It was a nice day overall, sixty-five degrees or so with a light breeze, and Nathan stretched as he headed down the sidewalk to downtown. Being away from the pen didn't so much remove his anxiety as much as shift it in a new direction as he wandered the same path as the day before. It was lively for a Monday evening, people coming and going through an open market set up on the streetside, but none paid him much attention as he navigated the bustle to reach the alleyway that led to the basketball court.

On the fringe of the festivities, he stared down the dark corridor that led off between the apartments. A few kids played in the yard near the front stoops, but few traveled the barren back alleys. It had Nathan contemplating his decision to go further. It was daytime now and out in public enough that Conny couldn't crack a beer bottle over his head, but even so, Nathan clenched his hands as he navigated between the towering buildings.

At the very end of the path, he peeked around the corner, and it was hard to miss Conny standing there alone with a basketball in his hands. He stood with his back to him, his shoulders stiff, and Nathan watched mesmerized as Conny shifted his feet together, turned his body forty-five degrees, and lifted his hands. Just as the day before, Conny moved in one smooth, calculated movement as he tossed the ball, applying just enough pressure with a light hop to propel the ball from the three-point line to the basket. It didn't even touch the rim as it fell straight through the chain hoop with a swish of gentle clinking.

"Why are you hiding around the corner?" a voice whispered into his ear, and he jumped but couldn't escape fast enough as arms came around his neck and someone jumped on his shoulders.

"Rachel." Nathan gasped for breath, and his pounding heart did its best to calm as her blond hair obscured half his sight. With a push of his hands, he got her off of him, but she didn't give any more space than that as she linked her arms behind her back and fluttered her eye lashes at him. Was she trying to be endearing?

"Did you find out Donovan is from the pen?" Rachel asked as she sauntered just past him to look out at the court.

"Donovan?" Rick had called him Donovan too.

"Yeah. That's his name. We all call him Conny, but it's just a pet name and a play on the word "convict". Come on, let's go make him play with us." Rachel pulled him with her to the chain-link fence. The girl had a hell of a grip as she pushed open the door and dragged him across the asphalt, and the door swung open so hard that it bounced off the fence.

The shudder of metal drew Donovan's attention, and his focus only briefly passed Rachel before he found Nathan and froze in place. "Nathan." Donovan's eyebrows fell in tightly at the bridge of his nose as he clutched the basketball.

"I don't even get a 'hi'?" Rachel complained as she prowled.

"Hello, Rachel." Donovan turned as she slid behind him, his mouth set in a firm cordial line until a congregation of boys slipped in the door after her.

They came in both entrances and completely barred any escape, clad in shady blacks and rough clothes that could use a patch or two. Nathan couldn't say if they were killers like the pen's residents, but they looked like they'd have no qualms about beating the living shit out of him. Most were taller than him, and they all looked like they were carrying some sort of weapon.

"What is this?" Donovan clenched his hands on the ball as he took a few quick strides to Nathan's side. There, he stood at Nathan's back closer than friends would, ready to protect him should the need arise.

The boys didn't respond as they circled them, and Nathan pressed into Donovan when more than a dozen boxed them in. All of these kids knew Donovan was from the pen, and Nathan had never thought about what would happen if a group of unruly people ever accosted one of the men from LCP. They couldn't harm anyone under punishment of death, but was even self-defense forbidden?

"They look scarier than they are," Rachel said as she stepped in front of the line of boys, hands in her pockets and cool as ice with the group at her back. "Some of the hood kids aren't raised with the best manners, so that's what I'm for. My face is prettier to look at." Rachel touched a hand to her lips and blew a kiss in their direction that had a few of the boys chuckling.

"What do you want?" Donovan demanded, his voice losing patience and his tone deepening to a timbre that was reminiscent of the night before.

"To play basketball," Rachel said, raising an eyebrow as if that were obvious. "I figured you'd make a beeline for the door if we didn't cut you off, but I guess this sort of looks like we're trying to mug you."

"These... boys are with you?" Donovan looked around with distaste, the sweep of his short, tied hair flailing behind him with each turn.

"Oh please, the worst they've done is beat some kids up who deserved it, smoke some weed, and underage drink. None of them have killed anyone," Rachel emphasized the word pointedly, and Donovan wrapped his long, slender fingers around the basketball like it was an overripe cantaloupe he was about to burst with his bare hands.

"I'm not getting shanked playing so close to them. I know what the people in this town think of me," Donovan responded coldly.

"Please?" Rachel asked, her expression dropping from mischievous to an earnest plea, and Donovan's expression softened somewhat. "We really just want to play. We watch you every day but figured you'd walk out on us if we all came at you. When I saw you play with Nathan, I came alone yesterday to see what you were like. They're my gang, so they won't hurt you."

"Your gang?" Donovan asked with concern, but Nathan couldn't tell if it was for himself or her.

"Yes, they are actually a gang, but they're small time. Come on, play ball with us," Rachel attempted to persuade him again, but her invitation was met only with a shake of the head from Donovan. "Fine. Unshiv yourselves." Rachel turned to the boys with the strangest command Nathan had ever heard.

They let out a collective sigh but, one by one, obediently took off their coats. The clinking of various weapons perturbed Nathan, but at least none of them were packing heat. They all had a switchblade or other concealable knife, a few had batons, and Nathan was pretty sure there were one or two tasers. Returning to their circle, they looked bare in their T-shirts and wife beaters, a lot skinnier and less threatening without the extra layers.

"Play with us," Rachel insisted, putting her hands on her hips.

"When you said your gang, you meant your gang," Donovan said and Rachel puffed up with pride. "A girl like you should be spending her time doing better things."

"Better than playing with convicts?" A tall kid next to Rachel with dusty, black hair and sharp eyes said.

"Tim," Rachel chided in a low tone, but he just spun his basketball on his finger as he eyed Donovan.

"Yes." Donovan smiled lightly, and Tim did so likewise. It broke the ice, and everyone calmed a bit. With a small sigh, Donovan turned to Nathan. "I will play if you would like to." Donovan rubbed the back of his neck as he sank just a bit. "I did not mean to frighten you yesterday."

"It's all right. After Ian threw his food in Rick's face this morning, I got the dynamic pretty well. We can talk about it later. Let's just play basketball with a bunch of guys who might beat me up when we're done." Nathan's real worry had Donavon closing the small distance between them.

"You'll be okay. You have me." Donovan touched the top of his head, and Nathan's cheeks warmed in embarrassment.

Donovan and he joined the boys who were already running around the court with a few basketballs of their own to practice, and they formed up into teams that may or may not be fair. For one, they tied him to Donovan's leg like a lead weight, and the other consisted of Rachel and half of her guys. The ones on Nathan's team crowded him, touching his shirt and hair like he was some sort of toy poodle in the middle of rottweilers. With a slap of his hand, he pushed them off, but they only returned in force to half strangle him like Rachel had.

Playing against an opponent was the only thing that pried them off, and Nathan panted in air as they formed up into two battalions ready for a battle. The guys corralled Donovan to stand at the head of the group, and he grumbled as he stood across from Rachel and her cocky smirk. She dribbled the ball, checked it with Donovan, and then they took off like scattered marbles.

The varying degrees of skill with new people made it more of a game, and Nathan felt like less like of a hinderance as he passed the ball under Rachel to Tim who'd been the first to sign up for Nathan's team. Perhaps it had been to show Donovan up, but neither of them minded playing together as they scored baskets. The more they played, the more Nathan saw them as kids, just teens wanting to play and blow off steam roughhousing.

Their shell just happened to be comprised of a pound of weapons and heavy coats.

They moved faster than Nathan, and the court was more chaotic with so many people, so many of them got bumped around. When Donovan accidentally knocked one of the boys to the ground, the look on his face was of horror, but the kid just picked himself up and pushed Donovan to continue playing. Seeing the exchange end in kindness rather than a conflict eased Nathan as he found Donovan to be the same man he'd met the day before. Something had set him off the evening before, but anger didn't seem to be his default setting.

In the end, Rachel's team won, but Nathan attributed that to their better coordination. With Donovon and Tim blocking half of Rachel's plays, it had been close, but Rachel rallied her gang like a war general. They ducked, dove, and rolled with a second sense for where Rachel would be without any communication. It was clear who was in charge here, and Nathan wasn't sure all of the plays were legal according to the rules, but he wasn't going to argue.

It was invigorating just to be among friends that supported and fought for each other. The bullying in his last school had been so bad that it was every man for himself, and he'd never had a group of friends that hadn't been depressed and terrified of every day.

Rachel's gang would likely take out a kidney of anyone who came within insulting distance of any of their members. There was something wild and dangerous about them, but it was different from the pen. The men he lived with were all older, less bouncing with youthful energy. That made them both calmer and more calculatingly deadly.

"Donovan," an even but threatening voice called out to them, and Nathan froze as he recognizing Tanner's voice without much effort. Speak of the devil...

A tremor ran Nathan's spine as Tanner stepped into the court, his hands in his pockets and his shoulder rolled back like he was here to break something. Or someone. Nathan shirked back from Tanner's imposing stance, and Donovan was at his side in an instant, eyeing Tanner with the same amount of distaste. Tanner was still wearing his western hat and jacket, and with the dip of his chin, the brim of his hat shaded most of his face. All except for the sharp snap of his hazel eyes that gleamed in the evening sun.

"Hi." Rachel stole Tanner's attention as she skipped right up to him, ball in hand and a smile plastered on her face. The girl had zero self-preservation skills.

"Piss off, kid, I'm not here to play around with children," Tanner's said icily, having to dip his shoulders near a foot just to speak to her.

"Are there Indians around here?" Rachel's reply squashed Tanner's disgust for a moment of confusion until she lifted her hand into a finger gun and tapped it on his chest. "Cowboy." With a breath, she exhaled a horrible imitation of a gun going off before holstering her finger back at her side.

The laugh that erupted from Tanner was so abrupt that Nathan jumped back into Donovan, but Rachel didn't even flinch.

"You're a snide little shit, aren't you?" Tanner's voice came out in a low growl that had Tim flanking Rachel in an instant. Nathan had pegged him as Rachel's first in command quickly after he'd spoken to Donovan, and that guy had brass balls to challenge a giant like Tanner.

At least Tim saw Tanner for the threat he was. Rachel continued on oblivious.

"Why are you here, Tanner?" Donovan inserted himself into the interaction before anyone cut off a piece of the other.

By the way the men squared off and tightened their jaws, it was clear that they didn't like each other. Tanner had gotten along with Ian and even listened to him when he was angry, so Nathan wasn't sure why he didn't like Donovan. Did Donovan not get along with them? Cracking a bottle over Rick's head had made at least that relationship clear, but it didn't take much to hate that jerk.

"I was checking on our new tenant." Tanner slid his eyes down to Nathan, and he wanted to take a step back, but everyone was now staring at him. It drove a cold sweat down his neck, but he had nowhere to hide in an open court.

"Tanner!" Donovan hissed, and Tanner raised his eyebrow before looking around at the kids. "Do you think only about yourself?"

"Calm down, Donovan." Rachel chuckled as she kicked at the asphalt. "We already knew Nathan lived with you guys. I know it's on the downlow, but I have connections." Tim slapped Nathan's shoulders to ease his dismay, and he straightened up as Rachel stepped back into Tanner's space. "It is pretty brutal for you to sell out one of your own though, Tanner."

Tanner's combative stance lessened just a bit as he averted his eyes and sighed. "That was by no means my intention. I wasn't thinking that far," Tanner lifted his focus back to Nathan, and much of the bite had dissipated. "Maggie just wanted to make sure he wasn't off getting into trouble after last night. I see you're fine."

Tanner turned to leave the court, but had to stop in his tracks as Rachel ducked between him and the door to bar his way. The way his hands twitched, Tanner looked as if he was about to snap her in half, but Rachel stood her ground with her arms planted in her pockets.

"Feel free to come and hang out some time," Rachel offered with her faux charm.

"Get out of my way," Tanner growled, but she didn't move.

"I'm Rachel," she tried again, and Tanner slid a hand up his face to rub his temple.

"You already know who I am," Tanner replied, dropping his hand to rest it on his hip in frustration.

"Well, now we've met in person. I'll get out of your hair, though I know you have a lot of it," Rachel winked, and Nathan could barely believe the chuckle that came from Tanner's mouth. "Have a nice day, Tanner." Rachel removed herself from his path, and Tanner walked to the gate but turned back with a near invisible smile.

"Have a nice day, Rachel," Tanner uttered the first words that sounded amicable, and they had Rachel positively glowing as she waved.

After Tanner left the court, Rachel returned, and Nathan couldn't contain his racing thoughts. "You know I'm from the penitentiary." Nathan broached his fears, and Rachel merely shrugged.

"Sure, but how bad could you be. You can't even get a basket." Rachel snickered, and her guys followed suit. They clapped him on the shoulder to reassure him in turn as they headed backout onto the court, but Nathan remained at a distance as they left. It was new, having someone accept him, and he decided he'd just relax and play.

There wouldn't be much time for that once he went back.

Word count: 2850 -- Edited March 29th, 2021