No Childhood

You're Welcome

Tre pulled his head up and looked at me angrily.

"This is your fault!" He yelled. I flinched at his sudden outburst.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"All you had to do was run away, escape, but no you had to be a hero," He said.

"Don't be like this Tre," I said.

"I wouldn't have to be if you would've just left!"

"I only did that to help you. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I just left. They were going to hurt you. You have to understand..." I reasoned.

"And you have to understand that what you did wasn't helpful. It was stupid. Now we're both stuck in this mess."

"Well maybe if you weren't stupid enough to get involved with drugs in the first place, you wouldn't be in this mess now!" I retorted.

"Well maybe if you-" He was interrupted by the door opening.

"Sorry to interrupt, but you're ruining all the fun Tre. Making her scream is my job," Andre smiled wickedly and walked toward a camera. I became nervous, when I realized that he was turning it off. Andre did the same to all the rest.

"What are you doing," Tre asked, worriedly.

"Since you and you little 'girlfriend' broke up, it shouldn't bother you, but you'll see," Andre said. He walked over and crouched by neck. I turned away, as an attempt to dodge it, but I failed. His slimy tongue slid up my neck. I pulled on my chains and exclaimed in disgust, only further entertaining him. He climbed on top of me and pulled up my night gown. I kicked and swung, but the chains held me back. Andre laughed and started to unbuckle his pants. He threw his belt to the floor and dropped his pants. I closed my eyes, waiting for him to do his worse. Instead, I heard chains jingling and someone choking.

I opened my eyes and saw a chain strangling Andre. Andre struggled to pulled the chain off, but his effort was pointless. The chains were pulled tighter around his neck, until his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he was motionless. I screamed and yanked my chains. The chain around his neck went limp and fell to the ground. Andre's unconscious body dropped to the floor as well. Right after, my mouth was covered, by a sweaty hand.

"Shut up," A hoarse voice whispered. I looked up to see Tre's tired eyes staring down at me. I jerked my head away from his hand.

"What the hell is your problem," I whispered, angrily.

"Look, I'm sorry. I'll explain later," He said. "But we have to go now." He picked the locks on my chains, with Andre's discarded belt.

"How did yo-"

"I'll explain later," He interrupted. "We have to go," He helped me off the table. I pulled back.

"Where are we gonna go Tre?" I asked. "You can barely walk," I said gesturing to his injured legs. "And -"

"Be quiet," he commanded.

"Why?" I asked.

"We can't let them hear us talking, they'll catch us," He replied.

"But isn't silence suspicious too?" I asked.

"That's exactly why we have to hurry. Come on," He told me

"But the door -" I looked to where he was and remembered the vent. "Oh," I said and jogged towards him.

"Give me a boost," He said, lifting his leg.

"So you can leave me here? That's not how this is gonna work," I protested. He put his leg down and looked up at me.

"What, you don't trust me?" He asked, cocking his head to the side. I shook my head.

"Not no more," I replied.

"Why would I free and leave you?" He asked. I gave him a blank stare. He sighed "Fine," He submitted. Tre lowered his connected hands, to make me a makeshift step. I placed my foot in his hands and he lifted me up. I pulled myself into the vent, and turned around to grab Tre. I used my feet to keep me from falling out the vent, as I pulled Tre up. He was heavier than I thought he was, but I was still able to get him in. We switch spots and he led the way. I could see the pain he was, just because of the way he was crawling. He stopped in his tracks after a few minutes of crawling in silence.

"So where to now?" I asked. He turned to me.

"This is where we separate Delilah," He answered. I gave him a confused look.

"What?" I asked shocked. "Tre... are you going back?" I asked. He nodded "You can't go back, they will kill you and you still have to explain a lot to me," I argued.

"Maybe one day," He forced a smile. "But we don't have time to argue. You have to go," He said.

"What about you?" I asked, concerned.

"You ask a lot of questions, but I'll be okay. I promise," He answered. "Now go," He said sternly. Before turning my back on him, I got on my knees, and gave him a tight hug. At first he tensed, but then he relaxed and wrapped his arms around me.

"Thank you," I whispered sadly, into his shoulder. I let go, got back on all fours, and slid around Tre.

"Delilah," He called. I turned around and Tre's lips crashed into mine. His hands grabbed my waist and he pulled me closer. Surprisingly, his lips were a little softer than I would've guessed, after he'd been there for so long. I closed my eyes and for a second, we were the only two people in the world. When he broke our kiss I looked up at him, shocked. Our eyes locked.

"Your welcome," He said and then he turned away. A single tear fell from my eye and I continued in the opposite direction. After a few turns, I saw light shining through the vent. I pushed it off and saw I was about two stories above the ground.