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. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEv1D68Pr9W
“What's wrong?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeT8QWIOB0q
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiwdE12bvRA
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?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbo609Keh74
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡERa5zwibZt
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUb0J8Cf4g0
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcYheDtK4Ag
“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.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPwSOXHEJLI
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.540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTkQjN0pR80
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3lYMNiorlS
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eUj3vYaKE
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ99GMhQtWs0
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZC84B8wNlW
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.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1HH9CcaljP
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡenwfKvHsh2
“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.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5n1rJAmKSS
“O-okay.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3I1f4QLFhi
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. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDNh16sRBXB
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOAyrTkyTHW
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxlVQjXc7bc
“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?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNvzaHgMqC7
“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.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ49ueIyMJzC
“Thank you, mama.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnTPmmmNcpo
She nods. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWbhwgiIkt6
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUqb8Bw5OLp
“Can you cook?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡILB0gxHFdq
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUOIjAyQhb5
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkH5lpMC8H6
“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. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFbY32Vdfcv
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAiuD6QlVLd
“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. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2C9ZomHLtA
“Oh. Where are you from?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoy0kWSnNeF
“Illinois.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC9edKXbWoV
“And you came here by yourself?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGB4xDIZlFa
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmSxmLnRyTg
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ85k0VkQjm3
“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.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtkDTeeK52p
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUish7BQ8jx
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOIXFNpNkZV
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKJjZy3x7Dl
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjYRSwuAxgj
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UsuPREeJm
“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. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcfgHHWWJWz
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. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoJ0ygmyc2
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVpqkqHRfIJ
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl6jnkSaluL
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuHfTSLbgZa
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. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvqa3nHMnbo
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn1N6afVyyT
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?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjEdezBM1Tg
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rT14pPahX
“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.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MZXnAehBC
“Illinois.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTbPE5ahonR
“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. 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhglzSC2zUH
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA2G0Quzzlf
“How? You don’t know me or them.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqYqztlcvL
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeGWQavjnm3
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlJWIF00334
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnSKqNkEaJV
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFxnPW9i8Qm
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQpD6lbcuAa
She lets go, “Wh..what?”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa3lcwWJwfw
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH39yeSNMdy
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6lhsN8zGK
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.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5ezl7Pu4Sk
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ785snKIR1h
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7GT2Uq9cJ2
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoJq0qfk2BJ
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.540Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡu67XUJNTMj
