Parentless, 10 year old Raven is a master of theft and does what she needs to survive. 10 years later, she meets Octavia again, who was the only person who showed compassion for her despite her criminal ways growing up.
"Stop that little runt!" yelled the store owner as 10 year old Raven ran out of the convenient store with a bag of cheetoes and a bottle of strawberry gatorade.
Raven ran as fast as she could toward the door. Out of nowhere, a tall security guard grabbed her roughly by the shoulders.
"Your little ass isn't going anywhere" the security guard said as his spit flew onto her face as he spoke. She shook Raven so hard that she dropped the chips and bottle.
Scared of getting in trouble, she kicked him in-between the legs. He dropped her as he winched as pain as he grabbed his groin area. Raven used this opportunity to bolt for the exit door without the bottle and chips. She was in such a hurry to leave, that she didn't see Octavia standing near the door. She ran directly into Octavia knocking her to the ground and making Octavia drop all the things in her grocery bag.
"Sorry" Raven said looking at Octavia. She recognized Octavia from somewhere but she had no time to remember where. Raven got up and ran out of the store.
"It's ok…" Octavia said. But by the time she said it, Raven was already gone.
"Octavia! Darling are you ok?!" Her mother asked lifting her off the ground.
"Yes, Mom. I'm fine" Octavia said still thinking about Raven. Octavia recognized her. She had seen her on the streets usually sitting in the alley with her dog. She was a beggar and usually asked people who passed by for money. Her clothes always looked worn out and her hair was usually untidy.
"This is the last time we're coming to this neighborhood store! I don't care how good the Cuban food is, we are done!" Octavia's mother said.
"Wait mom can I just grab a snack please?" Octavia pleaded. "I'm so hungry, I haven't eaten since tennis practice."
"Fine, hurry, this store is just not safe. This is no place for a 10 year old"
Octavia grabbed a bag of cheetoes and strawberry gaterade.
"You never eat cheetoes or gatorade. Why do you want that?" her mother asked.
"I just want to try something different. I heard they taste really good."
Octavias mom paid for the snacks and they headed out to the car.
Octavia looked to the left and saw the alleyway that Raven was usually at.
"Mom, I'm just going to run over there and throw something in the trash"
"Ok honey." Octavias mom was a bit distracted as she just received a phone called from her son Bellamy.
Octavia ran to the alleyway and put the food close to Ravens usual place and ran back to the car.
Raven was a bit further down from the alleyway since she was hiding from the store owner and security guard. However, she saw Octavia place a bag near her usual spot and she was curious as to what it was. She walked over and a huge smiled spread across her face when she saw what it was. She sat down and enjoyed her meal. It had been two days since she last eaten and this was her favorite snack. As she ate, she thought about the girl with the dark braided hair. It was the first time that anyone was nice to her in a long time.