Coming to terms with his sexuality, Theodore Moore is a seventeen year old who is just about getting by. He makes minimum wage and has aspiring, out-of-reach dreams to become a lawyer.
Violent and aggressive, Antony Barbosa is everything wrong with...
I took Fernanda to a take-out to buy her a burger meal to eat. She sits beside me with a box of food in front of her, picking up a chip and taking a small bite. “Nanda, eat the whole thing.” I tell her, nudging her shoulder. She looks up, a small smile on her face.
“Thank you.” She speaks hoarsely, and I return her smile, pressing my lips together. “We haven’t had food at home for a while, so… I haven’t eaten anything.” She tells me, and I stare at the side of her head.
“You know, I think you should come and stay at my house for a while.” I tell her, but she shakes her head, chuckling lightly. “I’m serious, Fernanda. Just until you’re back on your feet, again.”
“Or until my dad realises I’m not home and drags me back.” She scoffs, and I chew my bottom lip. “I can’t just up and leave, Theo. As much as I would fucking love to, it’s not that simple.” She tells me, and I stick my tongue into my inner cheek. “I’ll push through, it’s fine.” She shrugged her shoulders, and I stole a chip from her meal, quickly eating it. Fernanda elbows me in the ribs.
“Is…” I cleared my throat. “Is that why Antony was always stealing from my shop? Because you guys had nothing at home?” I asked her, swallowing the lump in my throat. Fernanda only shrugs her shoulders in reply, taking a bite of her burger.
“I don’t know. Probably.”
“You don’t know?”
“Me and Antony aren’t close. I’m… not really close with any of my siblings.” She tells me, and I look away from her, rubbing the tip of my nose. “Antony’s not really best buddies with anyone in our family, really.” She tells me, and I blink. “He’s kind of a loner.” She laughs, and I fake a chuckle, not letting my mind run wild. I always knew Antony tended to stay away from his family, but I didn’t raise just how isolated he had made himself. His family doesn’t even know him. I bet they don’t know how much he loves football or how he somewhat regrets dropping out of college, or how he knows all the lyrics to most of Mano Brown’s music.
They don’t know all the little things about him that make him him and the parts of him that he doesn’t really hide. He likes 80’s music, and I know that because I’ve walked in on him listening to it quite a few times. He’s a deeply emotional person, despite not showing it all the time. He would move to Manchester if he had the chance, because he supports a football team based there. He hates South London with a passion. He would move to Brazil in a heartbeat and never come back, even if it meant living in the flavella’s, which is what the most likely outcome would be. I wonder how much of that his family knows about him.
“I’m sure he doesn’t choose to be like that.” I shrugged my shoulders, trying to sound nonchalant.
“Trust me, with a fucked up father like ours, I don’t blame him.” She laughs, and it’s good to see some of the colour back in her cheeks. “But… he raised us, so I can’t be pissed at him forever.”
“I think you did a better job at raising yourselves than him.” I tell her, and she only nudges me once more, rolling her eyes. “I mean, you said it yourself, there’s no food in the house. Your brother has to steal to survive, and… I don’t know, he isn’t exactly…”
“Father material?” Fernanda scoffs, laughing a little. “Yeah, I figured that out.” She tells me, and I can’t help but chuckle, shaking my head. “He… hates everyone that’s not like him. He’d hate you if he knew you were… you know…”
“Yeah.” I say quietly, looking around a little to make sure no one’s close enough to the both of us to hear our conversation. “I kinda assumed that.”
“Well, fuck him.” Fernanda shrugs, taking a bite out of her burger. “He’s useless, so… I’d rather not waste my breath on that piece of dogshit excuse of a father.” She grumbles, and my eyebrows raise in shock. That’s the worst that I’ve heard Fernanda speak about her father. He isn’t, for obvious reasons, our usual topic of conversation.
So, I continue to steal Fernanda’s chips and she continues elbowing me for it as she eats her meal, and I’m really glad I got my friend back. Even if she is still hurting and in pain, I’m here for her through thick and thin.
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