Lady and the Tramp [E.G.D]

Chapter 1

//Parker//
The chilly New York breeze rippled through my tshirt as I trailed my feet along the grey concrete pavement. The sound of cars, people and police sirens droned in my ears. The bright lights of nightclubs and the Times Square blinded me whenever I looked it's way. The smell of alcohol, drugs and fast food invaded my nostrils, intoxicating me.

I yanked up the zip of my thrashers jacket in hopes to block out the cold. I had only just finished ice hockey, and it was already dark out. I hate winter.
To my right, I hear a hacking cough and I instantly swing my head in the direction of the cough. There sat about 15-20 people, homeless, all sprawled in a tangled line against the brick walls, vigorously rubbing their hands together, or sheltering their dogs from the cold, or trying to make-do with whatever rubbish they could lay their hands on.

I caught sight of the old coughing man and I saw the struggle in that man's eyes, the pain, the tiredness, the hopelessness, the sadness. Never had I had such a feeling that buried itself deep in the pit of my stomach, weighing me down like a five ton elephant and as I turned to walk away, it felt like I had to drag that elephant all the way home with me.
I felt awful.

"Hi mum." I sighed, swinging my hockey bag on the sofa and making my way to the kitchen, where I could already smell that meatloaf was cooking. "Hey Park, how was practice?" She cooed as she stirred a pot.
"Not bad, actually, scored a couple goals and Sabrina finally managed to go a whole match without twisting her ankle." I chuckled to myself, tracing the countertop with the tip of my finger.
"That's good sweetie, mind putting out the plates?"
"No problem, ma" I replied, grabbing two plates and two sets of cutlery.

It's only me and my mum nowadays. I actually knew my dad very well though, he was my idol, the greatest human that I ever thought existed, he even got me into hockey, he was my rock, I seriously looked up to him. At least, that's what I thought when I was 10 and had no idea what was going on behind the scenes because I was too busy worrying if Ken was going to cheat on my Barbie.
Turns out, he would turn into some sort of ravenous animal when he got mad with her and, well...abused her. And when my 13 year old self found him choking my mom in the kitchen one night, I think that was the moment my soul left me, my eyes glazed over with what you could call tears, but to me it was venom. Hatred was quite literally pouring out of me. The image of it is engraved in the back of my brain with a dagger. I will never forget. I screamed till my lungs could give no more and that was all I could do. I remember my mum, blue-faced, trying to point to the phone for me to call the police. I didn't. I froze. I reran all of my beautiful memories with my father in my mind and thought that this was some kind of mistake. I thought watching her choke was the right thing to do.

She was in a coma for two months.

I was wrong.

And I could only wish that the harrowing guilt would last just for the two months, but it's stuck with me forever. Its like I'm trapped in a time capsule made from sheer fright, buried somewhere and desperately waiting for someone to find me, open me and take out all of those horrible memories. But of course, life is never as simple as a metaphor, is it.
My father's whereabouts are unknown, and uncared for, frankly. After that, me and my mum have never been closer, and I, well...I've never been further away from who I once was. You could call me empty. The shell that I am has a gaping hole in it, whistling in the wind.

Shake it off Parker. Stop getting yourself into this rut again, we all know how it ends. Come on, drop it. Just stop, this mindset isn't good for anyone.
I try...It doesn't work.

But Im pretty damn good at making it look like it does.

We carried on chatting during the meal time, and my mind slowly and hopelessly drifted away to the thought of all those homeless people freezing to death that night. It sent shivers down my spine.
"Mom?"
"Yes honey?"
"Why are people homeless? like, of course i know its because of a lack of financial security, but how can someone have that, how can someone go from having a house, to just not?"
"What makes you say that?"
"Nothing, just thinking"
"Well, homeless people are homeless probably due to some issues like not paying rent and spending it elsewhere, typically drugs, alcohol, gambling. They're real scumbags if you ask me and only satisfy their needs in that very moment and don't think ahead about the future. They just manage to get by from hanging onto people's legs as you walk by them, begging you for money, and when you do feel generous enough to give them a dollar or two, they'd have the audacity to walk right into the corner shop and buy a pack of cigarettes or a beer, it's unbelievable." She explained, digging around her meatloaf.
"O-okay" I said, somewhat dissatisfied that she didn't have the same heavy feeling about them as me. Is she right? Are they addicted scumbags? I mean stereotypes aren't just plucked out of thin air, they come from some sort of common view about homeless people. And the majority always wins because they're right?...right? But however they got there, I don't like it one bit, I don't like how humans are treating their own kind like a bag of trash, it's goddamn human nature to protect one another, isn't it? So just because they tied themselves up in a bad situation doesn't mean you have the right to just leave them there, struggling to get out of their mess, does it?

I played around with my mash potato a little longer before tipping it into the trash and rinsing my plate in the sink.
"Tired, honey?" She chirped, still eating.
"Yeah mom, goodnight." I yawned, rubbing my eyes and trekking up the stairs.
"Love you"
"Love you too"

I jumped into bed, closing my tired eyes, and there it was, that same thought drifting back into my mind again, which made me think, I wish I could just buy every single homeless person a house, or at least a shelter over their heads. No human deserves to suffer like that. Even if they were the most wanted person ever, they would still go to jail and have a shelter, food and a bed.

This elephant needs to stop clinging onto my stomach.

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A/N:
OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG IM BACK GUYSSSSSSSSSSSS LOLOLOLOLLLLLL
FIRST CHAP OF THIRD BOOK YALLLL IM SO HYPEDDDDDDDDDDDD
LYSMMMM
STAY TUNED
ANKTHER CHAP WILL BE SLAPPING YOUR LIBRARY BEFORE YOU KNOW ITTTTT
SEE YOUU LATERRRRRRR
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[has been updated]