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. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpnolFZmxJJ
“What's wrong?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsdTcj69ZnI
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiVm3P3pJeX
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?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfd3uxIktsC
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnBWp4uk1yw
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlvhHVo5Lna
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJNvKrSBhrb
“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.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRZ9RYlqmZE
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.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOwAncJRsWf
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ72A0EHLHkn
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM3DulHtIg0
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9EYMvkJXZu
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJR3KINHcFV
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.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5T1Cpie3zp
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnIQgUFT9rB
“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.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDGjiBAeU2c
“O-okay.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjAAjoMf2n3
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. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOst4Bly8T3
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtCLUENFWAZ
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFY1BBsX9j7
“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?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeXnibX4sLA
“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.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWIO4Z1dIdH
“Thank you, mama.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV67YAZlOW0
She nods. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6KIWnkwoMy
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsS9EIRJTiz
“Can you cook?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLwzxkl8ZdN
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7BK54sXO6t
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk849WBwDJI
“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. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS2cWNjley8
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwuBUD7pq1g
“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. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCmjkqKW0nB
“Oh. Where are you from?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfIsYZnqmxT
“Illinois.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhrfoMsPE6A
“And you came here by yourself?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZqShWFPXqL
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV8tYgfYPJf
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUEAN9gxTKR
“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.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJHkAQD8RQ9
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSHBtDfLzvD
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIyvB1RmKLL
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrXazKDoDx
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3f6Tkrl7Xm
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp7C5T80DCg
“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. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxgICKGpZ1v
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. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3o3qij5qM9
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3HQwJ2Givy
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4mFjCSDMO
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgY8brCjgiR
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. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ733tLXVqFr
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7nswmWW3Lj
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?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0Kcfrtgktp
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdhSa5vHeD6
“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.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFEHkjQOGOC
“Illinois.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaYUaGZIw4
“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. 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVu8fahg7JP
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo9ofqjEv3p
“How? You don’t know me or them.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPouiKN5BLE
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgjVKnSd70X
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLeue9ITo0D
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyVSMgz4YpL
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFzhEQW1fXh
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LoSOcZATE
She lets go, “Wh..what?”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwYA7R5aC25
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUIUXdmw9Br
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4Cr9otVRzB
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.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmcGuiHVxjY
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMPPifXfwcS
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6oEKYGkAv
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3EMw4ZR9Ja
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.460Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2KgL1lgdBS
