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. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFsDp8HFt1X
“What's wrong?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWdfptW3LMH
She gasps and looks around. A figure steps from behind the tree. Zeniqua squints, “Contrelle?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeEudF3spuR
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?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6coRKcsGuE
She nods. He helps her up. “What are you doing out here?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGu4klF28o
“Ah,” they begin walking, “we are supposed to be talking about you and your crying.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqrkv3VRawm
She blinks, “yes, but what are you doing out here at night?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGJvyindL8G
“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.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuJutBdT5SZ
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.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBEFzp7ea0L
“That sounds awful. Is he at your aunt's house still?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjn1jlZdfyx
“I don't know. I don't want to go back there tonight. I can’t.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl1qVep2ZzV
“I can talk to my mom and see if she will let you stay in the guest room for tonight.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIIeV4nj03W
“I can’t let you do that.” Her eyes widen. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡshIFj6YeXA
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.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡi6pB21ds8X
She nods understanding what he is saying, “Alright.” They continue walking. “But what if she says ‘no’ then what am I going to do?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiMrQG4HG0Y
“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.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDW5ftaipKq
“O-okay.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡres7LlmtR4
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. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3ebZWPZOd2
“Great. I started to get worried.” A middle aged lady comes around the corner and stops when she sees Zeniqua. “Who is this?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZ3WPVsHy0s
“This is Zeniqua. She is a friend of mine. Well, she is Gracine’s cousin.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEU1gL8WDWl
“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?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZalwGIq8mx
“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.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk7SbKtmgYu
“Thank you, mama.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡke2ixO3lVO
She nods. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJsxBPVGPJe
“Thank you, ma’am.”
“You can help me in the kitchen.” She nods to Zeniqua. Zeniqua follows her into the kitchen. Trell goes upstairs.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhUNckg4kyS
“Can you cook?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSB9tkytWk7
“Yes. But, what are you making?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQdCEiz25Vv
“Wonton soup and peking duck.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAu0LrYZi0r
“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. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiqJgwCimW5
They begin cooking even though Mrs. Townsend already had majority of the cooking done, Zeniqua still pitches in. “So, when did you move here?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8yH1BWOKCv
“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. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbKUUnfm6VB
“Oh. Where are you from?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMAzZdt9AAO
“Illinois.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqPbFkUJuJW
“And you came here by yourself?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgIpLiQiaa
“Alright, mama. That’s enough.” Trell says coming up behind them. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhGiigqfEdo
“What? I was just asking her some questions. I have to make sure she isn’t some kind of killer.” Mrs. Townsend assures. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡtIjLFQ69dR
“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.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2eT1ljwfyD
“No, it’s okay.” Zeniqua yawns and sits at the kitchen table. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8BXk3uHnje
“The room is ready when you are ready to lay down.” Trell says to Zeniqua. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqu39fE9Jhc
She nods, “I don’t think I will be able to eat.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc3e4vSoveP
“Oh, Trell make her a snack or something. This won’t be ready for a while.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhkBzMdplVY
Trell makes a sandwich for her and pours sweet tea in a small cup. Zeniqua eats the sandwich and drinks the sweet tea.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡRgVPjx3QmX
“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. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSXZmO59rX7
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. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡoHxRUxaDeZ
Zeniqua chuckles tiredly, her eyes hood, “I hope I can go to school or something. That way I won’t be home as much.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZupmzCkeSK
“Yeah, maybe. But, for now, get some sleep.” He puts the sheets up to her neck and her eyes close. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡG0jFtxetNb
“What’s wrong?” Trell asks her.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9LHJcAZlvg
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. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPN88nmYWpl
Twinkling without a care in the world. No stress or disappointments. Just being their brightest. Zeniqua thinks to herself. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2oJSqlYtL5
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?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4bE52zJuT3
He scratches his cheek, “Where else would you go?” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbxvuXFJQVj
“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.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡum7TJMcbBA
“Illinois.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ37QtU4AcKN
“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. 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhsTf5uf5oy
He pats her hand for her to stop, she does. “I can help you find them.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmB49vDhrvD
“How? You don’t know me or them.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4XDRImDzxY
“You’re right. But, I am sure Gracine knows where some of them are.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqHKT6bCwQf
Zeniqua perks up a little, “You think so?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKWJiDsC4YJ
“Yeah, she mentions a few cousins and where they live.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6vzT8Z1WsC
Zeniqua hugs Trell, “That would be so great.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡChPucYnRXZ
Trell hugs her back, “Yeah, but if you have to run, I will run with you.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1maDXMfTXE
She lets go, “Wh..what?”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfhtWMFP9Fs
“You are unlike any girl I have ever met and I don't want to lose this.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNuVVbZPnZs
“Trell, you hardly know me. I mean we met like a day ago or so.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYgvs8e9HsF
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.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8EHXHdiO2y
This boy is completely out of his mind. “I don’t know, Trell. I don’t want you to be in danger as well.”574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZZiUCeIlyR
“Look, just sleep on it. We can talk more about this in the morning.” He stands up and stretches with a yawn.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbIuNbup1tQ
“Okay. Good night, Trell.” 574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVB6wLrWTb
“Night.” He leaves the room closing the door behind him.574Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgypOoyJHcE
