No Childhood

The Broom

After I got the my siblings to school, I didn't want to go home. Especially with Andre there. I felt extremely uncomfortable around him.

Instead of turning at the light, like I usually do, I continued to walk straight. The corner store was a bit further up the street

***

When I got home, my mother and Andre were gone, but a note was left on the refrigerator. It read:

Clean up. I'll be back at 10

I sighed, as I looked at the clock. 9:15. Before I cleaned anything, I put the groceries away and walked to the sink. It was filled over the top with dishes. A few even slipped off the pile and shattered on the floor.

After what seemed like an hour, to me, I finished. My small hands where beyond wrinkled and itchy. I scratched them until they turned red. I looked over to the clock again to check the time. 9:36. I hurriedly cleaned the food and dirt off the counters, and found my way to the island in the middle of the kitchen. I scrubbed it, moving all the food and trash to the floor. Afterwards, I swept the trash in to a pile by a stool and moved onto the living room.

It wasn't that bad. There was just some garbage on he table and the floor needed vacuumed. I moved the big trash to the garbage, then wiped the rest on the floor. After the table was cleaned, I went to the closet, down the hallway, to grab the vacuum. As I grabbed it, I heard the door swing open. Heavy footsteps made their way into the house, but I didn't hear any heels. My heart began to beat fast.

"De'Asia!" I heard an angry, familiar voice shout. "De'Asia, where are you?" He asked. I made my way into the closet, cracking the door behind me. I backed up too far and made a mop fall. Luckily, I caught it before it hit anything. His footsteps came closer.

"De'Aisa!" He yelled. His voice made me flinch knock over the broom. It clattered on the floor. He chucked low in his throat.

"Gotcha." He said quietly, while stepping closer. Without thinking, I burst through the closet door and darted towards the back door. My action didn't seem surprise him at all, he just imitated mine. Before I was able to reach the door, my hair was snatched backwards. I screamed in pain, as I hit his chest. He wrapped his arm around my neck and gripped his opposite elbow. I tried to pull his arm off, as he tightened his hold.

"And we meet again," je said amused. "Where is your mother?" He questioned.

"I don't know." I said straining. His arm tightened around my neck.

"Tell me, now."

"I..I...don't...know." His grip tightened and I began seeing black spots.

"Sucks to be you...." I heard, before everything went black.

***

I woke up in a dark room. I looked around, realizing it was a cell. My vision was blurry, but I could make out a window high up. Because of its thick glass, it was hard to see out of, but I could tell it was really late. I walked over to the cell door and looked out. My cell wasn't the only one. There where a lot more, and most of them had people in them.

"Crap," I whispered and sighed. Looking for an exit, I scanned the room. The window didn't open, and it was too thick to brake. The bars were old and rusty. Pulled at a few of them, but they were too sturdy.

"There's no way out," A boy from the cell in front of me said. He was light skinned, with black curly hair. His face was dirty and smeared with dry blood. He looked as if he'd already given up. I slumped against a wall, frustrated. A tear ran down my cheek. I quickly wiped it, when I heard footsteps. I got into the bed, pretending to be out cold. The steps reached the front of my cell and I heard it open. Shortly after, I realized it wasn't mine. It was the one right beside mine.

"No!" I heard a women's voice yell. I peeked out my cell in just enough time to see a women being dragged past my cell. "Let me go!" She struggled to get out of their grip, as tears ran down her cheeks.

While I was distracted, my cell was opened. I hid my face before I saw his. Suddenly, I felt a cold hand on my arm and was yanked up.

"We're leaving." I swallowed.

"W...where?" I asked hesitantly. My question was ignored. As we walked through room, some prisoners began to whisper.

"She just a baby." I heard a woman say, before we got to the stairs. He walked me up a flight of stairs and into another room. It was dark, muggy, and filthy. All there was were a few seats, a table, and a lamp in the corner. It seemed that the house was completely empty, beside us. I soon came to find out that I was wrong. We walked through and out that room and into another. It was fogged with cigarette smoke. The disgusting smell filled my lungs and made me cough, as we walked in. The small room was filled with men smoking weed and cigars. None of them really paid much attention to us. Only a couple looked up as we walked pass.

"Hey Scoot!" A man yelled, "we got another one.

"She young too," Another one yelled. An unfamiliar, brown skin man with a tattoo of a heart, with a name in it, on his arm walked up to us.

"Who is she X?" He asked.

"De'Asia's daughter," a voice replied. I snapped my head over to see Andre stepping towards us. "I grabbed her a few hours ago," he added.

"What'd you grab her for?" He asked.

"She won't tell me where De'Asia is." Andre replied.

"Oh really?" He said looking down at me. He cupped my chin in his hand, lifting my head. "So beautiful," He said examining my face. I pulled my chin out of his grip and spit on him. A couple of guys jumped up, but Scoot raised a hand. They sat back down, but kept their eyes on me. "A little feisty too. Its a shame it had to be this way." He turned around. "Andre, take her to 'Teh Room'," He said and walked away.

Andre grabbed me and pulled me in another direction. Before we left I looked back at the man who had me. They called him X. His face was familiar, but I didn't know where I'd seen him before. Our eyes locked and for a quick second, I saw sympathy in his. It was gone almost as soon as it had arrived and his expression returned to an emotionless hard one.