Alex was twelve when he got into his first real fight.
It happened on the block after school. Sofia was ten, waiting for him outside the bodega with her backpack slung low. She had her inhaler clipped to her collar like always, just in case.
Two older kids from the building next door were there too. They were fourteen or so, the kind who hung out on the stoop and threw rocks at pigeons. One of them, Manny, spotted Sofia and started laughing.
"Look at wheezy girl. You gonna huff and puff and blow the house down?"
Sofia's face went red. She clutched her backpack strap tighter but didn't say anything. She never did.
Alex dropped his books and stepped in front of her.
"Leave her alone."
Manny grinned, showing a missing tooth. "Or what, little man?"
The other kid shoved Alex's shoulder. Alex shoved back harder.
It turned into a scuffle fast. Fists flying, knees scraping the concrete. Manny landed a punch on Alex's eye, but Alex got him in the nose. Blood trickled. The bodega owner came out yelling, broke it up.
"Go home, all of you!"
Alex grabbed Sofia's hand and pulled her away, heart pounding. His eye throbbed, but he didn't care.
"You okay?" he asked her.
She nodded, eyes wide. "You didn't have to."
"Yeah, I did."
They walked the rest of the way home in silence. Maria was at work, so Alex cleaned up his face in the bathroom mirror. The bruise was already blooming purple.
When Sofia saw it, she got the ice pack from the freezer without a word and held it to his eye.
"Thanks," he said.
She smiled small. "You're my hero, Alec."
That night, after Maria came home and fussed over the bruise, Alex added five dollars to the can. He'd started a paper route the week before, waking at dawn to deliver before school. The money wasn't much, but it added up.
He snapped the lid on and slid it back under the bed.
No one was going to hurt Sofia. Not while he was around.
And the can would make sure they had what they needed.
One way or another.