Chapter Text
“Well Scarlett, I’m all ears to whatever ya wanna tell me.”, Red Hood said. Scarlett pulls at the necklace around her neck, fidgeting with the gem. She didn’t know why but she felt like she could talk to this guy and not get messed over in the end.
“I used to live in a bad neighborhood. Like, worst than where we are right now.”, she said, grimacing. The apartment that she had grown up in was filthy and run down, but it was home. Crime Alley was a pretty unforgiving place for everyone, but if you had the right connections and people you could get by. “My mom was the best artist in the city, regardless of whether she was actually employed as one.”
Mom was an amazing painter. She would paint whenever she didn’t have work, which wasn’t very often. Having to keep up with the rent and the electricity bill almost always kept her tired. However, she always made time for the two most important things in her life, Scarlett and her art.
“She loved me a lot, but you know how it goes. Life is a bitch to people who don’t deserve it.”
“Meaning?”
“Meaning she’s dead.”
Red Hood sat up in surprise. Scarlett raised an eyebrow.
“Didn’t expect me to be that blunt about it?”, she asked. “I know how stuff works, Life sucks and then you die.”
“Kid, Scarlett, you shouldn’t have to think like that.”
“Well, I do. My mom’s gone and I’m fucking homeless.”
“Is your dad not in your life?”
Scarlett rolled her eyes.
“Fuck no, that rat bastard and his parents can rot in the deepest darkest pits of hell.”
Scarlett didn’t even consider that man a human being, let alone her father. He had kicked her mother to the curb as soon as she told him she was pregnant. She had only met him once.
“His parents apparently had a problem with my mom’s...everything. The fact that she was poor, the fact that she wasn’t from a “good” family, and especially the fact that she was black.”
Mom had taken her to his place, she had wanted Scarlett to know her father and the other half of her family. His parents were visiting at the time though. Her mom had said that it was a good thing, that she could finally have grandparents as her parents were long dead. It went horribly.
“His parents went ballistic. Screaming every bigoted insult they could think of, and cursing their son out about sullying the family lineage by bringing a half-breed child into the world. They actually said that shit, can you believe it? Who even says shit like that anymore? And about a 6 year old child?”, Scarlett was getting progressively louder as she talked, tearing up in the process. She hated that family with her whole heart.
“I knew I wasn’t wanted when mom died. CPS was gonna seen me clear across the country to live with some uncle I’d never met. I wasn’t about to become some damn house slave or whatever they were planning to do with me, so I bounced.”
Red Hood’s face was stoic for a while. He looked like he couldn’t think of what to say. Scarlett wasn’t surprised, no one was quick with a response once they heard about what she’s gone through.
“God, Kid, what the fuck? You’re still a child, you shouldn’t be going through this shit.”
“Unfortunately, life doesn’t give a fuck about your age when it decides to fuck ya.”
He looked almost distraught. Scarlett would have felt bad for putting all of this on him, if he wasn’t a vigilante. He probably dealt with this type of shit all the time. She wasn’t fully affected by the past anymore, if anything, it just made her angry.
“Well, it’s been nice talking to ya.”, she said, getting up from the booth.”I’ve taken enough of your time Mr. Hood. Imma split, so see ya around.”
She started to walk out of the diner, but felt him grab her wrist. She looked back at him with raised eyebrows.
“You just love doing that don’t ya?”
He dropped her arm and looked at her.
“Scarlett.”
“That’s my name.”
“How about you come and stay with me for a while?”