"I'm sorry, Ms. Hamilton but your Insurance does not cover insulin or anything related to insulin." Dr. Stewart announced to Zadia as he leaned back into his seat, both his arms crossed. It was silent in the room, so silent that the only thing you could hear making noise was the a/c. The doctor cleared his throat, hoping to break the awkwardness. "Ms. Hamilton, did you hear me?" He questioned, looking at Zadia worriedly.

"I...I heard you." Zadia started. "I'm just trying to figure out when all this happened and why wasn't I informed."

Dr. Stewart cleared his throat, yet again. "They had a policy change and it sadly took effect on the last day of the month, which was a Sunday and mail doesn't get sent out on Sundays which delayed the letter informing you on such changes." He explained. It sounded like he was reading from a bunch of note cards.

Zadia burst out laughing, she tried holding it in but just couldn't. Her doctor stared at her with wide eyes, as if she had lost her mind. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." She apologized, trying to contain herself. She wiped some tears from her eyes. "It's just, I've wanted to die for as long as I could remember," she confessed. "And I've never had the guts to actually, you know... off myself. But here you guys go, doing it for me." She laughed some more, slapping her knees. "It's like, you guys want me dead more than I do." She couldn't stop laughing.

She got like this sometimes when she received bad news.

Pseudobulbar effect is what her old doctors used to call it.

"You've been having suicidal thoughts?" Dr. Stewart questioned.

Zadia opened her mouth to answer but quickly closed it. She had to answer this seriously, or else she could be admitted into a psychiatric hospital. "No sir, I'm sorry. It's just the news... it's a lot to handle. My mind is all over the place." She lied, hoping he bought it.

Dr. Stewart stared at her for a couple of more minutes, his face expressionless. He drummed his fingers on his desk, which was full of paperwork. "Okay, here's what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna prescribe you some antidepressants and I want you to start taking them as soon as possible and on your next visit, I want you to tell me if it's helped with your... thoughts." He said, before casually opening his desk drawer and pulling out a prescription script. He dribbled his signature on it, before lifting it up and passing it to Zadia.

Zadia looked at the small green sheet of paper in his hand and chuckled. "Does my insurance cover this?" She asked, taking it from his hand.

Her doctor nodded. "Yes, they cover it fully." He stated.

"Of course they'd cover this fully." She said to herself. "What about my insulin and other supplies, how am I supposed to get those before I run out?"

"Well, for now, we'll put you on a list and from there on, I'd advise you to call your insurance office and see if they could give you more information about this whole thing and on their policy change."

Zadia tilted her head to the side. "So you mean to tell me that insurance has denied paying for the one thing that could help me live... but can fully pay for the thing that's most likely to kill me?" She questioned, before clapping her hands together. "I'm speechless. Honestly."

"I'm sorry about this, I really am. The system is... messed up."

"Fucked!" She blurted out. "The system is fucked, that's the correct term for it doc." Standing up, she gathered her things, which was only her bag and cell phone. "Thanks for this," she referred to the prescription script, waving it around. "it's gonna come in real handy for me." She said, sarcastically before walking out her doctors' office.

By the time she fully made it out of the building, her feet were already aching. It was a blessing that she didn't have to walk back home... well kinda. She was riding her bike to get from one place to another for the time being, since her car was unable to be driven at the moment. Her next paycheck, fingers crossed, was most definitely going towards getting her car fixed.

Sinking her hands into her bag, she pulled out her cell phone and unwrapped her earphones from around it. Plugging a bud into her ear, she lets the other one dangle around her chest. The soft sound of Whitney Houston's voice played softly into her ear as she got on her bike. Glancing at her surroundings, she waited for a group of people to go by, before she began pedaling her way down the street.

It felt good to be doing this right now. Unlike yesterday, the sun wasn't glaring down on her today, it was too busy being shunned away by the grey clouds that loomed in the sky. It looked like it was going to rain, but seeing how this state had the most confusing weather, it really wasn't guaranteed. Zadia, on the other hand, loved it when it rained. All her most memorable moments happened while it rained.

For instance, her first kiss, buying her first car, finding a hundred bucks, graduation...

She for real felt like the luckiest person in the world when it rained.

"Cross the fucking street already!" An angry, bystander yelled from inside his car.

Zadia quickly snapped out of her thoughts and pedaled a little bit faster before the pedestrian timer cut off. She sighed heavily once she crossed the road. It seriously got under her skin how easily distracted she was.

About a block away from her apartment, she got off her bike to walk the rest of the way. Her head bopped to the beat of the song, "are you that somebody," by Aaliyah as she made her way down the street. She bit down on her lip, fighting the urge to sing along. Zadia had a horrible voice and she knew that first hand. One time when she was a kid, she thought that she could sing, which lead her to believe it was okay to record herself doing it. Once she replayed the video, she realized that everyone was right... she couldn't sing... like at all.

It just wasn't her cup of tea.

"Yo, Zadia!" She heard someone shout, which caused her to jump in surprise. Not wanting to be annoyed, she quickly slipped the other earphone bud into her ear and upped the volume on her phone. She walked with her head high like she hadn't heard a thing. A small smile appeared on her face when she believed she got rid of the person.

But that smile quickly vanished as soon as she felt someone, yank out her buds. "What the fuck Abel?!" She shouted furiously. "What the hell is your problem?!" She asked, glaring at him.

"Damn, my fault." He said, looking at her with wide eyes. "I called your name to get your attention but you just kept walking away. Hell, I even saw when you put your other earbud in. How come you ignoring me? I thought we were cool now?"

Zadia scoffed. "You're a minor, I can't be friends with a minor that's first. And second, I put both earbuds in because I obviously didn't want to be disturbed." Zadia looked around. "It's like twelve in the afternoon, why aren't you in school?"

He shrugged. "Didn't have a ride."

Zadia squinted. "I'm sure you could've caught the bus."

"Aren't you supposed to be at work?" He questioned, accusingly.

"I called off because I had a doctor's appointment." She looked down at his hands, noticing he had a can of grape Arizona and a bag of Piñon nuts. "You do know that if the cops catch you walking around during school hours, they'll stop you right."

Abel chuckled. "I know. There was one watching me while I was inside the gas station, that's why as soon as I came out, I went straight to you." He turned around, to get a look. "See, he's gone now."

Zadia's brows raised. "Smart, now only if you could go to school." She resumed her walking, her hand wrapped around the handlebars. Abel followed her, walking by her side. "Not this following shit again. Don't you have anything better to do."

"At the moment, nope. Can I chill with you till it's safe to be outside again?" He asked, pouting his lips.

"Go home, Abel." She said, placing her phone in her pocket.

"I can't, my aunt will kill me if she finds out I missed school again." He looked at her, desperately. "Please. It's just this one time, you won't even know I'm there. I'll be good and I'll follow directions."

"I'm a bad influence, trust me. You don't want to hang with someone like me."

"I'm sure you're not half as bad as the people I hang out with. Please, just until school is out.

Zadia went quiet for a moment, her eyes drifted to her shoes. She thought about it for a moment, contemplating it. "Fine, but you have to tell me why you won't go to school and why your ass won't stay home."

He nodded. "Deal."

"I live in a very shitty apartment, just so you know."

"Don't we all." He mumbled, hoping she wouldn't hear, but she did.

"So, what's keeping you from going to school?" She asked, changing the subject. They continued the path to Zadia's apartment.

Abel cleared his throat. "I go to Lakewood high... it isn't the best school around here. The district barely funds it, there are kids dealing drugs inside it, if you don't have any money you can't eat any lunch, the teachers treat the students like shit, and the security guards are like the police... they prey off us. I love learning, but I'm not trying to be around all that, so I decided it was best to just not go."

Zadia glanced at him. "Did you tell your aunt all that?"

He shook his head. "She already has enough on her plate, I don't wanna bother her with all that. I'll be fine."

"Why don't you just change schools or better yet, start homeschooling. The library downtown is open till nine, I'm sure you can get a library card and go back and forth from there."

He shook his head. "It sounds easy, but it isn't. I can't be around downtown, that's Sun Town territory. They see me there and I'll be another Junior Feliz."

Zadia bit her lip. "Damn." She whispered. She had it bad, but the kid... he had it worse. It really was true what J.Cole said, there really wasn't such a thing of a life better than yours.

"Don't go feeling bad for me or anything... it's life." Abel said, smiling. Zadia noted that he had a beautiful smile, one that made you want to smile as well. "I'm a big boy, I can handle it corazón." (Sweetheart)

"I'm not your sweetheart," Zadia mumbled, stopping at her building door. "This is it." She said, causing Abel to stop.

"You speak Spanish??" He questioned before his eyes widened. "Woah." He breathed, staring at the building. "When you said shitty, I admit, I kinda thought you were lying."

Zadia chuckled, opening the door to her building. "That's the last thing I'd ever lie about." She said as she wheeled her bike in. Once they were inside, the door shut behind them.

"It's hot as hell in here. Aren't they supposed to have like an a/c in the lobby?"

"The landlord here doesn't fix anything, which really isn't that bad seeing as how rent is cheap... in a way." She nodded towards the stairs. "Come on, my apartment is on the fifth floor."

Abel sighed. "Fifth floor, that's a whole workout."

Zadia rolled her eyes. "It really isn't. Grab the back of the bike so we can carry it up."

Abel quickly put the bag of nuts in his pockets and left the empty can of grape Arizona on the ground. He lifted the bike by the back wheel as he saw Zadia move up the stairs. "I've got it." He said moving forward. He was trying to show off how strong he was, which made Zadia smile, unexpectedly. Zadia had to admit, the kid was a character.

"As I said before, if you guys don't have a warrant or are not associated with any type of law enforcement, I cannot give that type of information out!" Zadia's landlord, Henry, yelled out loud. Her eyes traveled from the stairs to the opened office door in the lobby. It was the first time Zadia ever heard him sound so serious.

It kinda worried her a little. "Umm... is he usually loud like that?" Abel asked, staring at the door as well.

"Never." She whispered with raised eyebrows. "He's a chill guy."

"Get out!" Henry shouted and soon after that, two men dressed in baggy clothes walked out of his office. One man had on a pair of dark shades that covered his eyes, along with the number seventy-four Jersey of the Arizona Cardinals on. He looked the scariest out of the two. He was very tall, about 6'3 if Zadia had to guess. His mussels were bulging and he had tattoos all over his body. The other guy looked more approachable. He was skinny but very fit and had way fewer tattoos, than his friend. His hair was braided back into cornrows and his jawline was sharp, which made him look... cute.

They were both brown-skinned, but not the same type of brown that reflected Zadia's skin, they were lighter, the same shade of brown as Abel. It was obvious that they were of Spanish Descent. 

"Don't be fucking talking to us like that gringo?!" The tall one shouted, mean-mugging the hell out of Henry.

The other one leaned against the wall, with an amused expression on his face. He watched the scene before him, not even bothering to interfere.

"Get the hell out of here?!" Henry shouted. "There's no one here that matches your description. Now leave before I make you." He threatened. Zadia tried to pry her eyes away, but she couldn't. She couldn't help but be nosy... sometimes. Being in Henry's office more than once, she knew that he had two shotguns behind his desk. That's probably what he'd use to get them out. "Or better yet, I'll call the cops."

The amused look on the other guy's face quickly disappeared once he heard the word, cops. His posture straightened as he stood up. He opened his mouth to say something but shut it once he felt eyes on him. Turning his head around, he caught sight of both Zadia and Abel. "We don't want any trouble. We were just leaving." He announced, but instead of walking out the door, he walked in the direction of the stairs. "What's up youngin." He addressed Abel. Abel stiffened. "This yo girl?"

Whatever response Abel was steering up, it got stuck in his mouth. Zadia, on the other hand, noticed this, which caused her to frown. "No, I'm not his girl." She answered snidely.

The man chuckled at her response, he smirked at her. "Damn, my fault for assuming chicka. I didn't mean to offend you or nothing like that. I just wanted to know." He walked up a step. "While I have your attention, is it cool if I ask you a couple of questions?"

Zadia stared at him blankly. "No."

The man's eyes squinted, which pushed Abel to finally say something. "Sure, Martin." He said, nervously. "You can ask us anything. It's not a problem."

Zadia looked at Abel confused about what he was babbling about, it wasn't until she caught his line of vision, that she paled. On Martin's neck, in plain black ink, was the tattoo of the Los Ánarquistas name and familiar tigress. Zadia knew right at that moment, that Martin wasn't the one to be fucked with. "Have you guys seen a lady and a baby around here recently? The mother's Hispanic, barely speaks English and the baby is a couple months old."

The only person that matched that description, was Zadia's neighbor, the one that lived across the hall. Her mouth went dry, but she didn't fold. "I've lived here for a pretty long time and have never met a woman that matched that description." She lied easily. She never had trouble lying, she could be very convincing. "No one in their right mind would raise a baby here."

Martin's eyes pierced hers and when he tilted his head to the side, his smirk grew wider. "I'll take your word for it." He said, not taking her eyes off her. "Thanks for the help."

"No problem." Said Abel. He was trying to get Martin's prying eyes off Zadia but it didn't work.

"Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you look?" He asked Zadia. "Because if they haven't, let me take the time out of my day to tell you that, you are very beautiful." He licked his lips. "Lemme get your number."

"Thanks, but no thanks." She said, before looking at Abel. "Let's go." They moved up the stairs some more.

"Your number." He shouted as they walked away. "That's all I need to get you out this dump!"

Zadia paid no mind to what he said. "Friends of yours?" She muttered to Abel.

Abel shook his head. "Not even close. He's just very known in my part of town. Seen him a couple of times when I was hanging with my boys. He was recruiting and shit." Abel said while lifting the bike. "That's the first time he's actually spoken to me."

"Besides the fact that it's obviously a bad thing, why haven't you joined? Most kids your age would already be jumping towards an opportunity like that."

Abel frowned at Zadia. "A gang isn't an opportunity, it's a death wish. Like I said yesterday, I'm not made for gang life and I don't wanna be a part of all that. I've got way too much respect for my moms, to be fucking up her image of me. Before she died, she worked three whole jobs just to put food on the table and keep a roof over our heads. And not ever did she ask me to help, she just wanted me to live a better life than hers. That's all she ever asked for."

Zadia's skin raised. She felt goosebumps on her arms. "She sounded like a wonderful woman. It's dope that you have a mindset like that."

Abel shrugged. "She was." He put the bike down to catch his breath. "Yo, where's your apartment? This too many steps."

Zadia continued to walk, leaving him behind. "It's literally the next floor up, stop being so lazy."

"These legs weren't made for all these stairs." He groaned.

"Really, then what were they made for? Sitting?" She said, sarcastically.

"I would tell you the real answer, but it's pretty inappropriate."

Zadia rolled her eyes. "You're such a boy." She mumbled under her breath. She took her house keys out of her pocket once she got to her floor. "Remember, you're only staying here till school is over and then you're out. Don't touch anything and don't snoop, keep your thoughts to yourself and don't eat any of my stuff. If you break anything, you're paying for it."

"Got it." He says, from behind her. Reaching her front door, Zadia unlocked it and stepped in, holding the door open for Abel. He walked in slowly, his eyes analyzing the place. "This isn't that bad of a place you got here. Where do you want the bike?"

Shutting the door, Zadia settled her bag on the ground and placed her keys on the nearest desk. "Set it right near the pile of books on the floor. And remember,"

"Don't touch anything, yeah I know." He finished, moving further into the living room. Zadia, on the other hand, moved to her bedroom to change into something more comfortable, which was a pair of boy shorts and an oversized hoodie. Grabbing a sticky note off her nightstand, she began to write down something important. When she was done, she made her way back to the living room.

Not having much money to buy certain things, Zadia didn't own a living room set. And she had never been embarrassed about it, until now. Seeing Abel laid up on her bean bag chair, instead of a couch made her feel bad. "You good?" She asked, interrupting him from scrolling through his phone.

"Yeah, you've got a cool place over here. I dig the whole bean bag chairs. It's giving me Chuck E. Cheese vibes." Abel teased.

Zadia stuck her middle finger at him. "Funny, real funny." She said walking towards the front door. "Stay here, I'll be right back." She opened it and made her way, across the hall to her neighbor's door. She raised her hands into a fist to knock on the door, but stopped, not wanting to possibly wake up her neighbors baby. Zadia decided to just slide the note under the door, before walking back into her apartment.

"Where'd you go?" Abel asked, curiously.

"None of your business." Shutting and locking her door, Zadia took a seat on the nearest beanbag, which was the furthest away from Abel. She didn't want him to feel uncomfortable. "So, how come you can't go home after your aunt leaves?"

Abel put his phone away, giving her his undivided attention. "My uncle is an asshole. He doesn't like the fact that my aunt took me in. He hates my guts and we don't have the best relationship, therefore I try my best to stay as far away from him as possible." His head looks up at the grey ceiling. "You really speak Spanish?"

Zadia nodded. "Yup. Growing up in my household, we had to take about three language classes, because my dad thought I'd be good for my future." She explained. "I know and speak four languages fluently. English, Haitian Creole, French, Spanish. I was learning how to speak Somali, but my lessons had to stop so I only know a couple of words, that's it."

"That's impressive," Abel replied with a smile. "I only know Spanish and English but I've always wanted to learn how to speak Turkish." He confesses, which made Zadia laugh. His smile widened. "What? Turkish is a cool language. Plus I'd look so good speaking it. The girls would love me."

"Trust me, they won't." She said, still laughing. "That is such a random language."

Abel nodded. "It really was. I'm glad I could do that."

Zadia's head tilted in confusion. "Do what?"

"Make you smile." He concluded. "Your smile looks nice on you. It brings out the color of your eyes."

She looked at him up and down, taking her time to actually see him. Black cargo shorts, a white teen top, and a black jacket are what he had on. There was a small ring on his pinky finger but Zadia couldn't make out what material it was. His hands laid perfectly on his lap and his legs stayed apart. He wore black knee socks and black Nike slides. "Where's your dad?" She blurted out, soon regretting it because of the look of sadness that washed over his face.

"He got deported." He whispered.

'Why am I so stupid!' She thought to herself.

"Sorry for asking."

He waved her off. "Don't be, shit happens." He points at the artwork scattered around the kitchen. "You're an artist?"

Zadia felt her heart skip a beat at the question. She didn't know how to answer. "Ummm, yeah."

Abel frowned. "You don't sound so sure."

"It's been a long time since I've last painted anything... I'm not sure if I'll ever pick up another paintbrush again."

"Can I see your work?" He questioned. "I promise I won't touch anything."

"Be my guess." Once the words left her mouth, Abel quickly stood up to go take a look.

"These look so good." He said as his eyes wandered around the many drawings and paintings. "I wish I could draw like this, all I know how to draw are stick figures." They both chuckled. "How come you stopped?"

"Time." She whispered. "I've barely got any time."

"How old are you?"

"Twenty-three. You?"

"Sixteen." He told her. "I'll finally be seventeen in about four months and then a year later I'll be legal."

Zadia nodded. "Better enjoy your youth while it lasts, soon you'll be pushed into the life of adulthood and trust me, it ain't pretty. It's hard, annoying, and you'll feel like crying the majority of the time."

"You look like you've done good with yourself so far."

She shook her head. "I barely even have half my shit together, I've got bills piling up, and if you haven't noticed already I'm broke as hell. Like I said earlier kid, I'm a bad influence."

Abel picked up the beanbag and placed it closer to Zadia. He took a seat, looking her in the eyes. "You're sure as hell a better influence than half the people I know. And trust me, I know a lot of people."

Zadia scoffed at that. "I'm sure you do."

"Do you have any family?" He asked, prying.

"You ask a lot of questions." Zadia resorted.

Abel smirked. "You do too. I thought this was the pg version of twenty-one questions."

She sucked her teeth at him, her eyes glancing at the time on her clock. It was only one-thirty in the afternoon. Time was going slow. "No, I've got no family." She said. "They're all alive and well, we just don't talk. I got disowned."

Abel fake gasped. "Now who in the right mind would disown you? You're so down to earth and beautiful!" He exaggerated, pulling out his phone. "Give me your family's number, I'll hit them up right now and talk some shit to them. They are so crazy. Like what the fuck."

Zadia crossed her hands together and kicked up her legs. The smile on her face became wider. "You're so extra."

Abel snorted. "No, but for real why would they do some dumb shit like that?"

"You know how like in the teen movies, the teen comes from the wealthiest family and has pretty much everything they could ever ask for. And for as long as they could remember their parents have been pushing them to become something they weren't, and basically, it just became too much pressure to handle. Then finally high school graduation comes and that teen breaks it down to their parents that they don't wanna pursue college, and then the parents are all mad at first but then forgives the teen and they move on with their lives?" Abel nodded and she kept going. "Well, that's basically what happened to me. It's just that, I decided to pursue my dreams instead of going to college. And because of that, I got disowned and my parents pretty much hate me for infinity and beyond."

His face scrunched up. "Seriously, you got disowned because of that? I'm thinking it's because you killed someone or something. Damn, I was way off." He leaned back. "I'm sure they don't hate you, they just said that in the heat of the moment."

Zadia shook her head. "Yeah, no. They meant it, one thing about Haitians is that they mean everything they say. And I mean everything. But it's cool, I mean sometimes it hurts to know that they do but, life goes on." Zadia looked out the window and smiled small. "It's raining." She pointed out.

Abel's eyebrows knitted together. "You got a rain fetish or some shit. Why'd your mood change like that?"

"Because it rarely rains down here and I happen to really like the rain." She explained.

"Interesting." He crossed his hands together. "It's weird nonetheless, but very interesting. So back to your art. I think you should start painting again. I know you said you don't have time, but if you love something, you find a way to continue doing it. No matter what."

Zadia sighed. "You're a very wise kid."

He pointed his finger at her. "I'm not a kid."

"You kinda are but, whatever." She sat up, coming up with an idea. "Tell you what, if I start painting again, you gotta go to school without skipping. I know there's a lot of shit that goes down there, but like you said, if you love something, you find a way to continue doing it. No matter what."

Abel sighed loudly. "We haven't even been homies for a whole day, yet you're already using my own words against me." Eventually, he chuckled. "Fine I'll do it, but the first painting after your hiatus has to be of me. I've been dying to see what I'd look like in a painting."

"Alrighty cool, shake on it." She stuck her hands out and Abel shook it. Both of them noted how different their hands looked compared to the other. After a couple of seconds went by, she let go.

"Is it cool, if I get something to drink?" He asked.

"Sure. Your options range from water to cold water."

He stood up and walked towards the kitchen. "Perfect."

Zadia couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not, so she decided to keep her mouth shut. As she watched Abel snoop through her kitchen, her mind randomly drifted to the note she left under her neighbor's door.

'There were some guys in the building, looking for a woman and a baby today. For some reason, you were the first person that popped into my head. If this has nothing to do with you, then sorry for wasting your time, disregard this note. But if it does have something to do with you, please know that no one said anything to them. Be safe and God bless.'

"You wanna cup?" Abel questioned, gesturing at the plastic cup filled with water in his hands.

"I'm good, thanks." She answered, watching him drink.

Deep down in her heart, she hoped that her neighbor disregarded the note, because if she was the one that Los Ánarquistas was looking for, she was fucked.