two

“I’m going to work, Elyzah.” My mother said shaking me. “ “Mmkay momma.” I said half asleep. I dozed back off for a while. 

I looked up at my clock and it read 11:04 am. I jumped out of bed and ran to the window next to our back door. I seen Blade and Star outside on the couch. He looked up and seen me. I gave him the gesture for one minute, then ran back to my room. I grabbed a change of clothes and went to the bathroom. I went to turn on the shower and the handle broke off. “Damn it!” I just through on my clothes and did my make-up. I brushed my hair and teeth. Checked myself one more time in the mirror, then ran for the door. 

Blade seen me coming out of my back door. So he left Star and ran up to meet me. He got to me and he was out of breath. I looked at him and smiled, and he smiled back. “Good morning.” He said, taking another breath. 

“Good morning, Blade.” I said. 

“Do you have my jacket?” He asked. 

“It is inside. You want me to get it?”

“Sure.” I opened the door and walked inside. Blade followed me cautiously. I seen him stop at the fridge. He seen a picture of my mother and father. He smiled and looked at me. I shrugged. I did not know why my mother still had a picture of my father on our refrigerator. 

I walked to my room and Blade followed. As I gave him his jacket, he looked at my pictures on my dresser. There was one of me and Tonya, my best friend. There was also one of me and my dad, playing checkers when I was five. He looked up and smiled at me. “Is that you?” He asked.

“Yes. That is me and my father, when I was five.”

“You are adorable! You still are.” 

“Thanks.” I walked out of my room and headed for my back door. Blade walked in front of me and asked, “Want to see my place?” 

He grabbed my hand and we walked out the front door, down to his place. 

He unlocked the door and invited me in. He had it fixed up nicely. It looked like a guys house definitely. Dark colored furniture, pictures of sports, and trophies. I walked over to the trophies and read, ’Second place winner. Phillip Lewis. History Whiz Competition.’ 

“You won this in school?” I asked

“Yes, twelfth grade. I graduated the highest in my class. I only got second in this competition though. My rival Adam Green won first. I was just happy to place in the competition.”

“Well, you are a smart guy.”

“I try.” He laughed. He walked into his room and showed me a picture of his mother. She was beautiful. She had short black hair, blue eyes, and she was plump. She looked so healthy. It is hard to believe she died of Leukemia. I seen tears start to fill his eyes. I turned him towards me and said, “She is looking down on you. She knows your pain. She loves you Blade.” 

“Thank you Elyzah. That made me feel better.” He wiped his tears and looked up at me. We locked eyes for a second, then someone started to knock on his door. 

“Blade! Open the door! I know you’re here! So is Elyzah!” yelled Star and Marah. Blade snapped out of our gaze and ran to his front door. 

“What girls? You sound like the damn police.” He said. 

“What are you doing? You left me out there.” said Star.

“I was getting my jacket. Then I wanted to show Elyzah a picture of my mother. Is that a problem?” 

“I guess not. Are you coming back out now?” 

“Yes. You sound like a five year old asking for a play date.” He motioned for me to follow him. So I quickly ran over, as he draped his arms around me again. 

We got back over to the couch as Luis started to walk over. He took of his shirt, and took a seat on the rock next to Marah. He pulled out a joint and a lighter, and passed it to Marah. Marah lit it up and passed it back to Luis. 

“Want a hit Blade?” asked Luis. 

“Sure man. Just one or two though.” Blade took the joint and took two puffs and passed it to Star. Star took two puffs and passed it too me. I took it and stared.  

“Well, you gonna hit it or not? You’re wasting it chick.” said Luis. I took a puff, then another one. I held it in and passed it to Marah. When I let it out I started to cough. Blade looked at me in a concerned way, I nodded. He took it back and puffed it again one more time, then passed it to Star. Then it went to me again. This continued until it was gone. 

About ten minutes later, I felt relaxed. Everything was starting to be funny and Star had two noses. I got up and tried to walk and nearly fell over. Blade stood up quick and I told him to sit down. I wanted to take a walk. 

I left the group and started to walk down the road. I was gone for about five minutes when Luis found me. It was starting to rain and he had an umbrella. 

“What are you doing out here? First you are with us, then we look and your not.” He said. 

“Sorry. I guess I zoned out.” Luis took me into an alley way. I looked around and it did not look familiar. “Where are we?” I asked. 

“It is a shortcut.” he said. When we got deep in the alley, he put down the umbrella and pinned me against the wall. He started to kiss my neck.

“What are you doing?!” I yelled. 

“Be quiet. Go with it.” He whispered. 

“No! Stop it!” I yelled again. Finally, hit smacked my face. I started to cry. I looked in his eyes and seen rage. He pulled a piece of rope out of his pocket and tied my hands together. I started to scream. 

“Sh. No one can hear you Elyzah. You are in the middle of an alley.” He started to feel his hands up my clothes and back down again. I started to cry. I tried to kick him, but then he threw me on the ground. He punched me in the ribs, then he sat on my legs. He started to kiss me again. I screamed as loud as I could. Then the next thing I know is that I wake up in the alley, hours later, in the pouring rain. 

I tried to stand up to walk back home. I felt pain rush through my body. I doubled over and started to cry. I seen my phone under a piece of newspaper. I walked over to it and picked it up. I had 5 new texts. It was mom. She said that I need to come home. That she is worried, and she called the police. I looked at the time and I seen 1:27 am. I have been in this alley for almost twelve hours. 

I started to walk to find my way out of the alley. I finally see police lights and I scream for help. The officer screams to his partner that he found something, then he runs to me. I lose my balance and fall into his arms as he screams for help.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

When I wake up once again, I am in a hospital room. My mother is in one chair, and Blade is in the other. “Guys.” I say softly. Blade opens his eyes and jumps up. “Carol!” He yells. My mom jumps up and walks over to me. 

“Honey! How are you feeling?” She asks. 

“To tell you the truth, I feel horrible.”

“How much do you remember?” 

“Everything.” I started to cry. 

“What happen Elyzah?” asked Blade, nervously.

“Nothing.” I said. Blade looks at my mom. Mom puts her head down. 

“Nothing is not a good answer sweetheart.” Mom says. “The doctors did tests on you. Plus you have bruises on your midriff.”

“What kind of tests?”

“Rape kit.” I looked down and started to cry again. I looked up at Blade and seen tears in his eyes. I looked at my mom, and seen concern in her eyes. 

“It came out positive, Elyzah.” said Blade. The police walked through the door and went over to mom. I seen them talking about me, mom looked at me every time she started to talk. 

“What happened Elyzah?” Blade asked softly. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” I said. 

“I am so sorry. I should have went with you.” He started to cry. 

“It’s not your fault, Blade.” He went back over to the chair to sit down. I seen the officer walk over to me. Mom and Blade stepped out of the room. I recognized the officer, it was the one who found me. He was accompanied by another officer. 

“Hello Elyzah, I am Officer Richard Allen, and this is my partner Officer Michael Reed. Do you remember what happen to you last night?”

“Yes. I just don’t want to talk about it.”

“If you want the guy brought to justice you have to tell us.”

“I smoked weed for the first time, went for a walk, he followed me, told me he was going to take me home, then it  happened in that alley way where you found me.” The officer wrote down what I said and started to ask questions. “Who did it?” 

“Luis.” 

“Luis who?”

“Ask Blade. I don’t know his last name.” He writes down more information.

“Can you tell me what happen first?”

“I smoked weed for my first time.”

“Then?”

“I went for a walk. Then five minutes later, Luis showed up. He gave me an umbrella, and told me that the alley was a shortcut. Then he tied my hands hit me, and finished the deed. There. Happy now? Now leave me alone.”

“You are in stress right now.” 

“I don’t give a s**t. Leave me the hell alone.” The officers left. My mother came back in and told me that I could come back home. I pulled my IV out and got out of bed. Then the nurse freaked out when she seen the blood. I walked out the door and told mom to come on. 

When we got home, I went straight to my room. I sat on my bed and cried. 

Author's Note

not edited