Familia ✧ MILES MORALES ❨o.h.❩

Prologue

THE WEATHER IN BROOKLYN HAD BEEN MUGGY FOR A GOOD WEEK. The air was hot and thick, and the skies had been overcast off and on throughout the week. Most of the citizens were indoors or in their vehicles, trying their best to keep cool and beat the heat that had been baking the city. Even the pigeons and squirrels that were so common in the city were hiding in their nests and burrows, struggling to stay out of the unpleasant weather.

In a small autoshop near the rougher area of Brooklyn, six-year-old Miles Morales sat in a chair with his mother, his hands shoved in his pockets and his eyes on the floor. His mother had taken her car there to get the oil changed (whatever that meant), and even though they had been waiting for only fifteen minutes, he was already bored. Miles had never been to this autoshop before, either; they usually went to one that was farther into the city. And, since he didn't know this place, he wanted something else to do besides sit and look at the television, which was playing some old movie that was dubbed over in Spanish.

"Mama, can we go now?" Miles asked.

Miles' mother, Rio, shook her head. "Solo ten paciencia, Miles. We've only been here for fifteen minutes."

Miles huffed. "But I'm bored."

Rio smiled, taking a five dollar bill out of her pocket and handing it to her son. "Can you go find me a vending machine and get me a drink, then? It'll give you something to do."

Miles nodded, jumping out of the chair and darting off into the hallway. With the money clutched in his hand, he looked around for the brightly lit boxes that served as vending machines, determined to complete the mission he had been given.

Suddenly, he heard soft voices coming from outside. Miles froze, his eyes widening as he stopped to listen. What would anyone be doing outside in this place? he thought. Then, he recognized the sound as laughter, and he abandoned his task before running through the hall, heading for the source of the voices.

When he got outside, he stopped in his tracks, staring in surprise at the scene in front of him. It was three kids, two girls and a boy. The boy was playing basketball with one of the girls, who looked around Miles' age, while the other girl - who appeared to be the oldest - was watching them from the sidelines.

Miles couldn't take his eyes off the younger girl. She was dribbling the ball through her legs and around her body with such skill that it seemed like she had been playing for her entire life. There was a determined and fierce look on her face, and she didn't appear to be intimidated by the boy in front of her, even though he was almost twice her size. Miles was impressed.

The girl suddenly feinted going to the left, then spun around and slid past the boy before shooting the ball from the three point line, aiming for a makeshift basketball hoop (made out of a plastic basket) that was nailed to the back of the building. It sailed through the air before bouncing off the wall and dropping through the basket in a perfect shot.

The girl whooped in victory before saying to the boy in Spanish, "Ha! Beat you again!"

The boy snorted, shoving the girl's shoulder before replying in the same language. "Shut up. You didn't win, I let you win."

The girl shoved him back. "Sure you did. And I'm a chupacabra."

The two began to shove each other in an avid shoving match, while the eldest girl just watched in amusement. Eventually the boy put his arm around the girl's neck in a headlock and began to noogie her head, ignoring her loud protests.

It then dawned on Miles that he was probably intruding, so he turned around and began to tiptoe away. But then, a voice suddenly shouted, "Hey!"

Miles froze, then slowly turned around. The youngest girl was staring at him with the ball tucked under her arm. The boy was standing beside her with his arms crossed and his head tilted, and the eldest girl was still sitting on the sidelines, watching him with a look of mild curiosity on her face.