Fallin' From The Tree (StemxStud)

13

[ Valentine ]

"Where exactly?" I asked. I can't believe Dom was already making some bizarre request after I offered to hide her at my place until she was 18. And after everything with Teece. God, her legs. They don't know if she'll be able to walk anymore, much less move. They think Keris paralyzed her, and now I have the cops on my ass because of how seriously Teece was injured. The hospital couldn't just ignore something big like this.

Eventually someone would figure out Keris and her cousin was missing, and Dom as well. Shit will immediately point at me and then not only will I be in prison- Dom will have nowhere to go.

I know this little girl see that I'm stressing.

"Please," she begged, pleading with me on her knees. "Dom, I will take you. But bro, right now is not the best time. Don't pull nothing else like this," I told her. She couldn't even go in the hospital because I didn't want anybody to recognize her. Sooner or later her people would probably have an Amber Alert out for her but hopefully they wouldn't care.

I hopped into the car and she sat up in the back seat from under my old jacket. "Your jacket smells like-

"Do you want a ride or not?" I asked her.

"Yes," she sighed.

I tried to decipher if she was catching an attitude on me or not as I followed the instructions Maps was giving me. "We gotta set some ground rules," I started. "Ughh," Dom moaned. "Why does every adult say that?" she complained.

"Because kids are irresponsible. Now, you know that you'll be turning 18 soon. Your birthday's in January, it's only September right. Or is it August? I never know...look, you have to lay low. And, depending on if the cops dig into me a little further, you may have to do that on your own, Dom."

It grew silent in the car.

"I'm not afraid of a little prison time or a lot. I'm not saying that I want to go there, but I'm built up enough for it where I'll be able to handle my stay, whether long term or short term. I can handle that shit. I'll even take the bullet for you if they try to drop a charge against you. The biggest problem that you- 17 year old Dom, whatever your name is- you. That you have to worry about is laying low until January."

"Okay," she said.

"No sneaking out. No standing outside. No going to the store. No having to pee when you have to hide in the car. Being good at hiding, disguising and laying low."

"Can't I get protection again?" she asked timidly as I neared the destination.

I nearly slammed on my breaks. "You had protection from a gang? Dom, shit. That stuff is dangerous," I warned her. "No, no. They were cool people. People I grew up around, it was through a friend. They'd never harm me."

"Okay, Dom," I said unsurely, thinking about this. "What if I could get protection and work for them? So I don't have to hide?" she suggested.

"Dom. Just selling packages or delivering them won't get you the type of protection you'll need. No gang is finna risk national news and feds on them because you're apart of an Amber Alert if your people set that up, or if you're on a grocery store wall. That's too many risks when they can just find some orphan or homeless child to sell cocaine or whatever the fuck."

Dom was quiet, looking down at her lap. "Look, I'm thinking about all of our options now. I'm not putting you down, I just- that won't work. We need damn near Secret Service level security to keep you hidden. Unless you have something big to offer someone, there's no way you're gonna get protection from anybody off the streets."

We pulled into Sunday Breeze. "I got it from here," Dom told me. She manually unlocked her door and I locked it back, "Dom. Damn it. We just talked about this. I'll drop you off right wherever you need to go," I told her.

"I don't remember the password," she rolled her eyes. "Look, I'll slip through the shadows," she said sarcastically, "and make it there. I'll be fine. I was doing shit way before you, Tino."

"Keep giving me attitude and I'll make you call me Miss Tino," I warned. Sighing, I unlocked the doors and looked back at her. "Gimme your phone," I told her. "Why?" she asked. "Could be tracked. I'll dump it somewhere. I'm coming to pick you up in twenty minutes. I don't care. Better be outside or I'm leaving you. Understood?"

"Yes, Miss Tino," she smirked, and hopped out. Dom worriedly walked towards a gate door. I watched her disappear from my sight.

"Stay safe, kid."

Her phone dinged in the passenger seat and I grabbed it. A message from someone with the username "1_Nae_Nae_1".

"You coming, Dom?" It read. I just hope Dom wasn't getting herself into trouble. I watched a car pass me and enter the passcode into the apartment complex. I decided to ride their tail into the gate and follow Dom. I saw her head up to an apartment. True to her word, Dom was being careful about being spotted. The complex was filled with people walking up and down the lanes. Food trucks, unsupervised kids, adults chilling on their porches, clothing lines.

I watched her wait by a front door, nervously tapping her foot. Her hoodie was pulled up and she looked cold. I parked my car in an empty space and got out. I cautiously retraced Dom's foot steps to the door.

Just as she went inside, I stopped the door from closing with my foot. I had to protect this kid. God, this is what Teece would want. I can't let another kid fuck up their life. I closed the door silently behind myself and was met with the staring eyes of about six teenagers.

"Who the fuck is that?" some sporty baby stud asked, frowning.

"A crackhead?" a short, puffy faced stem asked.

Their reactions were calm despite me intruding. I looked around for the drugs, the illegal substances. Nothing. Just a quiet, chill kickback? Obviously Teece and I were partying all wrong back in the day!

"This is Valentine. Call her Tino," Dom said tightly, glaring at me. "I'm not callin her shit. She shouldn't be at my house. Who is this, Dom?" the little stem asked. She was kind of cute, but let me back up, cause shorty is probably 16 and below.

"I just came in to make sure Dom wasn't going crazy in here. I should have asked, I apologize," I told the girl. "How you know her?" the girl asked Dom. I don't like her attitude, it needs to be checked.

"It's a long story, but we're all here for Pouty," Dom said with a weak smile. I shot Dom a look. She wasn't finna tell these girls shit. They all looked like they couldn't hold water and like they were messy as fuck. They hadn't experienced no grown woman shit, they couldn't handle two murders, a break in, and a near paralyzed friend.

"Well, sit and don't bother us since you when to supervise my friend," the girl said to me.

They all gathered on the couch and I awkwardly sat in a chair by the door.

"I'm glad that everybody could make," a beautiful feminine girl told them at the center of the circle. "I know that this might be upsetting news but I'm moving."