as i was going down into the subway station this kid came up to me and started talking. he asked me what's up and what's your name and where are you going and stuff, and he immediately grabbed my hand and came with me as i walked. it was immediate red flag for a bad situation. kids don't go up to strangers like that unless they have an extremely unstable home situation.

anyway, he started asking for my phone and was like 'gimme your phone or i'll break your phone,' and i was like 'oh, i don't have it, oh, i think it's in my bag,' but he saw the outline in my pocket and started grabbing it from the outside as if confirming what it was. i guess i feel bad for lying, but i couldn't think of anything better quickly enough.

eventually his mom or whoever that was just went like 'D----, come back here, no touching people, that's bad' and stuff, and then i looked over to her, expecting eye contact or something, but she didn't look at me at all. that kinda confirmed that oh, okay, we got some shit going on here.

then i took the elevator down to the platform, still thinking about it, and then i saw D---- across the platform wandering around (he was toe-walking). the woman supervising him was on facetime and occasionally telling him to come back and shit. he sat down at one point and dropped his backpack before immediately standing back up and going up on the bridge connecting the tracks. he went up to a guy up there, but they didn't engage much. then mom comes up the stairs and is calling out to him somewhat halfheartedly but clearly exhaustedly pissed. poor caregiver vibes was the visceral way i experienced her.

that was pretty much it. a lot of him walking away from her in indiscriminate directions.

shit is so sad cuz it's so textbook. i bet that kid is getting abused and neglected. yes, i think it's both.