Shit-Holes Like This Were Never So Fun!

"You better not be smoking back there, Sweeney." I heard my dad call from the upstairs window.

"Oh I better not? Sorry about that!" I called back sarcastically.

Then I heard his footsteps coming down the stairs, and I smirked to myself. He arrived at the back door and gave me a steely glare.

"Put it out, or get out." He ordered me quietly.

"Really? Okay, I'll be back later." I grinned, waving at my dad as I left through the back gate.

He yelled after me. "Sweeney Jasper Todd you get back here..."

You know. As they do. Typically, I couldn't care less how much he'd yell at me when I got home. What's the worst that can happen? I'll get grounded and I'll have to sneak out if I wanna go somewhere. No big deal.

I sound like I'm showing off, I'm really not, I just don't like rules. You can see where I'm coming from, can't you? Especially my parents. Mostly 'cause they gave me a weird name. Who the hell names their kid Sweeney? If I ever have a son, I'm naming him Benjamin. Or Toby. Anything but bloody Sweeney.

It made me pretty happy to see that London was still the same old dirty, grimy city it was last time I saw it. I don't know why, all I ever did before was complain, but I guess there's no place like London. Even if everyone here is full of shit. Hmm.

“Did you hear? There are new people moving in.”

I stopped. I was a new person moving in. Interesting. I sought out the people and followed them. One was tall with dark hair in a short pony tail, wearing just some jeans and a shirt, pretty basic.

The other had hair down to his shoulders, a bandanna tied around his head, a button-up shirt, holding a jacket over his shoulders and baggy jeans held up with a long piece of red and white material, with all kinds of random shit hanging off them. What the fuck?

“Same school as us, I think,” The more normal-looking one continued.

The other was silent, and I frowned, and then the normal one spoke again.

"You’re not thinking of messing with the kid, are you?"

Okay...if that's about me...I don't like the sound of that at all. I'm not a kid! Jesus!

“What would make you think I would do something like that?” The weird one finally asked, very sarcastically. “Shouldn’t you be bothering your little girlfriend?”

Oh joy, he is going to 'mess with' me. Assuming, of course, that this is about me.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Sparrow."

I smiled a little as the boy with the ponytail walked away. At least I wasn't the only one with a strange name, be it first name or surname, at least I didn't have a bird name.