Beep-Beep-
The constant sounds of LA traffic could be heard as Ari Matisse sped down the sidewalk, stepping over the slumped bodies and stretched out feet of those preparing to go to sleep in Skid Row.
The beautiful California sky was filled with a variety of colors as the sun set, and Ari was completely exhausted after waking up early to complete his homework, a long day at school, followed by a paid tutoring session in the library, and a shift at a restaurant.
Usually, he would follow it up with a different shift at a fast-food restaurant, but the manager had recently fired him for being late one too many times, despite the fact that it was because his bike had been stolen and the city bus was late to take him to work.
To be honest, Ari's life was full of difficulties.
He grew up in foster care, being passed from one family to another before being adopted by an old French couple when he was three years old.
He had lived a relatively happy life for 12 years until the couple died in a freak car accident due to a drunk driver, and he was thrown back into foster care and ended up with a terrible family with 10 kids.
At 16 years old, they kicked him out with nothing but the clothes on his back since they somehow used up all the insurance money from his parents' deaths without his knowledge, and he refused to let them use his own government assistance checks for their children instead of him.
Then his true suffering began.
He hadn't been able to find a place to live because he couldn't legally sign a contract, and couldn't stay in homeless shelters because he was underage.
Any not-so-legal room he tried to rent didn't work out because they wanted to scam him because of his young age, so Ari had no choice but to save his money while living in Skid Row, the largest homeless encampment in the city.
Although he had tried to file a complaint because the family had delayed and lied in court, by the time an investigator said they could come by, he would be legally an adult, and the case would be dropped.
But somehow he survived.
He bathed in his high school gym, thrifted his clothes, and juggled multiple legal and illegal part-time gigs, which ranged from playing instruments at different gigs to working as a waiter, a maid, a gym trainer, a barrister, and more, all to save money while making a living.
Although he barely had friends and had no free time, somehow, he had made it work out.
Now that he was only two months away from becoming a legal adult, he felt somewhat hopeful about the future.
He had saved up a decent amount of money from all of his gigs, so once he was 18, he would get a cheap place and begin working full time while going to school.
He had recently received his community college acceptance letter and was finally going to celebrate it with his only friends, two grandmothers who had taken him in as their own during his time in Skid Row.
"Ooof, my back is killing me. Grandma Lisa, better be happy with all these scalloped potatoes I brought her."
After letting out an old man-like complaint despite his 17 years of age, Ari continued to walk through several alleys in the dimly lit city, moving towards the sleeping spot he had been using for the past couple of months.
His tent was located in a decent spot, and he had become friends with two old ladies who had taken him in when he was first looking for a place to stay after being kicked out.
He occasionally brought them food from his waiter job, and they kept him company and made sure nobody stole his tent or his belongings when they were around.
A couple of months ago, the two old ladies had been accepted and moved to a nursing home, so he rarely saw them anymore.
Although he lost someone to watch his tent, he was happy for them to get off the streets and get better treatment.
Even though they tried to convince him to sneak into their nursing homes to live with them, he had his own pride and never wanted to be a burden to those he cared about.
Tonight, they were having a mini reunion to celebrate his acceptance into community college, and he had brought their favorites from the restaurant.
At the thought of seeing them again, Ari's steps got quicker as he took a shortcut he usually wouldn't take.
Although they were familiar with the area, he still didn't want to leave two old ladies waiting in the dark by themselves for a long time.
As he turned the corner, Ari suddenly heard shouting in front of him, like multiple people arguing.
Since this was a common occurrence, he didn't pay it any special attention and continued walking with his head down.
If he saw nothing and said nothing, nobody would say anything to him, and he wouldn't get in trouble.
But as he walked closer, the yelling kept getting louder.
"Why won't you let me have this one thing? You've already taken everything else from me!" The desperate sound of a screaming man rang out.
"So? Just hand the thing over peacefully you damn old man!" A menacing voice sounded out.
Unconsciously glancing up, Ari saw 6 men in casual clothes surrounding and beating up a man who looked to be about 50 or 60 years old.
The old balding man wore a torn suit and was using a briefcase to deflect the punches and kicks raining down on him.
His face was swollen and covered in blood, and his foot seemed to be dragging as he tried to protect himself.
'C-suite executive at an entertainment company. Or maybe a tech company. It's too sloppy to be finance.'
Although his clothing looked regular, Ari automatically recognized the old man's expensive watch and leather shoes.
Still cataloging them, his gaze quickly drifted over the 6 men who were beating the old man up.
'Buzz cuts, fit bodies, sharp gazes. Weapons under their clothes.
Ex-military, well-trained police, or a private security firm.
Danger, danger.'
Their builds, stances, and the outlines of weapons on their clothing indicated that this wasn't a random robbery or beating, especially since they hadn't tried to kill the man yet despite their numerical superiority.
It was a quick character analysis that he had done of people since he had lost his parents and lived on the streets.
Knowing how to gauge people helped greatly in avoiding trouble.
And this right here was significant trouble.
Looking down once more, Ari tried to speed past quickly, but then something ran into him, knocked him into a pile of garbage on the ground, and almost made him drop the bagged food.
Crash-
"Young man, please help me!" The old man quickly ran to Ari, shook his shoulders, and sobbed desperately.
Seeing the military-looking men behind him start heading this way, Ari quickly tried to shove the old man away and jumped up.
"Oi old man, don't involve me in your problems. Just give them what they want. And let go of me!"
Unfortunately, the man was like a leech and clung to him again despite Ari struggling to shake him off.
His shirt, which was slightly too big, was almost ripped off his body as the man kept grabbing onto him.
'Why was he so strong???!!! And why were his hands moving here and there, even touching under his shirt?! Was he a pervert?'
There were many people like that, so Ari tried to peel the man's fingers off, but it didn't work.
Seeing that the man wasn't letting go, Ari sighed before yelling.
"Let me go, Old Man! And just hand whatever they want over to them!"
"You're saying I just let them win? Even after everything they did to me?"
"Look, I don't know your story, but let's be realistic. Do you even have the strength to protect yourself? Give in now so you can live to fight another day! And seriously, let go of me!"
Hearing the teenager's cold words, the old man immediately stopped struggling.
Tears dripped down his face, and he began mumbling to himself.
"Ah, is this how it ends? In the hands of that bastard? No, no, no, I can't give it to them."
Finally, as if resigning himself, the old man dug into his jacket pocket and flung a small jewelry box at the six men who were staring as if watching a show.
"Here! Take it! You said you would leave me alone if you got it right? This is the item you want! So leave!"
"We'll see about that."
The muscular man in the lead caught it and immediately opened it, verifying that the item they were searching for was inside.
After a moment, he nodded as he closed it back up before carefully handing it to another man.
Then, baring his teeth in a threatening manner, the man in the lead reached into his pants and pulled out a baton, whacking it threateningly on his hand.
"Time to die, old man."
"What? I've even given you the thing that you wanted, so why won't you leave me alone!"
"Because you dared to run away and make us chase you. Because dead mouths don't spill secrets, and you know too much for your own good. Who knows what kind of connections you still have remaining or what problems you'll bring back for the boss? They say to always be wary of a cornered rat."
Seeing the men go back on their word, Ari immediately wanted to run, but as if sensing it, the man speaking turned to him with a malevolent smile.
"Get the kid too. As a bonus."
"Who? Me?" Ari asked as he clutched the food bag closer to him, subtly opening a container of hot cheesy potatoes.
"I don't see any other kid around here, do you?" the man pretended to look around before smiling at Ari.
"Guess you're right. In that case, get wrecked."
With no hesitation and his traditional smirk, Ari tossed the hot food at their faces before grabbing the old man's arm and beginning to run.
"Arghhhhh!"
A pained scream could be heard, but Ari ignored it, pumping his legs faster.