Boston Days

Set pre-series

WARNING: Use of a racial slur

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July 1994

A young girl sat on a bench. She wore a red tank top with a faded Boston Red Sox logo and greyish-black sports shorts. Her facial features were smooth, - European -, her nose prominent on her face and dusted with freckles. Her skin had a light tan and she had dark, slightly wild, wavy hair that was hung to the middle of her back.

Her feet were bare as she had taken her sandals off due to painful blisters on her feet. As she examined them, she wondered how she had gotten them. She hadn't walked that far, had she?

It was July, which meant it was really, really hot. It also meant Boston Red Sox, Boston Duck Tours, and ice cream vans driven by an elderly, dark-skinned man by the name of Eli. His actual name was Elian, but everyone called him Eli. He was the coolest person she had ever met. He was funny and always made her laugh. He was also wicked smart.

However, when she had one day innocently asked him why he had an ice cream van, his face dropped a little and his eyes darkened. He had looked almost...uncomfortable. Then he smiled and ruffled her hair, causing her to let out an embarrassingly girly squeak. She swatted at his hand half-heartedly. "I get to meet all kinds of interesting people, Mija."

The next day she had found him standing in front of his van. Except it didn't look like his van anymore. The windows had been smashed, the door was hanging off its hinges, and spray-painted across the side of Eli's van were words that she would never forget.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"GO BACK TO YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY, MONTANA"

Eli simply stood there and stared at it. His fists were tightly clenched and shaking. The dark look in his eyes from the day before had returned.

A sob tore from her throat and she ran towards him, flinging her arms around his waist. Eli instantly relaxed and bent down carefully, gently putting his arms around her, turning so that she could no longer see the haunting message. "I'm so sorry that you had to see that, querida." He said softly.

Then he got up, untangling her arms from his person in the process. "Go home, Faith." Eli said suddenly.

"I can help-" Faith protested.

"No." Eli said firmly.

She started at his unusually stern tone. Eli never spoke to her like that.

So she went home, shook but blissfully unaware that she would never see him again.

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At 2:12 PM, Social Services would arrive at her house. She would answer. They would tell her that they were "just there to speak to her mom about a few things".

At 2:16 PM, Faith heard angry shouting from the kitchen. "You can't take my daughter away from me, you fuckers!" "We're sorry, but you've been deemed unfit to provide sufficient care for your daughter and therefore we'll be taking her to an emergency foster home-"

"Just because I haven't been able to find a job yet doesn't me that I'm "unfit" or whatever your crappy, little records say about me!"

"We're really sorry, Mrs. Lehane..."

At 2:30 PM she would be bundled out of the house by a so-called "nice" lady with a sickening-sweet voice, clinging onto her bag protectively - her only possession in the whole world aside from the clothes on her back - her heart beating soundly against her ribcage.

At 2:37 PM the panic would settle in as she realized that she could no longer see the familiar house.

By the time they reached their destination, Faith knew that she was never going home.

FINITE