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Dante

The asphalt was slick with rain as I stepped out of ht I shut the door, ’s walls, bouncing around the block and out of sight The only other sounds were the patter of rain in puddles and the soft idling of the SUV’s engine I knew Steven atching carefully, a loaded Glock in his lap, as I stepped into the SUV’s headlights and let them silhouette me from behind

My eyesover the boarded-up s It’d been closed for a few years now, and the city always said they were going to knock it down, but so far, they hadn’t followed through Not that I h away fro place The parking lines were beginning to fade, and the lawn around the school was beginning to get overgrown I’d have souys come out and cut it later in the week, but for now, it looked like a jungle about to sprout and take over South Philadelphia

I watched as another car ca toward the school It was a red thing, beat up with nearly black tinted s, rust around the botto on the front and back bu still h it was about to fall apart at any moment

The car pulled into the parking lot, swung around, and stopped about twenty feet away fro slow I let the rain tap against et wet I had on jeans, black boots, a gray button-down shirt, and a nylon jacket over it all My dark hair was pushed back, almost haphazard and lazy I took pride in my appearance, only insofar as it intimidated my enemies

On a normal day, I wore a suit Forht, so I wore so different

The car’s engine stopped and its only headlight winked out A figure got out of the driver’s side and lingered a moment, the door still open

“Dante?” he called out

“Roger,” I said “Get your ass out here I’ rained on”

The door sla toward me He was an older man, probably in his fifties, but skinny and pale His shirt hung off his bones, his khaki pants were too baggy, and there was a hole in his tennis shoes His hair was gray, though covered with a ragged Phillies baseball cap, and he had bags under his eyes He gave rin and hesitated a few feet away

“Hey, boss,” he said “Hey, thanks, uh, thanks for, uh, seeing me” He touched his hand to the base of his neck and shifted from foot to foot

I stepped out of the beaht, closer to the brick-fronted school with its high arched doorway up a long flight of concrete steps For a second, I could almost picture the kids that used to walk up those steps every day, probably since I used to be one of them