Chapter 8

I woke up holding the phone close. Vicky was asleep next to me, and we were the only two in the king size bed in the room.

I guessed everyone else was in the living room still asleep because it was silent. The sound of little girls was gone.

I looked down on my phone not knowing what I expected to see. It was just the screen with the time and Nokia printed on it. I guess Free didn’t call.

I crawled out of bed careful not to wake Vicky and went to the bathroom.

I called Free and anxiously waited for him to pick up. There was no answer, just a generic voice telling me to leave a message, so I did.

I got off the toilet and walked to the door where I saw Vicky talking to Tianna. Vicky looked up at me. “Shi come on my dad’s here.”

“Huh, your dad? But-”

“Something's wrong-”

Vicky’s dad was the Vice Mayor of East Palo Alto.

He walked into the room followed by hotel staff. He looked as important as he always does. “Scheyenne, get your things. We have to go now.”

I was more confused than scared. I ran around grabbing my stuff along with the other girls. Tianna and Vicky helped me pack and carry my things down to Mr. Lopez’s van.

I watched as Mr. Lopez told an officer back into the lobby to make sure that everyone’s family so they got home safe and sound.

We were both in the back seat of her dad’s van when I asked Vicky in a hushed tone, “What’s going on?”

Vicky’s eyes were big. I’d known her since birth; her mother and my mother were best friends. Her mother died when she was born, and my mother, being her God mom, did all she could to give Vicky a female figure in her life.

Vicky and I were practically sisters. Vicky always over exaggerated things, but never lied to me. Her big eyes let me know she had no idea what was going on.

“Dad, where are we going?” Vicky asked her dad leaning forward when he got in the van.

“Stanford,” he said and started speeding out of the parking lot. Mr. Lopez was doing over eighty on 101. Vicky looked at me then back to her dad as the awkward silence took over the car.

“Why are we goin’-”

“Vicky, there’s been an accident. Give me some time to think.”

He sounded sad, and I knew something was wrong. I just knew it. And I knew it had something to do with me.

My eyes fell to my phone sitting in my lap, and my heart began to pound.

I dialed Free’s number again and silently begged God for him to pick up.