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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqz0oKBAYOW
“What's wrong?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbtSwYt3i2X
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj0sSQqcwyS
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?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjHddeXjTOL
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5QtMcGcyuc
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJH9hNgaaQ3
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡClAwLLCpxY
“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.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZcEh1seEPz
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.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDehk4zlSih
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZvjwMzJmpG
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj4x8KPEdSb
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ836p4E1S3F
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXjrBBROgIQ
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.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0AVD67QyL4
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHzppnOtHAo
“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.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Ih5XAHwwA
“O-okay.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgNYISjJ3S2
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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpkNXHyDn8K
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDyGEF0TAtU
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlu7UbdwMzP
“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?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBdBSJBhsi2
“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.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpVQXgqRC48
“Thank you, mama.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMmvXEmh4pZ
She nods. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkXgYqgNB23
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxocKu8zpp6
“Can you cook?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQyofOqxcPZ
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhCdoAIYgZd
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtS77KRtUsN
“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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡr4IW4S64Yj
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAT32KWRAtI
“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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpLQFAFESgu
“Oh. Where are you from?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNXFkWB8bd3
“Illinois.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7xTmJCv8Zu
“And you came here by yourself?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡA8YLHUmMvz
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxrKwQrvgWP
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIXW7nyPlaa
“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.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xdNfPc1gc
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ17bPfkMx6L
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmQ3vguh9OH
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiWlQ6zDx9s
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaFqfC3Aik2
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtDwlk1ZEZO
“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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwTtcGNrnJs
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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkw4OZMib43
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkQaouTCPKD
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiSsmjiBYn0
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsjvkQevdqu
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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡq4u0IvWtyF
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2BHxVMAjlp
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?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwZ2uQo7U6q
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7CZ0Ip2Yus
“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.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIynctUb2lJ
“Illinois.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡedP9AopUl4
“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. 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzmElF5pkpx
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvxxc1Y2wnl
“How? You don’t know me or them.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxR9hVZe6A9
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjfz6aONTe
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmqpAUw2nu2
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZDauvFu2yG
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz2bK02eDf1
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJkcCHm7HMd
She lets go, “Wh..what?”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRKBA8o8vnu
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjFohZHE6v
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlv8CSN1ruu
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.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbl7ZWqeeWQ
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrJpQbWghhB
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTlSo4mSuwR
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlsXpykgOKv
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.533Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS1ffg5vXXj
