Alliyah

They had kicked her out of the coffee shop, but she didn’t care. She knew she had done the right thing. If her parents were alive, they’d agree - she was certain of it.

Her flannel shirt flapped in the wind, as she skateboarded down the crowded Manhattan street, and people scowled and cursed as she forced them to move out of her way.

She loved the wind in her curls and the cool breeze on her skin, which was why she never layered up much.

The sky was perfectly blue. Not a single cloud in sight! But the tall buildings that surrounded her provided shadows that made her feel even colder. It was one of the many reasons she loved New York, despite it not being where she was born or raised in.

Construction noises filled her ears, as did the sounds of honking horns and road rage coming from the sea of yellow cabs to her left.

Just the previous week she had acquired a colourful set of pens from that store to her right, so she frowned when she saw that it was being dismantled and a sign showed that they would turn it into a plant store.

“Wonder how long that will be up for…” She mumbled to herself.

A sudden glimpse across the road caused her to come to a hasty stop. She had caught a friend exiting a building, thus; she jaywalked her way to him and yelled:

“Hey, where are you headed to?”

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Cars honked and drivers yelled in disapproval of her jaywalking. She was almost hit by a car but acted as if nothing happened. Or maybe she simply didn't notice something had almost happened. Malcolm flinched and faked a grin:

“Oh, salutations, sister!” His voice was awkwardy high-pitched, so he looked away, before clearing his throat, his voice lowering: “Nowhere. I mean, home. W- Why? Where are you going?”

Taking a step closer, Alliyah narrowed her eyes and stared him up and down:

“What’s wrong? You’re hiding something. What are you hiding?” She glanced back and up at the building he had just exited. “Who lives here?”

“It’s none of your business.” He sounded more serious and upset than she had ever witnessed, then put on a fake grin again. “I mean, no one important. I have to go now, gotta study. Peace.”

She stayed looking at him, eyes wide open, as he headed down the street on his own skateboard, his skirt whirling with the breeze.

Someone dropping something caught her attention and disrupted her reflections. She was quick to tap that person’s shoulder:

“You dropped this.” She bent down to grab the item and held up a fifty-dollar bill.

The woman turned around and slid off her pink headphones, her wavy hair swaying in the wind.

“I did not.” Her tone was soft, even though she narrowed her eyes.

“Yeah, you did. I saw it.”

“You saw wrong. That does not belong to me.” The young woman turned around and walked away. Alliyah chuckled when she saw that the back of her jacket had written I wish I had more middle fingers.

She blinked away the interaction, and tapped a random stranger’s shoulder instead:

“Hey, you dropped this.”

“Oh, you’re right. Thanks, darling.”

Alliyah rolled her eyes, knowing the person was lying, but… So was she. Therefore she shrugged it off and resumed her journey to the skate-park.