13 and 8 left.... Chapter 9

Tavaris, and Shatori never came home that night. Latoni and I stayed up all night wondering where they went.

"I hope they didn't go turn themselves in." Latoni said.

"I can't believe that girl went through that." I said.

We fell asleep talking about it. I woke up by my cell phone. It was Devante'. "Can you come over later?" He asked.

"Yea. I ain't got nothing else to do." I said.

After we hung up I went back to sleep.

At around four-o-clock I left to go to Devante's house. On the way out I asked Lamonica if Tavris had come in yet. "No, I havn't seen him." She said.

I started thinking that they did go tell. He probably got arrested. I thought.

I was walking past my house when I saw Uncle david come out the front door with Nicole.

"Hey Haylee." Nicole yelled.

Why is she talking to me? I waved. "Daddy can she come with us?" She asked Uncle David. What, she calls him daddy now.

"Ummm - sure why not?" He said. "Come on Haylee." He said.

"Where are you going?" I asked.

"Out to eat." He said then he looked at Nicole. "I forgot my wallet inside, let me go get it."

While he was inside I called Devante. "Hey I can't come over right now, I'll be over later tonight." I told him.

I had hung up the phone by the time Uncle David came back outside with his wallet.

"Who were you on the phone with?" Nicole whispered.

"Davante'." I answered.

She rolled her eyes.

"Alright, are you girls ready?" Uncle David asked.

"Yea." I said.

On the way to the restaraunt Uncle David talked about the new house he was thinking about getting. I was going to ask him if I could come home, but I decided not to.

I didn't really talk in the car. On top of that when we got to the restaraunt I didn't even order anything.

"What's wrong with you?" Uncle David asked.

"Nothing." I said.

I felt like an outcast. I hated being with them it just didn't feel right. I didn't feel like I was apart of their family, and when I really thought about Uncle David was nothing to me. He was my uncle only because he was married to Aunt Laura, but Aunt Laura was gone. Does that mean he's not my uncle anymore? My cell phone rang.

I didn't reconize the resricted number.

"Hello." I answered.

"Haylee, Haylee, we need you." Tavaris said.

"Where the hell are you at? We've been wonderin where you been." I yelled into my phone.

Uncle David looked at me like I was doing somethin wrong. "Hey I gotta go, I'll call you back later because I really have to talk to you." I said.

"Alright, actually can you meet me at Underwood Park soon, and make it quick." Tavaris said.

"All I can say is I'll try." I said then I hung up.

"Who was that?" Uncle David asked. He was filled with anger. Where did it come from. I wondered.

"Probably her boyfriend, Devante'" Nicole said.

He took a sip of his sweet tea just waiting for me to say something. Why does it matter who I was talking to? I said nothing.

"That's why you're not coming home." He said.

"It's whatever, I don't even want to." I said.

"Do you really like being out on the streets Haylee? That's probably where you're going to be for the rest of your life. I mean do you really want to be like your parents?" He asked.

"I'm not on the streets. I have people that are actually there for me, and I'm nothing like my parents." I said as I stood up. I pushed in my chair and walked away. I decided to walk down the street to the gas station. When I got there I called Q.t. to come pick me up.

"Haylee call Devante', why are you always calling me. I'm busy right now." He said.

I hung up and dialed Devante's number.

He answered right away. His first words were, "Haylee you need to meet us at the playground by our house."

"I don't have a ride there and I'm all the way across town." I said.

"Where at?" He asked.

I told him the name of the gas station. "I'll be there." He said.

It took him a while but he finally came. When I got to the playground I saw Shatori laying on the ground.

"What's wrong with her?" I asked.

"We went back to her house to get the gun. When she walked in the door the guy her mama wanted her to sleep with was sitting at the kitchen table. He told her she needed to stay gone. We kept asking where her mama was and he said he took care of it. He gave us a ride here. When we got here he pulled her out of the car, through her on the ground, and hit her in the head with the gun. He took the gun, jumped in his car and left." Tavaris said.

"Tay, my head hurts." Shatori cried. She turned her head and I saw blood coming out of her ear.

"Oh my god, did she hit her head?" I asked.

"Yea." Tavaris said.

"Her skull is fractured." Devante' said.

I was in shock, "Oh my god, is she okay?" I asked.

I watched tears roll down her face, "I should of done it, I should of slept with him." Shatori cried.

It hurt me to watch her lying on the ground. I was beginning to hate the sight of blood.

"Haylee, I don't know why she feels like that. We're going to take her to the hospital, but can you please talk to her. Tell her that she didn't do anything wrong, and she shouldn't feel like she should have done something like sleep with her mama's boyfriend." Tavaris told me.

I watched Shatori laying on the ground with blood on her face rolling down her neck. I saw a vision of Shaday laying on the ground next to her. I saw the words I love you come out of his mouth. I was scared, was I hallucinating?

"I can't do this." I screamed I turned around and started running, and didn't stop. I was scared Shatori was about to die too. Eventually I got tired and stopped running. When I stopped I wiped away the tears. "This is fucken crazy, I don't even know that girl." I said to myself.

I was at the corner store by the library. A car stopped and I saw the window rolling down, it was my probation officer, Mrs. Hannah.

"Haylee, I hope you get home before your curfew." She said.

A tear rolled down my face. I looked away from her. "I will." I said knowing I only had about thirty minutes.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

I knew I wasn't going home but I had to find a way to get around her. I sat down on the curb.

"Man fuck this shit I give up." I screamed.

I was filled with fear not only for me but for Tavaris. If we lost one more person at least one of us was going to break down if not both of us.

"Give up on what Haylee?" Mrs. Hannah asked.

"Everything." I said, "Life."

Without caring what she thought, I pulled out my lighter and was about to light my ciggarette when Mrs. Hannah said, "Do you need a ride?"

I knew she wasn't asking, she was going to make me get in the car regardless. I knew that if I said no she was going to talk me into and I didn't feel like hearing her mouth.

"Alright." I said.

I put my ciggarette back in the pack and put it back in my purse along with the lighter.

After I slammed the passenger door shut I realized Uncle David didn't want me home. I paniced.

"Mrs. Hannah can you take me to the hospital?" I asked.

"Why, are you okay?" She asked.

"My umm-" I didn't know what to call Shatori, "My friend got hurt, real bad." I told her.

It looked like she didn't know what to say. "Mrs. Hannah I lost my aunt, my brother Shaday, one of my best friends Carmen, and my other best friends little sister Shantel. I aint tryin to lose this girl too. Look, I know that it's going to happen weather I'm there or not but I don't want to worry myself all night thinking if it happened or not." I said.

"Haylee it might not happen, she might be fine." She said.

"Might." I said. I looked out the window. I saw Mrs Hannah turn left. She was going to the hospital because that sure wasn't the way to my house.

"How long do you plan on being there?" She asked.

"I don't know. Long enough to find out if she's going to be okay I guess." I said. I thought back to when we were all in the hospital with Shantel and we didn't even know if she was going to be okay until they told us she was dead ....

(to be continued... and there's a lot more chapters before this one...)