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. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡd4OpQaRPjR
“What's wrong?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVG79UVyAO
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡisQZzzJwVX
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?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCbniAfMvby
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1oMP7dWP3b
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlSLuLSpmSO
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVN1NKqiwJz
“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.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡueazJKS5IW
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.511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡclTTr3Mykk
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡW3H0pQSY4n
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBIkkUU1naW
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoFSbNxSrGt
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDvuv9fLfue
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.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfgmfPCAKx
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLmpqvKxR88
“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.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9rWQHhyKJy
“O-okay.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8KxR2OOcp2
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. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEwsjo8t4Qg
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSbwDCY29vn
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI2kCECNPW8
“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?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLPnetvYWiv
“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.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCvqJQm7IGm
“Thank you, mama.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxfPz8dbETl
She nods. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNCcVQfEqu
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpZnP0wPkh8
“Can you cook?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoxxXJUQYE
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsHpBN9Dfq3
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMMkAybfJKd
“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. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcHbrH6Nfbd
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡs6Ai0g0XN8
“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. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡybvK0M1ZrJ
“Oh. Where are you from?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFrirEfTCmf
“Illinois.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡt0I10gu6GX
“And you came here by yourself?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXxECBD3589
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFZMdNwYS2f
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIhpq470J7i
“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.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhIVVGlc7cA
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlIgK7oUlRf
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJu73p0yK4R
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYfmsSOzwO2
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTVbvUeiQe
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvVxHRl21b
“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. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2XCgrQr8y1
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. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpA2n8Rq0Nn
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrdYobzJpYs
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPQrygugLP6
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpi1zwwBMpt
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. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLL35njCaEb
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH98trJFjTv
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?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡErtgYiAQh5
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnpubn0lWEM
“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.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmLKKTYPYCn
“Illinois.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfSaETs1TzO
“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. 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYC0R101ZCx
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEisdCT6zi8
“How? You don’t know me or them.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRXa21if7hP
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpuXIEiqj26
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJrmwvaeoMY
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS6kUdzGAPd
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ6oMVIlLYK
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ75i0p9Rcp9
She lets go, “Wh..what?”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ54JoTWdetY
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXBkTOHiTGl
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOhyhb5rzmf
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.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSW7sDskyzO
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡusfmWeJ10D
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOqg2cYyuEb
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXUgGZB4Re
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.511Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYmkp9PfLf
