• Same day •
• 11:22 a.m •
I woke up and Steez was next to me asleep. I shook him and he woke up.
"Hmm?" He stretched.
"You found what you were looking for?"
"Yeah. I put the food in the mini fridge."
"Alright. Thank you baby."
I slipped out of the bed and freshened up. As I was washing my face I heard him moving around the room frantically and whispering to himself.
"You ok?" I yelled from the bathroom.
He didn't answer back.
"Steez!" I called out.
"I CAN'T FIND IT!!!" He screamed.
I stepped out of the bathroom. "Find what?! What are you looking for?!"
He ignored me once again and continued searching the room. I rolled my eyes and went back to the bathroom fixing my hair.
"Steez I need a phone." I said.
"A phone?! For what?! You can't call anyone!"
"I just wanna call some people."
"No. No! Are you crazy?! Do you know we're hiding?!"
"I don't wanna hide anymore! Jamal I just wanna go home!!"
"You can't." He looked at me in the mirror. "You don't have a home."
"So I can't call anyone? Are you FUCKING kidding me?! This some bullshit." I left my hair alone and sat on the bed.
"Not until next year when you're 18 and I won't let you expose yourself."
"Watch me." I challenged him.
"You wanna try?! I WILL NOT let you go outside without hiding yourself or let you get near a phone."
"Wowwwwww! Are you fucking serious?!"
"Steffy you agreed to run away with me! I never said it'll be easy, I never said it'll be fun and I never said I'll let you do whatever! You don't understand how serious this is! Stop whining and being immature!"
"Immature?! I'm being immature?!" I shot back.
"Yup! You are!"
"Fine then! Since I'm being soooo immature and you're being a mature adult. Imma go somewhere else and be immature. Shit, I might take my childish ass back home to Alexandria because I can't handle the real word. I'm too immature."
He lowered his voice and put his hands in his hair. "Stephanie no. Come here. I'm sorry."
"Nah, imma come back when I learn to be a civilized adult." I stuffed everything in my bookbag.
He snatched my bag away. "Stephanie Im sorry! I don't want you to leave."
I chewed my bottom lip and put my hair up. "Ok...I won't leave."
"Promise?" He asked.
"I promise."
He smiled shyly. "So...you tryna go out to eat?"
"Eat where? Mostly just businesses around here. Didn't see any restaurants." I looked out the window.
"There's a Waffle House a couple miles down from here. You ok with a 25 to 35 minute drive?"
"Sure. How are we gonna pay. You know, we gotta get a job real soon."
"Shit." He rubbed his face. "You right, you right. We can't get a normal job though."
"So what're we going to do? I'm not working at some shitty McDonald's. don't have time for people's shit."
"Stephanie you know I care about you right?"
"Mhm..." I said confusingly.
"And you have a lot of respect for yourself."
"Ok...?"
"And you're a beautiful woma-"
"Steez what?!"
He cringed. "Strip. You gotta be a stripper..."
My jaw dropped.