Banes by Tara Brown

called him, old man. One day his old man was beating his mom and he stepped in. He stabbed his own father. His mother cried, she called him names, she called nine one one. She tried to save his dad all the while shouting at him to leave her house and never come back. Suddenly he was on the streets, he was doing drugs, he was turning tricks and then he started to mule for a big dealer down town. Then the air cleared again and he was back in the house, he heard his dad beating his mom and instead of going into the kitchen he left. He ran away. He moved to another city where it was sunny. He got a job as a garbage man and married a lady with red hair and a chubby face. They kissed a lot. He was lying on a couch holding his son reading him a story when he vanished from the alley.
    She sighed doing her pants back up. He was better, his life was better. She panted standing up feeling an ache in her back. She brushed the dirt off herself. She looked around the alley feeling nervous for the first time ever. She slipped along the building nearest to her trying to hurry to the street.
    She hated her new life, she hated the new her. She used to be strong and cut off. She hated that she felt sorry for a man who held her down trying to hurt her because she got to see his back story, like she gave a shit.
    She made it back to her old neighborhood within a few hours exhausted and feeling lost. She'd grown soft living with Lydia who had Annabelle doing everything for them all. Her heart hurt when she thought about the house and everyone in it but she knew it was for the best if she got her life back and saving the kids she'd left behind.
    "Ari, wtf dude where have you been? Why do you have hair, you can't even see the tat on the back of your head anymore."
    She looked behind to see her bestie Mila and smirked, "Hey, yeah I've been busy growing it out." Ari realized the other Ari never knew about the tat and smiled harder.
    "Where you been?" Mila looked pissed, she was tall with long dark hair she always kept in a ponytail. Her face would have been pretty if she didn’t have such bad skin from living on the streets. Her dark blue eyes suddenly reminded Ari of her mother. She'd never seen her before the other Ari came.
    "Jail."
    Mila grimaced, "Oh shit you're eighteen now."
    Ari nodded, "Almost nineteen."
    "Wow ghey, anyway I'm heading to meet up with some peeps at Wind wanna come?"
    Ari shrugged, "Sure." She didn’t have anywhere else to go.
    "Guess you got no money huh?"
    She laughed, "Hells no, dude I'm lucky I still have clothes on."
    "Ouu lotta lesbians this time."
    Mila was so crass Ari thought realizing she never had used the word crass before.
    She shook her head, "Nope just a mix up with clothes, these aren’t mine obviously but whatevs, I took em anyway."
    Mila laughed, "OMG Ari I was going to say something, those are scary norm. Too low key, especially for Wind. Oh well I got some in my bag. We'll have you fixed in no time."
    Ari wanted to smile but she was sad, she didn’t want to go clubbing. She wanted to go home, she had a home and it had felt awesome being there. She wondered if Lucas could track her?
    Ari remembered Lydia making her push the man and where he ended up and shook her head, there would be no going back, the streets might be safer than Lydia's. She didn’t know how mad Lydia would be for her running or for letting an innocent man go to jail.
    Wind was packed, but Ari followed Mila to the bathroom to change into proper attire.
    Ari tugged at her black tank top realizing how much she had filled out living at Lydia's.
    "Damn Ari, you got boobs? Did you pay for those?"
    She glared at Mila's friend Selena next to her in the crowded bathroom mirror, "Hells no, I was in prison and the food was better than what we usually eat okay."
    Selena held her hands up raising her eyebrows, "Whatevs. Someone got touchy and boobies while she was away, you got a girlfriend in the pen you missing?"
    Ari felt her rage filling her,