As you guys neared the club you could already see the bright, neon lights and hear the loud, hip hop music. Your insides were beginning to get all jumpy as the club came into view. It was pretty big and had several levels. Pink, green and blue lights were gushing out of the windows and doors. There was a short line developed outside the door where girls in short dresses and high heels stood. Chanel was wearing one of the short dresses she wore for work and you had borrowed a short, blue one from her too. Ray, Prince, and Diggy all wore clean t-shirts they were able to steal from the store a few days back. Although you were only thirteen, the dress and make-up made you look older…not old enough for a club but older than thirteen.
Instead of joining the line outside, Diggy lead all of you guys behind the building, into an alley where two boys around Diggy’s age were standing. Diggy walked over and talked to them for a few minutes, pointing in our direction a couple of time before the two men nodded their head. Diggy turned to you guys and nodded his head. The two men stepped aside and let us through the back door, but not before looking you up in down. You could basically feel their eyes undressing you. Your arms flew up and you crossed them over your chest. Prince stepped in front of you, shielding their eyes from you until you guys reached inside.
The moment you walked in, all you could smell was cigarettes, cheap perfume, and sweat, you were fighting the urge to cover your nose. The neon lights were almost bright enough to blind you. You squinted your eyes and tried to keep sight of Prince, Ray, Diggy, and Chanel. People were rubbing and dancing all around you, making you feel stuck. The smoke in the air was making it hard it hard for you to see but you kept your eyes on Prince’s afro the entire time before you all got into a corner.
Diggy: “Guys I gotta handle some business but I’ll be back in like an hour… just stay here and have fun.”
You: “But I thought you were gonna stay and party for my birthday?”
Diggy: “I will… I’ll be back later.”
He placed a small kiss on your forehead before walking off, into the crowd.
A man with a dark mustache and shades suddenly came up behind Chanel, grabbing onto her butt.
Man: *Leans into her ear* “hey Chanel. Wanna dance?”
Chanel turned around and smiled, obviously recognizing his voice as one of her customers.
Chanel: “Sure.”
Before walking away, Chanel turned and looked at you, Prince and Ray.
Chanel: “Go sit at the bar or dance, I’ll be over here if you need me.”
Ray: “What do you guys wanna do?”
You: “I kinda wanna just sit… I can’t really breathe out there…”
Ray: *Looks at Prince* “What about you?”
Prince: “I’ll stay here.”
Ray: “C’mon why do you guys have to be so lame?”
You: “Ray I said I can’t breathe. You can go dance if you want.”
Ray: “But this is for your birthday.”
You: “I know. Just go have fun. Me and Prince will be here.”
Ray looked from Prince to you before finally walking away. He seemed to be upset but he still left. It wasn’t long before you couldn’t see sight of him anymore.
You and Prince walked over to two open seats at the bar and watched the entire club. Chanel was in the back grinding with the guy in shades while Ray and Diggy weren’t anywhere to be seen.
You: “Do you think we should’ve gone with Ray?”
Prince: *Rolls his eyes and shrugs* “He’ll be okay… he always is.”
You nodded your head and looked back out into the crowd, suddenly you felt someone come up behind you and grab your shoulders and lean on you.
Hey baby, wanna dance?
His voice was deep and husky and you could smell the alcohols on his breathe.
You turned around to see a large, Spanish man with cornrows down to his shoulders standing over you. You scrunched up your face in disgust.
You: “No thank you.”
Man: “C’mon what’s a beautiful girl like you doing sitting here with this chump” *Points at Prince*
You: “It’s okay.” *Fake smiles*
Man: “You know you wanna- ..”
Prince: “She said she doesn’t wanna dance.”
The man turned his attention from you to Prince in fury. He walked over and picked Prince up by the collar, dangling him from the floor.
Man: “Mind your business partna!”
Before Prince could say anything Diggy came running over.
Diggy: “Big Mike let him go!”
Mike: “Nah… this little nigga got a big mouth.”
Prince: “At least something on my body is big, your girlfriend couldn’t say that same thing about you!”
Diggy: “PRINCE SHUT UP!”
Mike: “Nigga you got one more time to say something!”
Diggy: “man he didn’t mean It, just let him go.”
Mike looked at Prince for a long time before finally roughly dropping him on the floor.
Mike: *Looks at Diggy and Prince* “Don’t let me catch him on the streets.”
Mike then looked at you and smiled, while licking his lips.
Mike: “If you ever want a real man, you know where to find me.” *walks off*
You rolled your eyes in disgust before helping Prince up.
Diggy: “You guys stay getting in trouble! You’re lucky I was here or they’d be fishing for you in a river.”
Prince: *Covers his stomach* “I ain’t afraid of the big Mexican looking nigga!”
Diggy: “Prince, you never know when to shut up. You’re gonna learn the hard way.”
You’re gonna learn the hard way. The sound of that sent chills through your spine and made your stomach feel uneasy. If anything ever happened to Prince you’d die.
Prince: “Whatever. Me and Sun are gonna go and chill on the roof. We can’t breathe in here.”
Diggy: “Yeah whatever just make sure you stay out of trouble.”
Prince nodded before grabbing your hand and leading you to the top of the building.
On the roof top….
Although it took you and Prince a while to finally get up there, it was worth it.
The view was beautiful; you guys could basically see the entire city. The lights that defeated the night sky shined on you and Prince’s faces as you two stared out into the distance.
Prince: “See… that is where we’ll live.” *Points to large building complex*
You looked back at Prince and grinned.
You: “I don’t wanna live there. *Points at other building complex* “I wanna live there.”
Prince looked at you and then laughed, “Alright fine. We’ll live wherever you wanna live, As long as we aren’t homeless anymore.”
You: “How do you know we’re ever gonna get off the streets?” *Looks at Prince*
Prince: *Looks at you* “Because it’s our destiny.”
Prince dark brown eyes were peering into yours as if they could read your soul. His eyes were gentle and loving, unlike many of the eyes you had looked into in the past.
Our destiny…
The words repeated in your head.
The city lights against Prince’s eyes made them stand out even more.
You felt chills going through your spine as Prince’s face began nearing yours. His eyes were beginning to gently flutter closed as his lips came crashing into yours. You closed your too, although you were in shock. Prince’s lips sent electric shocks through your body as they stayed there for several seconds.
Prince suddenly pulled away a few inches as if he finally realized what had just happened.
Prince: “I’m sorry!”
You: *Gazes up at his eyes* “its okay… I wanted you to.”
Prince: “Do you want me to stop?”
You shook your head slowly… “No.”
Prince leaned in again and kissed you slowly as his hand slowly went up and touched your cheek. You felt an inner peace and love as Prince’s lips rested on yours. All the pain and fright you had experienced was finally gone and was replaced by a soft, gut feeling.
Suddenly a loud noise interrupted you and Prince. The room leading to the roof flew open and Chanel stood in the doorway.
Chanel: “Sun! I was looking for you. Can you walk down to the corner with me to buy some condoms?”
You looked from Prince to her in disappointment.
You: “Yah sure…”
You slowly got up, walking in the direction of the doorway. You looked back at the sight of the city and Prince one last time before leaving.
*
You and Chanel were slowly walking down the street, looking for an open store that sold condoms. Chanel was hoping to go home with the guy she was dancing with.
You: “So you’re having fun I guess?”
Chanel: “Girl yes and I’m hoping to have even more fun tonight.”
You nodded and kept walking, trying to hide the disapprovement.
Chanel: “Looks like you and Prince were having fun too.” *Looks at you and winks*
You: *Blushes* “It was whatever.”
Suddenly you two heard the sound of a large truck pulling up and stopping. The windows were tinted but the vibe of the truck scared you. The windows slowly rolled down and in the driver’s seat sat… Bones!
The moment you and Chanel saw his angry face, you guys began running. The heels you guys wore made it hard to run fast though and you nearly fell several times.
Chanel: “Sun run!!”
You thought back to when you and Prince ran away from home five years ago and you felt the same scary, gut feeling… but this time you felt you wouldn’t be able to get away.
You and Chanel continued running down the dark, city streets as the truck followed not far behind. Chanel’s breathing was hard and you could see the fear in her eyes. You were shaking so bad while running that you felt as if you were going to pass out.
Meanwhile…
Prince was sitting on top of the club rooftop looking out into the city. He broke contact with the city bridge for a second to look down. Below he spotted you and Chanel running from a large truck. Bones!
Prince quickly got up and ran downstairs to get Diggy and Ray from the crowded club. He reached the entrance of the club and began to quickly push his way through the couples dancing. People yelled out curse words as he made his way to where Diggy was standing with a couple of his friends.
Prince: “Diggy!!! Bones is after Chanel and Sun! I saw it outside!”
Diggy sprung to action and immediately reached into his pants pocket to grab a gun.
Diggy: “Get Ray and hurry up!!”
Diggy began running to the door as Prince made his way through the smoky, smelly club in search of Ray.
*
Chanel and you continued running until Chanel turned a corner into an alley way. At the end of the alley was a large, silver fence. You and Chanel ran until you reached the fence and stopped.
Chanel: “SHIT!” She slammed her hand against the fence in frustration as she looked back, just in time to see Bone’s truck pulling into the alley.
*
Prince: *Grabs Ray’s arm” “Ray c’mon we have to go! Bones is after Chanel and Sun!”
Ray: “What?”
Prince didn’t bother repeating himself and instead just pulled Ray away from the group of ladies he was talking to.
Prince and Ray were greeted by fresh air when they ran out the club into the dark streets.
Ray: “What the fuck is going on?”
Prince: “B-Bones! He found us!!”
Ray’s eyes enlarged as they looked around, down the street they could see Diggy running down the block. Ray and Prince followed.
They’re long legs took them far as they ran down the block quickly, breathing out fog in the cold air. It wasn’t long before they reached where Diggy was running. The three of them continued running, in search of you and Chanel.
Diggy: “Which way did you see them going?”
Prince: “Down this street and then they turned down that one. That’s all I could see!”
Diggy turned the corner where you and Chanel had and continued running until he saw sight of the large black truck in the distance. Bones…
*
Bones: *Gets out car* “Where do you guys think you were going?”
Chanel: “Bones please!”
Bones: *Smacks her* “Did you think you could just take money from me and get away with it?”
You: *Kicks Bones in the leg* “Don’t touch her!”
Bones: “Ouch!” *Grabs leg* “You stupid bitch!” *Grabs you by the hair and throws you on the ground*
Chanel: *Punches him* “I said never touch her!!”
Bones grabbed Chanel’s swinging arms and pushed her up against the fence furiously.
Suddenly Bones reached down into his pocket and brought out a gun.
Behind him, Prince, Diggy, and Ray had arrived and Diggy already had his gun out.
Bones: *Puts gun to Chanel’s head* “I’m tired you holding out on me!”
Bang! Someone fired their gun.