Cellophane Vow

[Verse 1]
Two seventeen, Tuesday, on the northbound 4 to Woodlawn,
Air thick with the ghost of somebody's cheap cologne.
She got the hoop earrings on and the scowl to match the set,
Phone face down, hoodie up, ain't nobody met her gaze yet.
Fingernails bitten down to the quick, I peep the habit,
Twitchin' her leg to a beat that ain't on the track, a nervous rabbit.
She's digging in her pocket for a key or a plan or somethin',
And pulls out a single piece of hard candy, starts the thumbin'.

[Pre-Chorus]
And the train slows down... Mosholu Parkway coming up...
The fluorescent light hums a single note...
She's turnin' it over and over in her palm...
Like it's the last dollar she got, tryna stay calm...
The wrapper crinkles, loud in the quiet car...
Yeah, the wrapper crinkles...
Here it comes...

[Chorus]
Then she put the candy on the vacant seat,
A little sugar offering to the concrete.
Didn't say a prayer, didn't miss a beat,
Just left that candy on the vacant seat.

[Verse 2]
Then her eyes flick up and catch me staring, quick, a sudden shock,
Both of us frozen for a half a second on the clock.
She looks away fast, like I caught her in a secret, told a lie,
I look out the window at the Bronx passin', try to act sly.
But I saw the whole thing, the private little ritual, the faith,
In a world of cracked screens and missed calls, she's leavin' a sugar-wraith.
Abuela used to say, "'Deja algo pa' los santos,'" somethin' for the ghosts,
And this girl's makin' bargains with the spirits she fears the most.

[Chorus]
'Cause she put the candy on the vacant seat,
A little sugar offering to the concrete.
Didn't say a prayer, didn't miss a beat,
Just left that candy on the vacant seat.

[Outro]
Doors slide open, she's gone without a sound.
Just a cherry-red promise on the plastic, sittin' 'round.