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. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ571nFwtDX7
“What's wrong?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ12QlL4iadm
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6NHbHOa66X
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?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiZT99pIf1l
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZxXUdIlZxB
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVksUYWXD7J
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlmeouyvDSy
“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.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQy7wSRib7e
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.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF1SIFMrVPU
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRj6m71uV30
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDTMnxNNP1J
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAKXvFj1byM
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FAfYTUKtO
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.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmi2qPVrqBW
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhy6W9qi9In
“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.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMyyp0Z4IE9
“O-okay.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmRsMdZMqNx
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. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiruw75bktX
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8NL90Tsyu
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9gnm2oi0M
“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?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxh8L52DXUF
“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.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxjEgeUDfVr
“Thank you, mama.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDh8hdbMwNY
She nods. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡM2i5lXPQ8I
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7krA3xAHgn
“Can you cook?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ23EWeCdkkm
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT9au02jzos
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKmzjhFTb1w
“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. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnEAg2hT2fB
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz5W67AQtUF
“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. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHbMHuQOQg
“Oh. Where are you from?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBi34ZIOyt
“Illinois.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWP9ba0OBtz
“And you came here by yourself?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7OwcS8hhxd
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg7PhcsPO0j
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡupP9huafsW
“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.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxwYrIOLlnE
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpAbUNcMYph
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi1D6ZbHsTS
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjQyxthTOkg
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2DBFBQqTIC
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1TeSBqGM68
“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. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAI1Fg6l6Hf
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. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxqvyWvoHCv
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN5Q1KGllJa
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdDtNgiKO4k
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6MTxQ0YyTy
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. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡztFp0y5nIa
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTyqgOuUVME
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?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDMZ8g0GMyG
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjb5Fa95Ohy
“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.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEQ4Bipddc0
“Illinois.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJXB46ABIQm
“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. 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ00pHFjc8l4
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv53LHTrX4B
“How? You don’t know me or them.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeiMEkOR1R
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbLX0bkPRpk
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsL2TotDhiW
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡETLByrPIFX
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoMykrt3fUp
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAgDE13XVty
She lets go, “Wh..what?”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO3WeJc0ZZJ
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuIAt7vvZO7
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmQGCkf9aK
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.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqa1l53a5Yw
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE91LEJpR3m
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhxwEE13YZO
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdcFX2XVO4N
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.476Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡReYEIhcMA9
