Here is of the story. My Neighbor’s Son Part 1: Jack Radley Rafael The first time I saw Jack Radley Rafael, he was climbing out of his own bedroom window at two in the morning.
“Bad night,” I admitted.
For three days, I caught glimpses. A tall boy with messy dark curls, always in a faded gray hoodie. He never waved. Never smiled. He just sat on their back steps, sharpening a pocket knife against a whetstone, over and over. Weird , I thought. Stay away. My Neighbor-s Son PART 1 - Jack Radley Rafael...
Tonight, my father had yelled at me for two hours about my “attitude.” Tonight, my chest felt like a clenched fist. I couldn’t sleep. So I did what I always did when the walls felt too close: I slid my window open, swung one leg over the sill, and dropped onto the old oak branch that stretched between our houses.
He was perched on his own roof, one knee drawn to his chest, a cigarette burning between his fingers even though he couldn’t have been older than me. The moonlight hit his face—sharp jaw, dark eyes, a small scar cutting through his left eyebrow. He wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at the sky, like he was waiting for something to fall. Here is of the story
“He’s your age,” my mother said, peering through the blinds. “Maybe you’ll be friends.”
That’s when I saw him.
“Sure.” He took a drag from the cigarette, exhaled a plume of smoke that curled up like a question. “Then why are you out here at two a.m., Lena?”