Fallin' From The Tree (StemxStud)

34

{ Anaela }

We arrived in some dusty town my mom assured me of just around eight fifteen. We were at a motel for the time being until my mom finds us a house to stay at. I helped Valentine unpack the stuff out of the Lexus. She'd be deserting the car here. Somebody my mom hired would be picking us in another car.

"This place looks nice," Dom commented dryly, taking in the outside of the corny cowboy themed motel. It once was a tourist town for people that thought Texas was all sweet tea, Hollywood country accents, and farm land. It is, but that's only in the rural parts. I'll never forget an online friend I had asking if we had electricity and if we said "y'all" in every sentence.

I replied with: "Do y'all have electricity where you stay?"

"Hey, my mom has some hook up with an old mansion. We'll be fine here for a little while," I told her. I put a bag on my back and carried two in my arms. "We'll have to come back for two more trips then that'll be all the bags," I told Valentine who was holding the door open for us. "Of course if you helped..."

"Nahh, I'm good," Valentine smirked. "I drove." I rolled my eyes and entered the very small lobby. The woman there let us in. She already knew who we were with. "I hope we don't get hate crimed here," Dom whispered in my ear, taking in the paintings of 1800s houses and barrels with whips in them.

Valentine was still holding the door open after we sat down our bags. We made the short walk back to her car and got the rest out. We were done after five minutes and Valentine kissed her car goodbye. "That's gross," I laughed, shaking my head at her. "Whatever," she laughed. I looked away. I don't need to get to comfortable with Miss Valentine. She was trouble.

We made our way up to our room. The woman had stuffed three beds into some 1960s theme styled room. It had an armchair and a tv with an antenna stapled and taped to the wall.

It looked like it smelled stiff in here but it actually smelled like homemade vanilla and chocolate. "Yeah, we can't stay here," Dom said matter of factly. "Well we will," Valentine shrugged, falling onto the middle bed. We'd have to climb all over each other to get out of the beds. "Really Tino?" Dom whined, pushing her over. I rolled my eyes and sat down the final bag. I didn't have anything on me. Hopefully my stuff would be sent to the house.

I fell on the bed closest to the door, feeling slightly gross for still having my outside clothes on. I had on Valentine's slides since my shoes were still at the club, so I kicked them off and let my body relax. Bad idea. I was aching all over and the scratches from Ariana were starting to sting. I guess the adrenaline was gone.

"Can you ask the lady if she has a first aid kit?" I asked Dom, wanting to give her an opportunity to be independent. "Why can't you? Shy ass," she left the room laughing at my pretend scowl. I looked over at Valentine as soon as Dominique left.

"Have you talked to your friend...um, Teece was it?" Valentine nodded. I didn't know if she nodded to me getting her friend's name right or if she had actually talked to her. "She's recovering well," she told me after awhile. "She wants to start walking now."

My eyebrows rose. I had forgotten that she was having trouble walking. Dom entered the room, and shut the door behind herself. "Nahh, she said she has one at her house though. She needed to check on her baby, so she said she's gonna go back and go get a kit."

Valentine and I frowned at the same time. "Chile, her baby's there alone?" I asked. Dom shrugged and went through a bag. "I'm finna shower." No one objected to it. I turned back to Valentine. "Are you gonna bring her with us?"

"I thought about it. This is what Teece would want, and we can help her walk. There's nothing to that. I taught some of my younger cousin's how to walk."

I looked at her curiously, "Tell me about yourself." Valentine laughed a little, eyes going watery. "I had an ex named Keris. I killed her. I killed Keris in front of Dom. Keris was demanding and bratty and spoiled. She was all lashes and nails and wigs and had no real substance to her. She wanted this and that to show off on IG and to her friends. She wasn't nothing in the heart but a girl trying to find her self esteem and impress everybody," she said sadly. "She sent Dominique to kill me but Keris still ain't deserve to die. Nobody does."

I reached over to hold Valentine's hand but she placed them both on her chest, laying flat on her back on the bed. "I want to know about you though. The you before all of this crime and hurt and regret."

"I have three sisters," she said quietly. "One is trans. There's Nevaeh, Sarai, and Harper. Harper's an adopted cousin. Her parents died in a fire. She's white. Nevaeh's 15, Sarai's 17, the trans one. And Harper's 15 too. I'm the oldest. The mama of the siblings. I was the second parent to them when my mom couldn't be the parent at times. My dad broke up with my mom after having Nevaeh. He hardly comes around. Even less now that I'm gone, I used to have to convince him to. I've kind of blocked out my family...Keris had me working so hard that I don't think I've called or checked up on them in months."

She looked over at me and I didn't know whether to look away or not. "I didn't finish high school," she stared me straight in the eye. "I was a bully there. Because I had bad social anxiety," she chuckled to herself, looking away. "Ironic".

"I do too," I said softly.

It felt awkward to look at her now. "I've been mowing lawns and working odd jobs and stealing to get me and Teece somewhere. That's why when Keris unknowingly delivered Dom into my arms, I knew that I couldn't let Dom down. I couldn't let her take the path I've taken in life."

"You're different than I thought, Valentine," I told her. "You're a strong person."

"I can't let Dom waste her potential?" She insisted like I was against the idea of Dominique being naive.

"She won't, I see a fire in her," I assured Valentine. "I see a fire in you," she pointed at me. "That's why I had to come clean," she explained, resting her hands back down.

"Tell me Teece's story," I asked, digging my legs under the covers and pulling it up against me. I turned towards Valentine, now warm and snug. "You wanna know about Teece?" she laughed, turning towards me too. "I mean..I don't know if it's my place to tell her story but sure."

Valentine got a faraway look in her eyes. "Her birthday's today," she started. Hm, her and Mayah share a birthday. "She's an orphan and she doesn't care to know about her people. That's about it," Valentine said, shrugging.

"But tell me about her personality, how you guys met. What you guys do when you hang out. She sounds like such an amazing person."

"Teece and I met in high school. I don't really remember much concerning how we met, but we used to act a plum fool," Valentine laughed for a long time, remembering memories of her and Teece's antics probably. "Teece keeps me level headed and smart. She's also the one who keeps up with our money and gets us the jobs we get. She's responsible and amazing."

Valentine randomly blushed.

"What?" I asked, more curious.

"Nothing," she told me awkwardly, "we just usually hang out and eat. We don't...do a lot together. She likes to eat. Eats all the time," she laughed. I felt bad that Teece couldn't walk right now. She seemed like a kind person, someone who was honest and hardworking. I think Valentine is the one who corrupts people, but I don't want to think about that right now. "Well, get Teece when you can. The house will be big enough for an army. She's welcome. Dom and I will help her the best that we can so she can get back to normal," I promised.

Valentine looked at me sadly and agreed, turning her back to me and clicking a lamp off. I searched for my own lamp, just now noticing the others...but didn't see my own. I fell asleep watching Valentine's back rise and fall; my heart heavy with decisions.

(How do you guys think Anaela's name is pronounced?)