...
it wasn't.
it wasn't a good day.
it wasn't necessarily a bad day, either, but it definitely wasn't the best.
amara began to walk down the street, a grin on her face. she inhaled some smoke from her - racetrack's - cigar, attempting to read the headline as she walked.
a voice called out from somewhere behind her. " 'ey, wait up," he shouted, sprinting up to match her pace. by the time he caught up, he was out of breath, and had to lean on a street lamp. "hi."
amara laughed, stopping so she didn't leave him behind. "hi."
the boy raised a finger to stop her from talking as he caught his breath, head falling down for a second. his hat fell of his head and he mumbled a curse quietly.
amara bent down to pick it up. "here," she smiled, holding it out for him to take back.
he smiled gratefully, taking it from her hands and adjusting it over his caramel brown hair. "thanks," he said, barely catching his breath. he adjusted his posture, slipping his papers into his bag. "sorry, didn't want yous goin' alone."
amara raised an eyebrow. "can't i look after myself?" she teased, hitting him lightly on the shoulder as they walked down the pavement.
he winced, realising what he had said. "no, i mean-that's not-" he spluttered.
"i'm kidding," amara laughed, her mood boosting a little. she liked him already.
the boy's cheeks tinted a soft pink, and he scratched his neck, hoping he wasn't being too awkward. "oh! it's just-yous seemed cool. didn't want yous to leave without sayin' hi. 'sides, i didn't know if yous been here before," the boy explained, smiling a little.
"yous ain't too bad yourself," amara said, smiling back. "i'm amara."
"the boys calls me jojo," the boy grinned wide, hoping she was the type of person he could open up to. "but my real name's alot longer."
"oh?" amara raised an eyebrow, intrigued. "do tell."
jojo laughed. "jorgelino josephino de la guerra is my full name, but the boys ain't too keen on fancy names. jack'll use it when i's in trouble though. he knows everyone's full name - he's like our mother," jojo explained, though he accent made 'mother' sound like 'mudda'.
amara's eyes widened. "woah, that's a beautiful name."
"thank you," jojo bowed a little, making amara laugh. "what's ya' proper name? unless, of course, yous ain't comfortable," he said quickly.
amara shrugged, feeling a little on edge. "amara matthews is what my boys calls me. or mara," she said a little too quickly for her liking, drumming her fingers on her leg.
...
the pair spent the day selling their papers and getting to know each other. jojo seemed pretty chill - though he was very careful not to offend her, which amara respected. they had a little bit in common - mainly that they weren't too keen on living with so many boys at once, and that black liquorice is fucking disgusting.
the end of the day came, though, and everything...got, like, thirty percent worse.
amara was in a reasonably good mood. she had sold all her papers - mainly due to a bet which involved her taking a sip of some guy's beer in exchange for him buying twenty papers for his friends, but hey, a kid's gotta do what a kid's gotta do.
