Snapshots

Escape

Aaliyah rolled over in bed as she tried to fall back asleep and ignore the yelling outside her window. She didn't know if it was a serious fight or just a lover's quarrel, but what she did know was that they needed to move from beneath her window. She had school in the morning and didn't want to fall asleep during it. The Spanish teacher at her high school loved when students fell asleep so she could embarrass them in front of the class.

"Help! Fire!" a girl's voice rang out. It was the first thing that Aaliyah was able to understand. Following the exclamation was the loud sound of flesh hitting flesh, effectively shutting up the crying girl.

Aaliyah immediately realized what was happening and grabbed her Smith & Wesson M&P from underneath her pillow. Yanking up the window, she saw a girl being pushed against the side of the house by a guy who was working to simultaneously subdue her and yank down his zipper.

"Let the girl go," Aaliyah said calmly as she glared down at him.

The guy looked up at her standing in her second story bedroom window. "What you gonna do about it, hoe?" he asked, sneering.

Aaliyah leveled her gun on him. His eyes widened as he took in her weapon, but his grip on the girl only tightened. "Boy, I'll bust a cap in your behind and leave you there for the police to find when they roll up."

At the mention of the police, the guy quickly released the girl and took off down the alley. After waiting a few minutes to make sure he was gone, Aaliyah turned her attention to the girl crouched against the wall. "Honey, I suggest you go on home now."

The girl staggered to her feet, clutching her ripped shirt to her chest, and ran out of the ally. Aaliyah listened to the sound of her feet beating on the ground until she couldn't hear it anymore. She closed the window, slipped the gun underneath her pillow, and groaned when she saw the clock read 3:30 am. She was not looking forward to getting back up in three hours to head to school.

*****************

Waking up the next morning was hard, but Aaliyah forced herself to do so because she knew that no one was going to come pounding on her door to make sure she made it to school. Tucking her gun into her bra holster and her switchblade into her shoe, she quickly got ready. It was the beginning of second semester and she was anxiously waiting to get her letter back from the college she had applied to. She was only able to apply to one college because of financial reasons, but she poured her heart into the application and allowed herself to hope for a positive reply.

Walking in the school, she saw everyone break into their different gangs. She walked circumspectly to the front door to avoid all the different groups buzzing about in the school's courtyard. She was almost to the door when someone grabbed her arm. Her free hand instinctively reached for the concealed gun under her shirt as a random white girl clutched her arm.

"You're the girl who saved me last night!" she exclaimed, drawing attention from some of the people who were close by.

Aaliyah recoiled, noticing the people around them starting to stare. "Listen," she said, lowering her voice, "I don't know who you think I am, but I don't know you."

The white girl looked confused, but still was very bright. "No, I remember! You pulled a g--" she cut off with a small yelp as Aaliyah yanked her inside the building.

When they were alone, Aaliyah turned to the girl. "Yes, I saved you last night, but there's no reason for you to broadcast it. What do you want?"

The girl looked confused. "I just wanted to thank you. I was too shaken up last night to do it."