Shoes

This is a bad kid. The type that you walk by very quickly and look back a lot. One of those kids who make you think about how much money everything you’re wearing costs. The suitcase that you left at your friend’s house is probably worth more than all the clothes he owns. You don’t feel sorry for him; he’s poor for a reason. Calling him a kid makes you feel better, but he’s almost a man. He’s just a kid. No threat. His eyes glance at you, and you feel a chill, they aren’t one color. Not green, or blue, or grey. They change even as he turns away. You can’t get enough. Staring at him, you absorb every facet of his appearance. Then you notice the shoes, light brown with a stripe of green running across them, they look fresh from the box with their white laces unscuffed. They’re the only thing on him that looks like it cost more than 10$. A girl gets on at Fulton Street; she looks like she’s about 20. Instantly your gaze drops, making sure that her body is really as incredible as your peripheral vision told you. As she crosses the car to him and pulls the headphones off his ears, every male looks at her. He grins at her and then kisses her, almost causing a sigh of regret among the men in the car, but you just stand and watch as she snuggles into him, revealing that his body only takes up half the space inside of his sweatshirt. More kids get on, they all know him. You watch as the group gathers all types of kids, girls and guys, blacks, Asians, Latinos, whites, it doesn’t matter. He greets all of them, and they surround him. You keep looking at him, filled with envy. A seat opens up, and they let him sit down. The girl sits on his lap, shifting around until she’s sure he’s noticed her figure. He puts his head back and closes his eyes, and then you notice something. He’s the focus of their attention; he’s what draws them together. They worship and respect and love and like him, this bad kid. But he’s all alone. None of them really listen to him, that’s why they all follow him. You suddenly remember what he looked like, before they came. Isolated in his own world even in the midst of his friends. Another kid walks on, goes up to him, and lightly slaps him around the girl. His eyes open and he blinks a couple times at the kid standing in front of him. Suddenly a real smile lights up his face. You watch in amazement as he loses all of the threatening nature that you saw before. This friend opens his mouth, “Nice shoes.”