Prompt - Lost
Au - None
Triggers - Panic attack, the Delanceys being the Delanceys, mild swearing
Setting - Pre-strike
•••
JoJo was tired. Tired and lonely and hungry. The sun was still up, but it was sinking faster than he would have liked. There was about fifteen minutes of light left, he guessed. The buildings around him were towering, closing him in, trapping him in these suffocating streets. His feet hurt and his head felt heavy on his shoulders, a dead weight he had to drag around with him. He glanced around, keeping to the street-lit pavements where he could. JoJo didn't like being in the dark.
He wasn't scared of it, not the the dark itself. It was mor , what could be hiding in it, just out of sight, that set him on edge.
JoJo sighed and slipped his hands into his pockets, breathing in the muggy air. His hat was pulled low over his eyes and his shoulders hunched in an almost unconscious way, as if he was used to not drawing attention to himself. Which, if he was behind honest, he was. Soon enough, all the natural light disappeared, although the blanket of heat remained. At least he wouldn't be cold tonight.
He walked for a little while longer before finding a narrow alley with a fire escape that led to a boarded up door. The metal was rusted and littered with discarded newspapers, but it was sheltered and out of sight. JoJo sighed and sat against the wall, leaning his head against the cool brickwork and resting on a few of the papers. He closed his eyes briefly. His stomach growled but he ignored it, choosing instead to count the coins he had managed to scrounge up that day.
He bit his lip. It wasn't a lot. A few nickels and a rusted five pence. Not a lot at all.
He shoved the coins back into his pocket with a dejected sigh. He could go without breakfast tomorrow if need be. It was dark in the alley and his nerves were on edge, but he closed his eyes again anyway and tried to fall asleep, a difficult task when one half of him was listening to every noise around him. He had had a few to many nasty run ins in an alley at night recently, and sported the bruises to prove it. He shifted a few times and scraped his arm along the wall.
What felt like an hour, although it may have only been five minutes, passed and JoJo was somewhat asleep. His consciousness was slipping and so was his alertness, which was probably why he didn't hear the boys until there were upon him. If he hadn't moved, he would've been fine. If he had stayed still while they looked at him, he wouldn't have gotten hurt.
But he didn't do that. He woke up to their voices, sharp and cruel sounding, and he stood up, taking a step away from the pair. Which was a mistake. He didn't know why he was so scared, but the way they were talking didn't sit right with him. So he went to move away, keeping his eyes down, until the shorter one shoved him back.
"Where'd ya think you're going?" He asked. His tone suggested it wasn't really a question. He looked the same age as JoJo, and so did the other boy, although he was a good bit taller.
JoJo looked between the two of them, unsure of what to do or why they had him cornered. Usually they would be asking for his money at this stage, not just looking at him.
"He asked you a question," said the taller boy when JoJo didn't reply.
JoJo didn't know what to say, so he just shrugged, which was also a mistake apparently.
"You's one of Jack Kelly's lot, aren't you?" The shorter one said, dropping his previous question.
Jack who? JoJo shook his head and tried to move away again. His was starting to panic now. His hands were shaking and he was unsteady on his feet. "No-," he managed to say, ducking under the shorter boys arm only to be stopped by the taller one with a sharp and unnecessary punch to the shoulder that made him wince.
"See, we thinks you are," the boy said. "You looks like one of em, yous got papers and you's hanging around ere. And we ain't really partial to Jack Kelly or any of you others, ain't we Oscar? Not since yesterday,"
Other what? And what did the papers have to do with it? JoJo tried to think but his mind was slow, his thoughts clouded as panic took over. He took another step backwards. These guys clearly thought he was someone he wasn't and weren't going to take no for an answer. JoJo tried to make a run for it, which was another mistake; he was just full of them tonight and was met with a knee to his stomach. He dropped to his knees as the air was knocked from him.
Tears sprang to his eyes and he was shaking all over now. His breathing was shaky and he was having difficulty drawing in air. One of the pair - Oscar, he thought distantly - knelt next to him.
"You tell Kelly he'd better thinks next time before he makes a fool out of us, got it?" He said, his voice barely above a hiss.
JoJo barely heard him, but he nodded anyway. He was shaking all over and his breathing was short and fast, his vision unfocused and foggy.
"How bout you tell me directly, stead of beating up some random kid?" another voice called from the mouth of the alley. This Jack Kelly, JoJo presumed. He sounded pissed and arrogant, but JoJo was panicking to much to pay any attention.
The two boys looked up and glared and the taller one took took a step forward. He lunged forward and a boy a bit shorter than him lashed out and kicked his knee, knocking him to the ground.
The boy tutted. "Now that just ain't nice Morris," he said. He looked up, focusing on the other boy, who was standing frozen with a furious look, although he appeared slightly nervous. "Now Oscar, hows about you run along, before I give you what you gots coming?" He said, shoving Morris to the side and taking a step forward.
Oscar scowled but hesitated.
"Go on," Jack said, making a shooing motion with an arrogant grin. "I'm bored of this conversation and I knows you ain't gonna do anything, so stop pretending,"
The boy opened his mouth but shut it again quickly. He walked forward and pulled the other boy to his feet. "This isn't over Kelly," he said, striding away reluctantly.
"I thinks it is," Jack called after them, waving in an infuriating way until they were gone. As soon as they were out of sight though, his grin dropped and he ran over to where JoJo still knelt, his arms wrapped around himself.
"Hey, hey," he said. "You alright kid?" He asked. The arrogant tone was gone, replaced with worry.
JoJo nodded. Which was a lie. He was still shaking and his stomach hurt and he really wanted to cry.
Jack frowned. "No you ain't," he said, placing a hand on JoJo's arm. "Take a deep breath, ok? They're gone and you're fine,"
JpJo tried to do as he said, calming himself down until he could ask, "Who were they?"
"Them," Jack frowned. "Was the Delancey brothers. Nasty pieces of work, if you asks me. I'm Jack. Jack Kelly," he added.
"JoJo," JoJo told him. His voice was quiet and he was sounded miserable. Which he was, so it made sense.
"Well, nice to meet you," Jack said. "I ain't seen you round here before. You lost?"
JoJo bit his lip. "You's could say that,"
"Well, you ain't anymore. Ise the reason you gots hurt and now Ise gonna help you out," He said, helping him to his feet. "You any good at selling papes?"
JoJo shook his head, still confused as hell. Jack put an arm around him as if he had known him for ages. "Well, you will be soon. C'mon, let's get you cleaned up, kay?"
JoJo nodded, looking around nervously when they left the alley. He let himself relax slightly when he couldn't see the Delanceys, but not totally. He was still edge and still very confused. He opened his mouth to ask another question but closed it again without saying a word, slipping his hands into his pockets.
Jack began talking, asking vague questions but mainly describing where they were going, what he did and so on and so forth. And for once, for the first time in a while, JoJo didn't feel quite so alone anymore. Quite so lost.