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. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV1XTgAX3JK
“What's wrong?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3fR2SdefWE
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2AUnUKMkWB
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?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTVmr6RYfqG
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4PuLLWvGWK
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ045LrPasOg
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv9z55FtWy6
“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.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJJqzgijWWD
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.505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf9a81lpgp1
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoBlYoaMvEb
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAuoJSyvd27
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi3K6EMd7Bd
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0tkCwoknol
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.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5bIUNroSuV
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTvQfWe3VG
“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.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡn3bVJ75Fwr
“O-okay.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡncAaxac74Q
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. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSJNddXiqMQ
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK2G5DRjmph
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcFpBckc38U
“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?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4z3KPvWSjw
“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.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6AzjVYtcVn
“Thank you, mama.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpWHl8LBRh8
She nods. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfQYJafBEos
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnJbrNNkKBx
“Can you cook?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBxQYSLVeVW
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmwz2ee2AZg
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2QhUwABinD
“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. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxUVBuskOFg
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPVtjNfVSV2
“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. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIEaYu1qP8z
“Oh. Where are you from?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG8z5u3ekDc
“Illinois.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkNYCUWdy9e
“And you came here by yourself?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVSjEzcS3zS
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgpveHdXp6J
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5VmoZEA7nC
“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.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIDZzCxzhGP
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9UfECcvfFO
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgq3NfrzWo0
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡapanp2bVz1
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxR0jNQ6XA2
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwmPb70Dd2J
“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. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOSkU99Mitm
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. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVBR93clvzJ
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeBRWU0K9Jy
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAzlxQvdAPt
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcoS3b4kdCR
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. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlalT56eXD6
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡecFhtG40SN
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?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡO0ouVCxnBP
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡscUsWt5G6g
“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.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdzY4szxv2t
“Illinois.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡI0TgAIbjGA
“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. 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2MV38MYGqj
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyuEw5EmxYO
“How? You don’t know me or them.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ81dWvI2brr
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo94pXd4c3T
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡig0u3ipH1P
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKbhih2ghvi
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwvZa4HpLDC
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT8OXtGNTpG
She lets go, “Wh..what?”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsefDaQOUwI
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqmhjOB2Jcq
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8E0VrPkMYb
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.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtibe5w746X
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz0zCUa7lbZ
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡygqx4zwfzM
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5WRxlDLiLi
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.505Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrzTqaB5Elc
