Stallion

Chapter Two • Abstruse Ties

Lareaha Banks

"We're going straight to the police station." My aunt Claire says handing me a caramel frappe from Starbucks. My fingers surface the meager warmth as I close the car door and take a long distant breath. Amanda turned around from the front seat and showed me a face of compassion.

"Police station for what?"

"Don't be silly Lareah, you and half of your friends were muddled in a robbery at a pizza shop. You kids are so forgetful sometimes." Aunt Claire irritatedly mocks us, more of myself. Amanda's thick eyebrows flexed and she turns back around.

I didn't understand why I had to go to the police station, it wasn't as if I was the only witness at the robbery. "And they aren't my friends." I quietly say, but nobody hears.

My head touched the cold glass window and I watched us turn into my drive way and off to the entrance of the neighborhood. Stallion was a person of my favor, he was so down to earth. I never told him I'd take my end of the compromise, but I'd never throw him under the bus. I was tempted to tell my cousin all about the night, and how fond I grew of Stallion, but my aunt would tell all to my father.

"Amanda is friends with them, sure they're your friends." She goes on. I didn't think my irrelevant comment was heard, news flash, it was.

"Mom, can you just shut up? She isn't friends with those backstabbing whores and neither am I." Mandy says in my defense, a scoff releases from my lips as I lean forward to see my aunt's reaction. Aunt Claire tucked her thin lips in and shook her head in blunder.

"Mandy, you are so rude to me."

"Mom, you're being annoying." Mandy replies.

As the two carried on all the way to the police station, I became astray in my favorite set of poems, Milk and Honey. Everything soothed my nerves and made me feel like I could actually breathe from all the madness the night before. I wanted to savor the moment longer, but it wasn't until my father called me.

"Hi daddy."

"Are you alright? I mean I'm on my way home now." He has a panic in his voice for something that has happened over twelve hours ago. Even if something did happen to me, he'd be too late. Ella has become what feels like his main priority lately. I have yet to complain about her, but I'm pretty sure my dad would do anything for her. Move across the country, the world, you name it.

"I'm with Aunt Claire, I'm fine."

"Well the alarm system was never turned off last night, that means you didn't go home. You weren't with your aunt, so where the hell were you?" He asks.

I furrowed my brows and concentrated on peeling the dead skin off my lip unconsciously, "I was fine for the past twelve hours, that is all that matters."

He took a sigh and hummed an annoyed tone. "Ella and I are on the way back, your brother is passed out sleep in the back."

"What is Ella with you for?" It was bad enough they'd talk mushy on the phone, now I have to hear it in person?

"Hi honey, see you soon." Ella chimed in the background. My nerves felt unbalanced as I cringed from her voice. The car pulled into the parking lot of the police station and I drifted my thoughts to last night.