My Brother, My Friend

Prologue

Hi, my name's Sasha and I'm fourteen years of age. Okay, long story short, I ran away from home. My mom never told my dad about me and, let's just say, mom was abusive. I've been out on the streets for a while, now. About a year. I'm on my way to California to finally meet my dad. I've done things that I'm not particularly proud of. Stealing food, selling my own body. Anything I had to just to survive. Of course, that all changed one day. The day I met him. I was walking down a desert road near Las Vegas when I heard a car come up behind me. I heard someone shout something at me, but couldn't make out what. Then, they stopped the car and a man got out. Fuck. Another asshole who just wants sex.

"Hey, you okay?" he said. He sounded concerned. "Where are your parents?"

"What do you want?" I asked, scared now.

"Woah, it's okay. Look, we're not gonna hurt you." He spoke with a British accent. Wait, we? "Ronnie, Derek. Listen, we just want to know you're okay." As he said that, two other men came over. One of the other two, the taller of them, knelt down in front of me.

"Listen, I don't know what's going on, but I don't like seeing kids wander around in the desert like it's nothing. There are animals out here that, if you passed out from heat exhaustion, would kill you." This guy sounded worried. "I'm Ronnie, by the way."

"Sasha." I replied.

"Sasha, Do you wanna come with us? We're gonna go get something to eat. Then we can go find your parents." Ronnie said, a slight warm smile on his face.

"I ran away from my mom." Shit! Why did I have to say that? Ronnie's smile faded. A look of worry spread across his face once  more.

"Then, could you tell us why?" the man with the British accent asked.

"Jacky, maybe she'd be more open to talk if we got her fed? Look at her, she's skin and bones." Ronnie said, turning to the other two.

"I'll go. But I'm not saying every detail of why I'm out here, not in Ohio."

"You came here from Ohio?" Jacky asked, shocked.

"Yeah, why?" I replied.

"How long have you been a runaway for?" Ronnie questioned.

"About a year." I said, looking down.

"Well, that's gonna change." Ronnie said, looking at me. "I'll take you in."

At this point, I was shocked. Someone actually cared? No. This has to be a dream.

Ronnie got up and walked me back to their car. After I got in and everyone was settled in their own spots, we drove off.