes in frustration, but i knew at that moment... he was crying.

"my mom is dying and she still can't help but be so disappointed in me." he says, his voice shaking.

i watch as ethan goes up to him, embracing him in a hug. sonny furrows his eyebrows in frustration, gripping onto that hug like it meant everything.

"i needed to pay for medicine. to keep my mom alive." his voice cracks.

ethan shakes his head. "this is not how you do it, sonny."

i glance at the money, looking back and fourth and it and sonny. "where's the rest of it?" i asked in a low voice.

ethan looked back at me, confused. he looked at the money noticing it was merely half of the money.

sonny sniffed. "luis has some." he explains.

ethan looked surprised. "luis?"

sonny nods. "he came up with the idea. said he was doing it for mom."

"he wasn't." i interrupted. when i walked into the house, luis stood back to hold the door open for us.

"how do you know?" ethan asks.

"because of his shoes." i say. luis was wearing shoes in the house. sonny isn't, which tells me they're family usually doesn't.