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Jason cuts his hair short himself because his mom won’t do it for him. She tells him how pretty he’d look if he’d let it grow long like how it was when he was little. He doesn’t mind that his hair is choppy and a mess, it suits him just fine. Until the older boys gawk at him, so he tells them he has lice and they better stay away. It isn’t the best threat but it works, too well, as now kids his own age look at him look at him like he has the plague.
He spent two weeks searching the sidewalks for spare change with little success. Jason sneaks the package of elastic bandage wrap into his coat promising that one day he’s going to pay for it but right now he needs it. He’s twelve and his chest is beginning to grow, maybe if he wraps it tight enough it’ll stop.
It’s hard to breathe, the binding is too tight and it makes it too difficult to run. He throws the bandage across his room, wanting to shout. Instead he coughs and coughs and coughs, his chest aches and his body hurts. Nothing feels right.
Jason wraps the bandage looser next time. It helps, but he can feel it with every breath, sometimes when he moves too much it slips and he has to rush to find a hideout to fix it.
He sits on a fire escape, high enough no one will bother to look up. His eyes are wet and he doesn’t know it but he’s shaking. He came home terrified searching the apartment for a first aid kit, gauze specifically. When his mom asked him what was wrong he didn’t know how to explain it. Her eyes widened, then she gave him a soft smile and lead Jason over to the bathroom. She showed him products and he had to bite his cheek to stop himself from crying when she told Jason it was going to happen every month.
“You’re a young woman now.” she said.
Jason curls up on the fire escape, bringing his knees to his chest. He doesn’t want to go home, he doesn’t belong there. He doesn’t know if he belongs anywhere.
“You alright, kid?” A voice asks.
He opens his eyes blinking away a few tears. Bright red, green and yellow fill his vision as he tries to focus. It’s Robin, Batman’s sidekick is staring down at him. He’s seen him around once or twice, even read about him in the paper. Why would Robin be talking to him? Jason isn’t some damsel in distress. The second the word damsel passes through his mind his eyes well up again.
“Fine.” he chokes out.
“Sleeping on a fire escape doesn’t seem fine to me.”
“Don’t you have something important to do?” he tries to glare.
“A little boy alone and crying is important.”
Jason stares, his mouth open a little, “You...”
“Uh, excuse me?”
He doesn’t think, he launches himself at Robin and hugs him tight. The older teenager stumbles back a little and chuckles.
“Well that was unexpected.” Robin smiles, “You need help getting home?”
Jason shakes his head, breaking away from the other, “I’m ok, I just... Thank you.”