Jaleah didn't have much growing up. For as long as she's known, her family lived paycheck to paycheck, making ends meet with what they had. But, Jaleah always wanted to get out of that life. She always knew that one day, she would make it out.
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jaleah's perspective.
"Amaiya, you gotta come out sometime." I softly say, sitting outside of Amaiya's bedroom door. No one in my family has seen her in weeks, and it's honestly depressing.
Amaiya doesn't answer, so I get up and stand in front of her door, jiggling the doorknob. It's locked, of course, but I can hear her moving around the room. I reach up at the top of the door frame and get the spare key to her bedroom, which she must've forgotten about. I unlock her room door and walk in.
To my surprise, she's in there, sitting in a bean bag she had in the corner of the room. She looks up at me, eyes super low and smiles. She looks like she's on something.
Her window is wide open, so I know she's been sneaking in and out of her room. I just don't understand why she can't listen to my parents for once. Maybe then she'd be able to do stuff and have a regular teenage life.
I close her door behind me so that my parents won't see her like this. Even though I wish she'd listen, at the end of the day, this is my baby sister and I have to be here for her if no one else is.
I sit on her bed in front of her. "What you been in here doing?" I ask her.
"Nothinnnn." She says, giggling.
"I know you been sneaking out and you probably on something right now."
She rolls her eyes. "Here you go. Always holier than thou. Just the perfect angel child. Never makes any mistakes. Why you even come in here?" She snaps.
"I just wanted to check on you. I'm not tryna judge you though, Amaiya. I just don't want you getting involved with the wrong stuff and people."
She rolls her eyes again and stares off into the distance, zoning out. "Do you need anything?" I ask her. "Water or anything?"
"Water." She dryly responds.
I go downstairs to get her a glass of water and go back upstairs to her room. When I come back, though, she's nowhere to be found. I put the water down on her dresser, close and lock her door and then go back into my bedroom and find the phone that Israel gave to me.
I turn it on and immediately call him. It's late so I'm not surprised if he's sleep.
The phone rings a few times but eventually, he picks up. "Hello?" He says in a groggy tone.
"Hey, are you sleeping?" I ask.
"Nah, nah, I'm up." He clears his throat. "Wassup? What's wrong?"
"I need your help."
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