As Luck Would Have It

3) Noticing the Unnoticed

The sun was now buried beneath the horizon, with some light still in the sky as darkness slowly blanketed the city. Other than the restaurant fiasco, the night had gone quite smoothly. To be honest, residents of the greater New York City area thought little about things like that, compared everything else that has happened to the city. The recent memories of September 11th, the Battle of New York with the Avengers, and Hurricane Sandy had left massive impacts on its residents, and anything else like a car robbery seemed like a normal thing. It was just the way the city just adapted to the rapid change of events.

In a different part of town, we come to the front doors of a large Community Center. It was closing time and large groups of people filed out in different groups. There was a senior book club that was assisted by aides as they descended the small flight of stairs and a Girl and Boy Scout troop came running out with their parents soon after with their new badges and sale rewards. The last group to leave was a particularly large group of young males that appeared tired, but satisfied from a long day of playing pick-up basketball. Once most of the people had cleared the front, a tall man wearing a royal blue polo t-shirt and khakis opened the door. He pulled his lanyard out of his polo revealing a ring of keys. He fumbled through the unnecessary keys before finding the right key and preparing to close the door to lock the door behind him. Before he could close the door, he looked inside the building once more, and blurted "Let's go" before waving his hand as if he was summoning someone.

Soon after, a young girl walked out from the dark doorway of the closed center. She was slightly shorter than the man and kept her hair in a ponytail with some strands falling over the right side of her face. She wore a cream long-sleeve button-up that seemed vintage with a black skirt that went just past her knees and dark strap-on boots. As she walked into the dimly lit air, she dropped a book from her face and her eyes dazzled in the growing moonlight. Reaching for her backpack, she opened the largest pocket with haste, and stuffed her book inside. "Got everything" the man said behind her with a proud voice. She turned around toward him, nodding in a passive way. "Alright, I think we're done for the day" he replied, locking the door behind him and stuffing the keys on his lanyard back into his shirt.

As they came down the small set of stairs, the last couple of boys stopped their conversations to say goodbye the respected center director. They exchanged goodbyes, and, as boys will do, their eyes quickly shifted toward the direction of his daughter. Feeling the unwanted attention, she glanced back at them in an ominous way. While effective for some of them, the others did not feel threatened. They just kept staring and she thought of the things they could be thinking of. She was disgusted by these disrespectful pigs that rummaged through the world for anything they could get their hands on. One boy, was staring at her very cunning and sinister-like. His eyes looked her up and down, frequently pausing at her legs, chest, and rear-end. As the girl and her father started walking down the block, she could have sworn she had heard him or one of the others whistle in their direction. She rolled her eyes at the sound of it, and her father turned halfway round to give them a stern look, as if to give them a warning. The boys quickly picked-up their conversation again, words turning into a mumble as the pair continued down the walkway.

"Don't mind them Michelle", the father finally said, "they're just trying to get your attention." Michelle looked down to her feet as she walked, a small frown growing upon her face. "Well, it worked", she said full of guilt. She never really liked to show any emotion toward others, but her dad was something different. Obviously, being her father comes with a lifetime of bonding and emotion, but she felt like she could open up to him in certain situations. "Those boys are just troubled, and they feel they need attention to survive", her father consoled, almost sounding like a college lecturer. Michelle was quick to pick-up on this and couldn't help but chuckle at the idea. "Yeah well, some people don't require that kind of attention" she replied with her voice seemingly changing tone. That comment made her father curious. Looking at her from the corner of his eyes, he thought about whether she was referring to the gym junkies they had just passed or herself. He thought about it for a moment, and then decided to ask her, "Do you think you require that kind of attention?"