The Malik's Dolls || z.m.

One

I cautiously turned my head to the right first, and then my left for any potential harm approaching my way and little Zoey.

I grasped my little sister's hand tightly, but firmly as I pulled her along with me down another street which was illuminated dimly by the tall street lights, as I was given the green light that it was safe to proceed.

With my free hand, I held the two open sides of my faded purple hoodie close together to bring myself to some level of comfort and warmth. With the feeling of fear slowly creeping up my spine, I quickened up my pace as I tried my best not to make any sounds against the cracked asphalt with the soles of my torn and smudged black Converse sneakers.

"Zara, you're going too fast." Zoey whined as she tried to loosen away from my grasp.

I quickly turned my neck to face her, and I could see she was having difficulty keeping up with me as the short brunette beauty stumbled upon her ripped up sandals, adorned feet. Her thin eyebrows were furrowed together as she helplessly looked up at me with those big gorgeous hazel eyes of hers.

"Just a bit further Zo." I muttered turning my attention back to the front. "I promise."

I turned a corner and continued our way up to the brick building that stood a few meters from us. It was two in the night so the place was all dark and I didn't bother to check as to what this building was since my only goal as of now was, to find a safe place to stop and rest for the night- or until we got kicked off the property.

I studied the small barren area behind the building which looked fairly safe and very much secluded from the public eye. It was perfect.

"Is this it?" Zoey asked looked around curiously.

"Yeah." I pulled at the hair tie that was tangled in my shoulder-length brown hair to redo my ponytail. "Come on, let's settle down."

Zoey followed me to where I decided would be the best place to sleep tonight, against the building but far away from the corner. I slipped the backpack I was wearing past my shoulders and arms to retrieve our blankets which I had stolen from a Christmas clothing drive donation box in a community centre last year.

Oh course I didn't tell Zoey that. She thought we were two of the hundreds of people that such a simple luxury got donated to.

I handed Zoey another blanket which was to be used as a pillow. As for me, I slipped off my sweater and folded it to my best ability to make it as comfortable as I could to support my head.

An ordinary individual here in Los Angeles would never think of ever being able to sleep on the bare uncomfortable concrete. But little Zoey and I were accustomed to it by now. A thin layer of cardboard to give our backs a support would in fact, be considered as a luxury in our condition.

Once Zoey and I settled down and got into positions which we thought were comfortable to sleep in, I turned to face my sister.

"You alright?" I whispered.

"Yeah, I think so." she nodded giving me a smile of reassurance.

I smiled back, but the reason for her bravery and patience. My heart pulled at this but I remained strong.

For her. Only for her. My little Zo...

I turned my face towards the night sky and sighed heavily. Boy was I glad to reach the end of the day without anyone of us getting hurt. A bit of weight had been lifted off my shoulders.

This was my constant struggle daily. Sure it was tiring as hell, but it was my routine. A normal person my age would go through the routine of waking up in a comfy bed, in a safe neighborhood every single morning and start getting ready for their day at college or work. They would pass their day working hard to achieve their goals for what they have set for themselves. Then to reward themselves for the effort they put through during their first half of the day, they would treat themselves by relaxing into the second half. Of course between all of this, they would devour themselves with delicious, easily accessible food items. At the end of the day, they would acquire the greatest gift of all. Lying back into their comfy, warm bed to rest from their tiring day.