After running barefoot for three miles, she stops at a huge oak tree for rest. She pants and sits at the base of the tree despite the grass being wet. She covers her face with her wet hands and starts to sob. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnb4oGtWl1s
“What's wrong?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDD2LyTH1Y9
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ91vrn1C0At
He shudders, “Please, call me Phoenix. Why are you crying?”
Her lips part but nothing comes out. He smiles a devious smile, “do you want to talk about it?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUoivAr84cb
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCRMKIXG5sp
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjrCJ72OA6e
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx1U6W6g02j
“The night time has always been soothing to me. The stars and the moon, twinkle so bright.” he looks up at the sky causing Zeniqua to look up at the sky. She'd never thought of it that way. “It's like everything is so still and it's quite serene.” He then looks at her and she eyes him. “Your turn.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4LLwlTuKzw
She sighs, “My father. He had found me. I was trying to escape the life he wanted me to live by coming all the way here. But, I'm not sure how he found me. I was so careful.” She hangs her head and shakes it. She looks up at the stars in the sky, twinkling without a care in the world.536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvo3ikTd1Ua
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCYzNI6XLbr
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWyRrO3rO1R
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6EfaDoZmbc
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNBpuKX78e1
He stops and folds his arms, “Why not? You need a place to stay for the night. And trust me, just because this is a nice neighborhood doesn’t mean there aren’t crazies out here.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwvS4p4rt7
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhhiMqTw9vF
“She doesn’t really say no unless she doesn’t like the person. We are known as the family that takes people in need in.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ168AZV0WHG
“O-okay.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5n0Eg2CoG1
They end up at a two-story brick house and Trell opens the door. “Mama, I am home.” Zeniqua stands in the doorway until Trell gently pulls Zeniqua in the house and closes the door. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMorQz2ofww
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBiFcWcAi2L
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0r9vrjbPHZ
“Oh,” she perks up a little bit. “I am Mrs. Townsend. So, what’s this about son?”
“She needs a place to stay for the night. She is going through something and...she can’t go back to her house tonight.”
Mrs. Townsend looks over at Zeniqua, “Are you hungry?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4gymJDXHLP
“No...a little bit.”
Mrs. Townsend looks at her son, “she can stay for the night. Go get the guest room ready while I fix you two something to eat.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZGvohrsjeJ
“Thank you, mama.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0DhisCQ4wB
She nods. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeesIbP2ccE
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4ZwqOPkjb
“Can you cook?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EensO6Bkc
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSYpE9xovc9
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc0mFRSQA5I
“I can do that.” She nods confidently. But, she wasn’t so sure if she could do that. They both sound so foreign to her. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlPVTRa39RV
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ52FwKmlDsE
“A few days ago. I needed a change of scenery.” Zeniqua shrugs her shoulders as she cuts the carrots up and places them in the roast beef stew pot. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiS2dr9NJOE
“Oh. Where are you from?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡU7T3LRISDV
“Illinois.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9bCpjkSt5
“And you came here by yourself?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf6iO36EVl6
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl99eROMZfi
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOQ8J2YIpoG
“It’s okay. I know my mom would have done the same thing.” Zeniqua says.
Mrs. Townsend puts the duck in the oven. “Sorry, if I seemed like I was pestering you.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHjAIjBRQ9R
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQz6cSTVfi
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp24xaArxzh
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ90qJhfLOw1
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZbHFmb7yg
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZHLRXEiMw5
“Thank you.” She stands up, yawns, and stretches. She then follows Trell to the guest room, once there she gets in the bed and snuggles down. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzCqYc2nl8M
Trell sits on the edge of the bed, “There. He won’t find you here and if he does then mama has something for him.” He winks. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEwM8herZh
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaPKTxFdtm9
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrscxz2zpV
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX52ANCryU6
She rubs her face and turn on her side to look out the window. She gets out of bed and goes to the window and looks at the stars. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7sIwDLmYmV
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdX6NHhjauv
She sighs, “Would it be a good idea to go back to my Aunt’s house at all knowing that my father now knows where I am?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKjL1ZSWLTo
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsi97jCox0Y
“I don’t know. I know that I have some family members in California, but I don't know where. They are all spread out unlike my father’s family who are in one state.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSNTio4DnGh
“Illinois.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhTh3NItyXg
“Right.” She sits on the window seat and draws her knees to her chest. “I want to be with my mom’s side because I know my father doesn’t know where they all live. But, neither do I.” She begins to nibble on her finger nails. 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzcqcI52Bne
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvkKdqq9na
“How? You don’t know me or them.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhAZ1SpdhPw
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFceULmmleo
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnQOKKnBehE
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0VJmvbNv0j
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7KUL141sC0
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfzLzMd0Eik
She lets go, “Wh..what?”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmXYY6Ul8oU
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq5JtbiHOwr
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWWl9ArTUO
He shrugs his shoulders, “I know that. But, you are a smart girl who wants better for herself. I have no reason to turn you into your father or to rat you out. If you have to run, then I will go with you.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3O3QG4CLyO
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd3W3NlQDeH
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡowbw5jc1t4
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5v0LFGd7k
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.536Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNm7WF3whjB
