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. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjWhLf568us
“What's wrong?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡp0eFAnh2di
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9caGbOncqc
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?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPcFhZ0T51s
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQXZIdhhRzU
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGDJoGDZqK2
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ98yItEtfni
“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.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6xXnNqGkfG
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.507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUPnYpdAKYs
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZXgp9kmbBM
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIKNUrM5Ak5
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeRSdV71LhT
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQcm8YPCseP
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.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhRKWpajhbJ
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡH9MTi3T5Ti
“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.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ80C210Ymdo
“O-okay.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw5i4QFv1qM
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. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRncPiG1Nmc
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3Vwy5yW5Ld
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxtH9movoke
“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?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡo0FSnc9HtM
“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.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ONtv6ffJZ
“Thank you, mama.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqjUxy4S7fT
She nods. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYju2AyPsar
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxjjcBhPRu
“Can you cook?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡap2ji9JKad
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiLj7VzVhK1
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5MCgP7IwKW
“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. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6NbxbiepQ
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5UJTXcvLKy
“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. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhJnobdzfY5
“Oh. Where are you from?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0bbfo2Ry5m
“Illinois.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMGYb2KL9vc
“And you came here by yourself?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyXkaOUPVjR
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcdE18V3p7B
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY29ozwgzLz
“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.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUkkZKiqFEZ
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡENlzReqeHK
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmF4Vj2lLCP
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0G2dympXr0
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRdmdNYE3Ol
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBmZ1aFgNx5
“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. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaEQfxamrHG
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. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjNMgBUsn3
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFTPwyg3HRJ
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqvE7oCm9JV
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKwfuYQzVXJ
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. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡasFv8BnKnK
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXpWHf2WGAz
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?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJBykbS6RHN
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡS0ACM4I572
“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.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrrQRqXp3wV
“Illinois.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyKbTLxVnDp
“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. 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzL8sJxEZq8
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe2vlQ7Hxll
“How? You don’t know me or them.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4IATapr49b
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsyIuqJo7n
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUae3UJbWFn
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzP8JyeJLZ0
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHaJyonk0KC
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3V4ssvtI01
She lets go, “Wh..what?”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡySrsYI7Grv
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLVSjhuS2q
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYGe6NXL4gs
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.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjBYLAPGlV2
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcbHajkxmpf
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ2CagMy3pj
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkeVvvFCWW8
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.507Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfThi71OshW
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