Fallin' From The Tree (StemxStud)

43

[ Valentine ]

"This is all my fault," I repeated over and over, letting hot tears fall down my face as I leaned over the table we had talked at yesterday morning. Teece silently watched me, not saying anything. She was right, I had fucked shit up.

Dominique was on the phone with Anaela's mother trying to calm her down. "Her phone last pinged at that house. She left it there!" I heard her screech through the phone. Dom looked over at me like I knew what to do. First Dom went missing officially, then with us, and now Anaela is gone.

"What if she was taken? By a rival gang," my head snapped up, looking over at Teece.

It all clicked.

"You did this! You told her to leave last night!" I yelled. "What- What is going on?" I heard my girlfriend's mother scream. I lunged at Teece and grabbed her legs. She tried to hit me off but her tears were blinding her.

"You made her leave!"

"You're just guilty because you kissed me!"

Dom was tugging me off of Teece. I had her out of the wheel chair, punching at her face. Dom pulled me back. Teece was slumped against her fallen over wheel chair, face bruised, sobbing to herself.

Dom pulled me into another room and made me face her. "No matter what you think Teece did, she's not in the condition for you to be pulling that shit, Tino. And I know why Anaela ran away."

I paused, my heavy breathing the only sound in the house besides Teece's sobs. "My legs..." I could hear her whimpering.

"Look at us!" Dom shouted at me, gesturing around. "We plotted against her, you kissed Teece. I ran away after how much she helped me. She doesn't trust us anymore, Tino. Your situation was just the icing on the cake. I'm not sure anything is going to get Anaela back."

Dominique walked out of the room to assist Teece. I didn't bother to see if my best friend was okay. I walked out of the front door and made a spontaneous turn to my left. I needed to walk. I was too frustrated and jumbled up with anger to want to even think. I walked along the side of the house, stomping hard as I passed a trampoline. I stepped on something hard and looked down. I rose my foot up and saw a black phone screen staring up at me, thankfully not cracked. I picked it up and realization dawned on me.

I could see faint foot steps in the weird dirt. I followed them all the way to a back road directly behind the mansion. I stepped out into the middle, looking both ways. My woman could have only went two ways.

I stared down at the dirt road, but there were too many rocks to discern a foot print. I ran back to the front door and found Dominique handing Teece some ice to put on one of her legs. Teece's face was red and swollen but she couldn't stop crying about her legs.

"I think I might know where she went," I told them, breathing heavily.

"I wanna go home, Valentine," Teece told me, eyes bloodshot. Dominique looked up, something different in her face. "You're a monster for this, Valentine."

I pointed at Dominique, "You're a monster too. You watched me kill your cousins." Dominique pulled out a long kitchen knife from out of nowhere and Teece began to start wailing. "I'm gonna die here! I'm gonna die here!" she cried out, rocking back and forth and holding her limp legs.

Dominique raced towards me but I flung the knife out of her hands. "Trying to kill me makes you just as bad as I am," I whispered venomously to her. "Go to Wisconsin. I'm going to go find my girl."

I picked up the kitchen knife, and pushed past Dominique to get my things. I made my way out of the house and back towards the back road. I felt mentally removed and unhinged. My energy was frantic yet calming, and my actions felt muted yet precise.

They say true love makes you do crazy things. I'm going to how Anaela why you shouldn't.