His Rotten Apple

17 ~ Troubles and Traumas

"Ow!"

Zailey turned around, recognizing the familiar voice, "Connor? W-What the heck were you doing?!"

Bending down from the pain, he held out the Chinese take-out bag.

"I mean... Why would you?!" Zailey yelled in an uneasy tone. "I-I... I thought..."

Sensing there was something wrong he disregarded the pain in his groin and leaned in to see her face. She attempted to catch her breath, eyes tightly shut and her hands clenched into fists.

***

A scream pierced through her ears, and her vision turned blurry. She trembled as she heard the deafening sound of a police car and the cold shackles scratching circles around her wrists. She felt the sweaty, tight grip around her waist loosen as she was thrown into cold leather seats.

"Ma... I want my ma!" Little Zailey screamed.

"Did you know you aren't allowed to live under those bridges."

"Mama! Mama!" She cried even harder, pounding on the windows.

"Shut up!"

"She's just a kid! Don't talk to her that way!" Another woman who was also handcuffed yelled. "We didn't have a place to stay and it was raining. What do you expect our families to do?"

***

"Zailey?" He put her hand to her shoulders, "Hey, hey... Zailey... Look at me."

Keeping her eyes closed, she continued to pant, swatting his hands away.

Taking her face between his palms, she directed her head to face him, "Come on, Zailey... You have to look at me. Tell what's wrong."

Slowly opening her eyes, she looked up into his concerned gaze. Lost in the jungle of his eyes, her breath steadied and tears started to form in her eyes.

A whirlwind memories circled her brain, and in panic, she threw her arms around Connor, resting the side of her head on his chest. Connor felt Zailey's rapid heartbeat, and all he wanted to do was squeeze out whatever was bothering her. Beads of sweat formed halos around her head. He rubbed the back of her head to calm her down, pulling her tighter as she trembled in his arms.

A couple minutes later, Connor brought Zailey to the couch to rest, her head still resting on his chest. As drowsiness took over, her eyes grew heavier, and before long, she was fast asleep. Her slumber didn't last long, as the door chime sounded once again, alarming her. She yelped and grabbed onto Connor, hiding her tear stained face by tucking it into his sweater.

"Zailey, it's just a customer," Connor said, trying to pull her out of his sweater, "Remember what you said earlier, we can't keep them waiting, right?"

Still unresponsive, she detangled herself from him and faced away, crossing her arms.

"I'll be right back... I promise," he put his hand on her shoulder.

After dealing with the customer, Connor flipped the store's "OPEN" sign to "CLOSED" and phoned Ms. Chaunce. He went up to Zailey, who remained mute, and took out the food he bought a while ago.

"You haven't eaten yet." Connor scooped fried rice and placed it into front of her mouth, "Say ahh..."

Zailey took in the spoonful, and the one after that, and the the other one after that, until everything was finished.

"Even in the state you're in, gotta admire your appetite," Connor smiled, packing up the trash.

Connor escorted her out of the store, taking precautions to assure Zailey wouldn't slip out of the two-wheeled vehicle en route to Jacque's dorm.