The end of the beginning

1.Aaliyah

I walked through the door of my school for the last time. I have been to this high school for 4 years. I looked at my degree again. I had made it. Finally.

I ran home without looking back. I can finally get out of here. Nothing holds me here anymore. I don't have a real family, nothing at all. My father loves his alcohol and drugs more than me anyway. He never cared about me. He didn't even come to my graduation.

I saw a very familiar scene when I entered the house: My father slept on the couch with a few empty bottles of wine around him. I quickly went upstairs and took my backpack. it contained my things and most importantly my savings of 3 years. 5000 bucks that I've worked my ass off for the last 3 years of my teenager being. I'm an adult now so that was it.

   I rushed to the next bus stop and waited for about 3 minutes until my bus came. It was supposed to bring me to the train station,from there I decided to go as far away from Virginia as possible. California would be a pretty good choice. I decided to listen to some music so I got my Discman out and put in a cd by N.W.A, then the song ,,Straight outta Compton'' started playing in my headphones. Yea  I have a Discman, it used to be my brothers, Eric. He died a year ago in a shooting at a party. I miss him every day, so I listen to his old cds. But I gotta say this guy had some damn good taste in music. Where is this Compton? I mean I've never really searched that up but this is my favorite song and my guts tell me it'll be a good idea to go there. I finally arrive at the train station. I go towards the lady at the counter and ask her in wich state Compton is. ,, It's in California dear, you wanna go there?'', she asked smiling and I just nodded. This was perfect. I would be far away, even tho my so said dad wouldn't care if I was away, and I was going to California, the state where the sun never goes down and shit. Now I was in a really good mood.

   The counter lady gave me my tickets and I paid , thanked her and realized that my train was already coming in few minutes, so I really had to hurry. A while after I already sat in my train to California. Bye bye Danville, hope I'll never see ya again

I got to my destination after 2 days, so I was pretty tired. As I got out the train a heat wave hit my face. Man it was really hot here. All I had to do now was to find a motel room or some place to stay at for couple days. It was getting dark, so I had no  idea where to go, I had no map, I had nothing at all. So I did what every normal thinking human being would do. I just ran out. After a while I walked past a basketball field where some guys were playing as I felt something touching my butt. I turned around and before I could see who it was I got hit on the ground and dragged to the side of the road. I tried to fight back, but the someone holding me down was just to strong. It was a man. He started touching me and I knew what he was all about. A tear rolled down my cheek. That's how my dad used to touch me when he was drunk. Now, I was a 14 year old girl again trying not to cry. He went further, but suddenly I heard a scream. Two moments later he was off me and one of the basketball guys was fighting him . At that point one of them came up to me. I didn't notice that I was crying like a river, it was all going that fast. I wiped my tears away and looked at him. ,, Hey girl are you okay?'' he asked and looked hella worried. He didn't even know me. ,, Yea I'm fine'' I said but I felt the tears coming up again and again. He opened his arms and I just hugged him. I don't even no why I did that, this man was a complete stranger. Just seconds ago I was scared for my life. But then I just felt safe while hugging him, I have no clue why but he felt like my brother did. I cried in his chest for a while.He tried to calm me down but I was really upset. Suddenly, he just picked me up like it was the most normal thing for him to do. I was really surprised but I didn't say anything. After that, he said something to his friends. ,,old men rape lil girls now. Y'all think we should take her home or idk what do we do now?'' he asked. I didn't hear an answer. After a while I calmed down and looked up, he smiled a bit and gently wiped my tears away. His T-shirt was completely wet now and he was sitting on the field, with me on his arm. ,,you feel better?'', he asked and I nodded. ,, I'm sorry''I said  but he just shook his head. ,, Don't be, it's okay lil girl.'' he said.
,,so now tell me what you doin out that late''he asked so I told him the story, but leaving out that part with my family. He jus nodded and asked me where I Had to go.
,,well I was hoping of getting a motel room for my first days before I could get a crib'' i told him. ,, it's like 12pm already, you won't find no motel open ma'', he said and I got disappointed. The hell should I do now? ,, but you could spend the night at mines if you want, I don't think you have a choice.'' he said
,,ugh fine''
He wanted to carry me but I shook my head ,,I have legs myself y'know?''
,,Aight lil girl'' he said and put me down
   ,,I ain't that small!'', i said but then looked up at him and realized I was half his size
,, Yea aight ma'' he said with an smirk on his face

I woke up in the morning in a to me unknown bed and looked around. I was in a big, fluffy bed with loads of cushions and a nice and warm blanket. It was really much better than my bed down there back in Danville. I had a small and really cold room, I froze my ass of every winter. I glanced down and saw the guy  from yesterday, sleeping on the floor on a blanket. He was shaking from every inch of his body, it must be really cold down there. I took my blanket and covered him  with it. I mean he saved me yesterday from that fucked up shit. He looked really cute tho. As soon as he felt the warmth of the blanket he stopped shaking and a slight smile formed on his face. I laid back down and fell asleep right away.  It felt like 5 minutes but the next thing I know is that I woke   Up covered again with my blanket to some really good smell. I looked down and the guy wasn't there anymore. I just realized that I didn't even knew his name. I decided to get up and follow that gorgeous smell. I went downstairs and came in an open kitchen where he stood at the stove making some eggs with bacon. I love that food! I cleared my throat so that he noticed me and he turned around. ,,good morning, you slept good?'' he asked and I nodded my head,, yes thank you, oh and thanks for yesterday'' i said and he smiled. He mumbled a ,, don't worry'', and told me to sit down. I did as told and seconds later he put a plate with food in front of me. ,, thanks'' I Said as he sat aside of me and we started eating. ,, I don't wanna seem disrespectful but may I ask what your name is?'' I asked and he looked up at me. ,,no it's not don't worry. My name's Malik what's yours?'' ,,I'm Aaliyah. I like your name'' I said smiling and he said the same about me. We talked a lot that morning. He was 20, played basketball and worked at a restaurant. He insisted on me staying at his house for a while without even paying rent until I'm ready to get my own place. He had a really cool lowrider and liked the same music as I did. He was really cute if you ask me.
,,So why would you wanna come to Compton Aaliyah? There are wayyyy better places then this'' he asked while finishing his eggs. ,, Well my mom died 9 years ago, since then my dad changed really much. Like I wasn't his child anymore. He always told me it was my fault. When I got 16 I got a job so I could have some money for a better life. I Listend to one of my brothers cds, maybe you know it, it's called ,,straight outta compton'' so I decided that I wanted to go here'' I told him and felt my eyes burn at the thought of my mom and my brother. ,,Oh I'm sorry about your mom. And you listen to NWA? I'm surprised. And what about your brother? Why did he let you go to one of the most dangerous city Calis, he must be a mad man'' he said shaking his head. This was going a bit far. I put my head in my hands. ,,My brother... I-‚'' I started before breaking into tears. I still couldn't talk about Eric. It was last summer. He used to be the one who protected me of my father, of everything. I really miss him. Malik came over to me and pulled me in a hug rubbing my back. I was crying on his chest, again. ,,Shhh, it'll be alright. Y'all guys argued?'' he asked and I shook my head. ,,he got.. he got shot last summer..'' I stuttered and cried even more. ,,I.. I'm sorry ma.. he's in a better place..'' he said rubbing my back and put his head on mine.