Neriah

25

Jacques

"Neriah wake up." She frowned. "We gotta leave."

"No." She tightened her arms around me.

I stayed up the whole night watching the door. I decided to sleep for a little bit when the sun started coming up. But we can't stay here all day, we gotta get moving before they come back.

Here in Cleveland coyotes come out around this time of year. My neighbors, the Dixon's, across the street from my house had a doggie door and left it open so their dog Milo could go in and out the house. A coyote had chased Milo around in the front yard after it had jumped the fence.

Milo ran in the house and the coyote had tried to get through the door. Mr. Dixon had been waiting in the living room for Milo to come back in and saw the coyote in the door. He tried to kick it out the house but it ended up biting his big toe off. Our neighborhood was under watch for a month after that.

One of them ate at bumper of my car last year and dug whole in our front yard. 

They don't really come out during the day so we gotta make time with as much light as we have.

I leaned down and kissed her lips. "You gotta get up. So those coyotes don't get us." She leaned up, straddling my waist.

"Okay I'm up." I sat up and stared at her as she stretched.

Every time I look at her she gets more beautiful.

She got off me and stood.

When I got off the couch I saw the sun was fully out from the front window. I pulled the coffee table out the way and took the door off, leaning it against the wall.

Neriah stepped out the house first looking around.

"There's some tire tracks that lead out to the road. Do you think we should follow them?"

"Yeah they might lead us somewhere hopefully."

We started walking.

It was silence between us for a while. It was nice though. I'm so used to Unique complaining about everything it was nice for some silence for once.

"Tell me about yourself."

She laughed. "That's random."

"We might as well get to know each since it might be a while before we get to wherever we're going. Plus, I think I should get to know you better since you gave me the kiss of life not to long ago."

She nudged me with her elbow with a laugh. "Shut up."

"C'mon tell me all about Neriah Calvin. I'm really interested." I really am.

"Well I was born in Linstead, Jamaica, on October 9th. I have a older brother. His name is Shyan. We grew up very poor, I didn't have a pair of shoes till I was 12. My first shoes were a pair of flip flops my dad found in someone's trashcan believe it or not. We came here to America before I went to high school. My father got a job at a car  manufacturing business for Ford. After we were approved I came here and started school. I graduated early with a 4.2 GPA."

"How'd you get that?"

She laughed. "I kissed a lot of ass. Making friends wasn't easy because of it but it asked me to graduate three months early in my junior year. I applied for my first job at a YMCA across the street from our house. That's where I really fell in with basketball. I played on the team in school but the girls were mean so I quite. I'd watch the boys play during my breaks and they asked me to play with them one day. Their coach thought I played so well he asked me to join his girls team. I played with them for a year and then I applied for Central Michigan university after the season was over. I got in on a full ride basketball scholarship but I got into a fight with one of the girls on the team and the school took it from me. So I had to pay for everything myself. But working three jobs of course couldn't pay all my tuition and for the cost of living on campus. I didn't tell my parents since they'd chew my face off and send me back to Jamaica to live with my grandma. They always threatened to send me back when I did something wrong. "My brother is in the military and would send me money here and there but I couldn't keep asking him for money since he needed it. But around that time is when I met Will. I knew what he was about. Everyone in Detroit talked about him and how he gives money out in exchange for helping him with whatever he asked. My parents couldn't afford to put food on the table and pay rent at the same time. So I started working for him." I frowned.