Lower Manhattan, July 1987
Sonny huffed as he realized he had gotten to the point on his popsicle where there was only a small chunk left, a small chunk that was dripping and about to fall off of the stick. Amanda noticed at the same time and giggled next to him, which earned her a glare. Shoving the whole thing in his mouth at once, he laughed when it resulted in blue dye dripping down his face and onto his shirt. It was so hot outside that it was almost a welcome cold.
"Sonny, Amanda!"
Looking up at the shout of their names, Sonny squinted, Amanda hopping down off the stoop. He recognized who was running towards them, but was in the mood to mess with him a little instead of jogging to meet him halfway like they normally did.
"What!" He shouted and Amanda laughed, joining him back on the steps and pretending like she didn't see their friend down the sidewalk.
Nick kept running, swerving around the other pedestrians on the sidewalk- almost ramming into a woman pushing a baby in a stroller.
"Amanda!" He yelled, pausing to pant before adding "Sonny!". They looked at each other and laughed, leaning forward and shouting "What!" again in unison.
Before Nick could repeat himself again he was in front of them, leaning down and putting his hands on his knees to catch his breath before looking back up.
"There's a new family moving into my building, we have to do the initiation!" He said and the two blondes went wide eyed, throwing their popsicle sticks on the ground to run back in the direction that Nick has just come from. The same woman with the stroller from before that Nick had almost bumped into passed them again, shouting that they needed to watch where they were going. Amanda and Nick both ignored her, Sonny stopping short to offer a quick "we'll try ma'am," before jogging to catch up with the other two.
They brushed past the receptionist in Nick's building, clamoring up the stairs until Nick came to a sudden halt after four flights, turning around and shushing them. Continuing their ascent more subtlety, they passed a woman and a boy Sonny assumed to be the same age as them, bringing boxes out from the hallway and into the room. When they reached the sixth floor they leaned over the balcony of the staircase, Nick counting down quietly from three before spitting down to the floor below them, Amanda and Sonny following. They all managed to not hit the boy or who they assumed was his mom, but it didn't take long for her to look up anyways, Sonny assuming from the look on her face that she was expecting a leaky ceiling- not three kids.
"What the hell?" She shouted, shooing the little boy into the apartment and shutting the door before looking back up, arms crossed and forehead creased.
"Hiya!" Amanda yelled and waved, the women below them only narrowing her eyes.
"Where are your parents?" She yelled, Nick leaning over the stair railing to shout the question back to her. "Where are your parents?"
As if on queue, the door down the hallway from the trio swung open and Nick's dad stepped out into the hallway, scowling as he took in the scene in front of him. "Nicholas, what did I tell you about this shit?" He yelled and Nick lurched back off of the balcony to scurry inside, his dad stopping just shy of slamming the door when the woman down below waved to get his attention.
"Excuse me, are these three yours?" She said and he rolled his eyes, scoffing.
"Just this dark haired brat, these two are from the hostel with the red canopy down the street."
Sonny knew that meant they needed to bounce, but Amanda seemed to process that thought quicker, grabbing his arm and dragging him back down the stairs and out of the building. They ran all the way back to the hostel, Amanda following Sonny back into his family's suite.
"What did you guys do?" Teresa shouted as he ran in and Amanda slammed the door behind the both of them.
The pair only shrugged, Sonny plopping down onto the couch next to Gina, who groaned and pushed him to the side when the nail polish bottle she was balancing on her knee almost took flight from the sudden movement. As he'd expected there was soon a knock at the door, Sonny not missing the glare his oldest sister shot him and his partner in crime before she went to answer it. From where he was sitting he could make out one of the front desk receptionists from Nick's building standing outside, joined by his new neighbor. A minute of inaudible conservation passed before Therea whipped her around, whisper-yelling across the room for Sonny to get over there. Amanda took his place on the couch, trying to start a conversation with a less-than-enthused Gina.
Sonny was met at the front door with a stern look from all parties, which he responded to with a smile and small head tilt.
"Hello ma'ams." He said cheerily and he was certain Teresa would have smacked him upside the head if it was just the receptionist standing there. But before she could do that the woman from down the street was speaking- her voice raised.
"That's him, him and his twin and their little friend were spitting from the floor above us and now there are puddles of spit outside our room. Where's the girl?" She said, Sonny unable to fight the giggle that escaped him.
"'Manda isn't my sister just cause we have the same color hair." He said matter of factly, Teresa putting a firm hand on his shoulder as the tongue lashing continued.
"Well I want you to find her and come back and clean up the mess you made," She said and threw in an "I'll be waiting." before turning to leave. Sonny looked down, Teresa rolling her eyes. "I don't know how many times I've told you that initiation crap you do with Nicky is gross, go clean up." She said, turning back into the apartment.
Amanda looked up when she saw her pivot, giving a sheepish smile. "You too, honorary Carisi sister." Teresa said playfully towards her. She got up and followed Sonny back out, their energy a degree lower than it had been thirty minutes ago.
"What's your name?" Sonny said as he slid the wet paper towel across the floor with his feet, meeting eyes with the boy from earlier, who had been standing in his doorway watching them clean for the past few minutes. He was wearing a long sleeve button up shoved into jean shorts, an outfit choice which befuddled Sonny seeing as it was close to 95 degrees outside.
"Rafael." He said quietly, Amanda looking up and pulling her eyebrows together.
"That's a grown up name, do you have a kid name?" She said, having turned her attention to folding her paper towel into a fortune teller.
"Uh," Rafael started, hesitating for a beat. "Sometimes people call me Rafi, does that count?"
"Mm kinda. Wanna help us?" She responded, grabbing the roll of paper towels and holding it out to him. He didn't take it, looking between her and Sonny with an unsure look. "It'll go quicker and we can leave quicker if 'ya do." He said, unsurprised when the prospect of being left alone sooner convinced Rafael to grab the roll off of Amanda. He tore a sheet off and letting her spray it with the water spritzer his mom had provided them, glancing back into the apartment to make sure his mom wasn't paying attention before getting to work.
Even if he had only agreed to help with the goal of getting them to go away, Amanda making a game out of seeing who could scrub their paper towel to the point of shredding the fastest had all three of them laughing as the pushed the towels into the tile floor like they were trying to make a hole in it. Sonny gently put two strips of his own demolished towel on Rafael's head, scotting back to admire his handiwork. "Now you have hair extensions," He said and smiled when the other boy giggled, twirling one of them around his finger.
"Rafi mijo why are you helping them, let them do it."
His mother's voice cut through the giggling, and Rafael looked up abruptly but only shrugged, laughing again when Amanda rolled up her shredded paper towel into a ball and tossed it at the side of Sonny's head. And if anyone asked Sonny would swear up and down that he saw the slightest hit of a smile on their new friend's moms face too- even if she looked like she was trying to mask it.
Lucia deemed their cleaning job sufficient and sent them back on their way about twenty minutes after walking out on their game, Sonny and Amanda walking circles around their block, ducking into the library to get out of the heat. By the time it closed it was almost sunset and they meandred on back to the hostel. Sonny stopped walking as they passed the door to Amanda's family's suite, expecting her to go inside. But before she could they both of them heard yelling from the other side, Amanda wincing. She looked between Sonny and the door wordlessly, Sonny's brow creasing with worry.
"Do you think Kim's okay?" He asked and Amanda only shrugged. "I don't think she's in trouble or nothin' my aunt is probably just fighting with someone on the phone again."
Sonny nodded, and when the yelling traveled through the door again he gently nudged her away and they started past her door towards his own side of the hostel, Teresa looking unsurprised to see that Sonny hadn't returned for the night by himself.
But before she could ask questions Bella was squirming out of her arms, running towards them as soon as Therea put her down. "Nee nee!" She said and reached out with grabby hands towards Sonny. He crouched down onto the toddlers level, narrowing his eyes playfully.. "That's not my name, it's SON-ee." He said, but she only gave an indignant giggle, Sonny just repeating himself. "Son-ee."
"Can I spend the night?" Amanda asked as she walked towards where Teresa was standing in the kitchen, pulling herself up onto the counter and swinging her legs back and forth. "Kim's sick and I don't like the sound people make when they throw up." She continued, Sonny trying to stifle his laugh- and not make it obvious to his older sister that she was lying through her teeth. But if Teresa knew she wasn't telling the truth, which Sonny thought she might, she let it slide.
"That's fine kiddo, do you guys want me to reheat the pizza we had earlier for you?" She said, met with excited nods.
Sonny walked over to the counter and used a chair to get onto the surface and sit next to Amanda, suddenly realizing why something still felt off.
"Where's mom?" He said, pivoting in his seat to look back at the door. Tessa had said this morning that she'd be home before he went to bed. But she'd also said that yesterday. And the day before that. And the day before that. Gina seemed to perk up at that question, but Teresa shot her what Sonny called her 'sister mom glare', and she stopped short of saying whatever she was about to, looking away and biting her lip.
Teresa just shook her head as she opened the pizza box on the counter and slid paper plates across to Sonny and Amanda.
"I don't know," She said quietly, her expression faltering. "But I gotta get Bells to sleep, so please be quiet and remember to brush your teeth before you come to bed." She continued and walked out from around the counter, kissing the both of them on the head before pulling Bella away from trying to take the cushions off of the couch and disappearing down the hallway with the toddler on her hip, closing the door to their bedroom.
"Do you know where mom is?" Sonny said towards Gina once he was positive that the eldest Carisi was out of earshot, the tween chewing on her bottom lip for a beat without responding. "I think so, but Ter' won't tell me if I'm right or not cause she thinks I'm a baby."
Sonny just nodded, too tired to understand what she meant, or even try for that matter. He picked up his pizza silence and tried to concentrate on his dinner and the beat of Amanda drumming her fingers on the counter, instead of the questions dancing through his mind as chaotically as the pickup performers danced around the A train every Friday.