Lies, Secrets and Apple pies

Chapter Twenty-Five

Run, run, run. The woods blended together like a mix of brownie batter. I pushed myself to run faster. I ducked my head narrowly avoiding a tree branch. "Aghhh!" I tripped over a rock. The brown residue of dirt covered my hand and clothes. 

 "Mi'a, wait!" I heard Talia called from behind. I didn't even look back. I couldn't. I just kept running. I looked up toward the sky and only saw the dark, green leaves of the trees. Where was the sun? Where had it gone? Where was the warmth that it provided? The light that guided.

 A disfigured person blocked my path, I screamed. I awake as I always do. Right before the worst of the worst happens. Right before I die or get tortured. My eyelashes blink once, twice. They brush against my face. My rapid heartbeat pumping in my chest. The sweat on my back freezing and disgusting me at the same time. 

 I had been having the same dream. It wasn't the exact same but the message had grown clearer over the next few days. I left behind my sister, and saved myself. The dream scared me because I secretly always thought of myself as a coward. Was I now a selfish, coward? Would I risk losing my sister just to save myself? Why were these dreams happening now? I was smart enough to know that the deeper meaning behind them told me what I had been feeling for years. I wanted to leave this house. I wanted more. I wanted to leave this family and even Georgia. So what was my dream telling me? That I was willing to do anything to get what I wanted. That I should. 

 Bzzzz! My phone dinged beside me on my bed. Good morning! I hope you have a good day at school. I can't wait to see you again. It had been a few days since Lillian's birthday party and our crazy weekend together. Were we now a couple? I had yet to ask her to be my girlfriend and no it was no longer my guilty conscience that was stopping me. I wasn't doing anything illegal. She was old enough to date me and it wasn't as if her parents had to know. . .yet. I swear, I think I'm beyond saving at this point. 

 Knock. Knock. Knock. "Mi'a you up?" Brayden asked from the other side of my bedroom door.

 "Yeah, come on in." 

 "Can we talk? It's important." 

 I looked at the time on my phone, ten o'clock. "Shoot. I have to get ready for school but I'm listening."

 "Ayana is taking me to court as you know for full custody of Amarah. I hate to ask but I need help getting and paying for a lawyer Mi'a. You're the only person I can rely on. My dad ain't got shit to offer. Think you can help?"

 I wiped my face with my yellow towel. I was the only person anyone in this family seemed like they could rely on. There has to be a name for this. A person who a family relies on heavily just because they have a little more money. "Yeah, Brayden of course. How much are we talking?"

 "Two grand. I can pay in installments but there's a fee upfront. I don't know when I'll be able to pay you back but I will as soon as I can." 

 "Yeah, for sure.  Let me check my funds and you try to find a lawyer." I answer as I double-check to make sure I have everything in my pack for school.

 "Thanks Mi'a. You're the best."

 At school I was always more in my element. I wasn't the smartest in class but I was definitely up there. I busted my ass studying and keeping up with all the students whose parents could afford tutors and for them to get extra help. They didn't need to work and go to school. Nope, they could spend all their time on their studies. I on the other hand had to manage my time properly ever since I got my first job at sixteen. 

 I was already done with the warm-up questions on the board in math. My hand was furiously scribbling away in my planner as I examined my funds. I spent almost two-hundred on food, three-hundred on medical expenses because I didn't have medical insurance, about a hundred going out with friends, one twenty-five on gas. . .then there was rent, my credit card payments, money I put aside for my niece's college funds and personal savings. I tugged on my hair slightly. It was a nervous tick. I didn't think it was but I seemed to do it more and more whenever I was stressed with school and money situations.