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. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwQ6ZvOHUi
“What's wrong?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡav2W4swo0U
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoZ6CtFstdE
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?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZwe9A7DXq7
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvRwkhvEBJ0
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEoUZbnMpIY
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8ueHxuVnO
“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.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDSO78ax6kk
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.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlC5Mv0Ngur
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlG0P8bo20S
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡohylgNm8c0
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcRkCeSia6n
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapVNCkXUvN
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.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxHLmqBfgJu
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2hzam7yt2
“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.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2T2ENJKkGD
“O-okay.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoC78mNFqv3
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. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVD3sqxdkcv
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5fynmClcln
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡup2FlFZEcf
“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?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzMdmATGrFh
“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.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqAhfHjW4x8
“Thank you, mama.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1PwuePySj
She nods. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡODnE20nwf6
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3w14ytY7nw
“Can you cook?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5OTVqqQhjg
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoIuO0AePxI
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwtU6vpegfI
“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. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4A6NsdUeBt
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLTsXEiVLm8
“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. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIqYeaV1HI7
“Oh. Where are you from?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUrYowVFkpf
“Illinois.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLNoKEGiXjN
“And you came here by yourself?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbyMJpW60ze
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQvGaAl3ic2
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUpvH374uID
“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.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9AJFM6BMSf
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyfh0S4OAdf
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9H0vhgqhVI
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecZcw6ma6l
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUYinhoYsmn
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgBf4Hhdi8K
“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. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3dUYlYMVHy
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. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN7y9GTUoYS
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFazZFghwrQ
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ap4eg7rZs
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxzdxSERQQh
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. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡquroGT3sRY
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMdLP7Ybaw0
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?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIn8BwSDoUy
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2q0M3PyEr
“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.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuuiWrJg6hY
“Illinois.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKPEu6b1gle
“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. 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5gLN8ZHnR8
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmlOAhlTRbR
“How? You don’t know me or them.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBPlU4bkuZq
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlNhDz7h3JK
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjxj4ZvU4J4
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡya2okxyY6V
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK5zDw1VQDe
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYBgOxmsSYS
She lets go, “Wh..what?”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFw4Kyt5BDU
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrf3jl1lw7
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1AmNHZwqy0
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.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWBWedzafv4
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAVHNDAJNme
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdGLPsoyTHJ
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZVQ7wPs5SZ
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.582Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX5KxnhfCPS
