Zadia licked her dry lips as her body stirred uncontrollably on the beanbag. The sound of thunder caused her eyes to snap open and made her heart thump hard in her chest. When she sat up, the window was the first thing she looked at. From her line of vision, she could see the rain pouring furiously and that the sky was darkened grey. The scene took her by surprise. Rain in her city was surprisingly normal, even though it barely happened, but a whole thunderstorm... that was new.

"I hope this means this is extra good luck." She mumbled to herself. She turned her head and her eyes nearly popped out of their socket as they landed on Abel. He was asleep on top of the beanbag in an uncomfortable position. Zadia quickly stood up and walked towards him. "Abel, wake up!" She said to him as she pushed his arm.

Abel groaned in his sleep, not wanting to wake up. "Go away." He groaned, shifting his position. An hour after the rain started to fall, they had fallen asleep to cracking jokes and talking about art. Not only was the conversation good, but it was the first time in days that Abel got a good rest.

Zadia's eyebrows raised. "Excuse you? Boy, this is my house. You better wake up before I push you off this chair!"

Abel huffed. "I'm up, I'm up." He said as he sat up, stretching his body. "How long were we out?"

"Apparently a long ass time." Said Zadia. "It's about to be six-thirty."

Abel stood up, worriedly. "It's about to be six-thirty?" He repeated. "Damn, how the hell am I supposed to get home."

Zadia shook her head, walking in the direction of the kitchen. She turned on the light. "The rain is the least of your worries... walking home at this time of the night around here is dangerous." She spoke as she took out some leftovers from the fridge.

"No shit Sherlock." Abel cursed as he leaned against the kitchen island. "I've lived in this city for sixteen whole years, I know everything I need to know about it, as well as the people that live in it. Also, would it be cool if I crash here tonight?" He said, watching as Zadia fixed herself a plate of food.

"Jesus!" She grumbled, turning to look at him with crossed arms. "Just say you want some, instead of staring at me to death. It's annoying." That was one of her pet peeves. People begging, intentionally.

Abel raised his hands up, in surrender. He really did like doing that a lot. "Aye chill, chicka. I was going to ask, I was just trying to see what the hell it was." His face scrunched up. "What the hell is that exactly? Because it looks..."

Zadia shot him a glare that quickly shut him up. "It looks like what?" She asked, daringly. When Abel only shook his head and said nothing, she nodded in approval. "That's what I thought." She grabbed another plate from her cabinet and placed it next to hers. "This," She motioned towards the food. "is Couscous and a bunch of Chopped up Cabbages. It's completely healthy and has great fiber and protein."

Abel squirmed as he looked at the food. "And where's the meat?" He asked, pointedly.

"There's no need for meat in this meal. The cabbages make up for it. Besides... our body doesn't always need meat."

Abel scoffed. "They hell if it don't. I'm Mexican Z, and Mexicans need meat." He countered. "Hell, Haitians need meat too!"

Zadia rolled her eyes, adding more food onto the plates. "You can't speak for all Mexicans and Haitians, Abel."

"Whatever, bruh. So can I spend a night or what?"

Zadia sighed. "Hit up your aunt and ask her if it's cool first. If she says yes, then sure. But you're sleeping on the floor though because I don't know you like that... and because it would be very inappropriate for you to sleep in my bed."

"I'm taking offense to that. I know that your family disowned you, and you know about my dad. So we basically already know each other on a personal level. And if you ask me, I think were thick as thieves already. Probably from a past life." Said Abel. "I can't sleep on the floor... I've got back problems."

"You're sixteen, I highly doubt that." She responded, warming up her plate. "Therefore, the floor it is. Besides, I heard that sleeping on the floor is good for a bad back." Thunder roared from outside, causing Abel to frown. He didn't like the rain much. "Not a fan of the rain?" Zadia asked, taking notice.

"Nah, ion like it."

"It's, I don't like it."

Abel sucked his teeth. "So you can correct me all you want but I can't sleep on your bed? And didn't you hear it's rude to correct people."

Zadia shrugged as the microwave timer went off. She took her food out and placed it on the counter. "Yes, yes I can. And it's only rude if I'm not doing it for a good cause. We're meant to correct each other as humans... it's how we learn from our mistakes and adjust. Me correcting you is benefiting you in the future."

"It really isn't. I know how to speak... proper lingo. I just like speaking our lingo. It's what I like and it's comfortable for me. That's all. I know when and where to speak how I do and who to do it in front of. You feel me?"

Zadia nodded, putting his plate into the microwave. "I know what you're talking about. It's kinda like how our voices change when we're talking to white people versus when talking to one another."

Abel laughed. "Yeah, it's exactly like that. How come you don't have any friends? Like I get why you don't have family... but friends... why not?" He questioned, walking into the kitchen. Abel took two plastic cups and poured the water from the fridge into them.

"Well first off, friends are overrated. Second, I don't need them..." She cleared her throat. "Third, what's the point of having friends and family if they all, eventually... leave you in the end? Everyone always leaves... which is why it's better to just be... alone." She hated how bland she sounded, but it was the truth. At least to her, it was. "You won't get disappointed when they finally walk out of your life. You'll feel relief in never having to deal with it."

"You know what that tells me?"

"What?"

"That you need friends."

Zadia chuckled, grabbing her plate. "Seriously?"

"Yes... that was dark as hell. But it also tells me that there's more to you not wanting friends. So spill, we've got time."

Zadia sets her plate down on the island and sits. "Fine, I'll spill but stop stalling and call your aunt already. Tell her the truth, because I don't want any problems."

He sighed heavily, sitting down beside her with his food. "Ight." He pulled out his phone and dialed his aunt. The phone ringed for a couple of seconds before she picked up. "Tía, it's me, Abel. I got caught up in the rain and since it's late, a friend of mine is letting me stay at their place." His aunt said something, that caused him to press the phone closer to his ears. "Sí, lo sé. No la has conocido antes, pero es agradable. Ella no es como esa tía... es mayor que yo... No estoy seguro, pero no lo creo. Por supuesto que puedes hablar con ella... no digas nada raro... por favor tía. No, no es así. Vale... vale, aquí va." (Yes, I know. You haven't met her before, but she's nice. She isn't like that auntie... she's older than me... I'm not sure, but I don't think so. Of course, you can talk to her... don't say anything weird... please auntie. No, it isn't like that. Okay... okay, here she goes.) "She wants to talk to you." He announced.

Zadia grabbed the phone from him and cleared her throat. "Hello?" Zadia said, nervously.

"Hello, this is Melissa. I'm Abel's aunt." She spoke with a thick accent but her English was very understandable. "Abel said he's staying with you tonight, is that correct?"

"It is." She answered, watching as Abel dug into his food, eating like he didn't have any sense. "I promise to keep him here tonight and send him back tomorrow, just in time for school."

"Thank you." She told her sincerely. "I've got a 12-hour shift ahead of me so I can't really be on the phone right now. Abel is a minor and he's under your care at the moment, if anything happens to my nephew ms..."

"Zadia. Zadia Hamilton."

"If anything happens to my nephew Ms. Hamilton while he's under your care, I'll personally kill you myself." She threatened. "I'm a nurse. I know just what to do, so don't underestimate me. Got it?"

"Got it."

"Thank you, now pass Abel back his phone please."

Zadia did as she was told and Abel took the phone out of her hand, pausing on his chewing. "Sí, Tía?"

"Abel, será mejor que te comportes. No le des problemas a la Sra. Entender?" (Abel, you better behave. Don't give Ms. Hamilton any problems. Understand?)

"Sí, tía, lo entiendo." (Yes, auntie. I understand.)

"Tan pronto como salgas del teléfono, envíame la dirección a su casa. Trig Te amo y estar a salvo." (As soon as you get off the phone, send me the address to her place. Love you and be safe.)

"Okay, I will. Love you. Bye." He said, before hanging up the phone. "Sorry about that, she could be a little overprotective at times."

"I see," Zadia said, before putting her spoon in her mouth. She chewed as proper as she could, not wanting to make a mess nor sound. Her legs rocked back and forth as her mind slowly began to wander. "Ouch!" She screamed, feeling a tightening sensation on her eyes. Her eyes scowled at Abel as she clutched her lower arm. "Did you just pinch me?"

"Duh," Abel stated, nonchalantly. "You zoned out. You do know that you do that a lot... right?"

"I know." She mumbled. "What were you saying?"

Abel bit his lips. "I hate repeating myself." He told her. "But anyway, I was saying it's okay for you to loosen up a bit. This is your apartment and you don't even seem comfortable in it."

"Does your auntie usually let you sleepover at a stranger's house?" She asked, wanting to change the subject.

He shook his head. "Strangers house? No. But a friend's house, yes. This is like the third time she's agreed to it."

"I never got to do that as a kid." She confessed. "My parents were always worried that if I ever slept at a friend's house... something bad would happen. And they were right. One day, I got invited to a sleepover and turned it down. But the girl that organized the whole thing, continued on with it. And literally the night of the sleepover, her brother got arrested for trying to molest one of the girls that attended... I often think that that girl could've been me if I had gone. She was black of course and that girl's brother had a fetish for black girls." Zadia stared at Abel, waiting for his reaction.

He blinked. "Wow... that's crazy. Was the girl ever okay after that?"

Zadia shrugged. "It happened in the fourth grade... literally a month after it happened, her family moved. But I heard she went to therapy."

"And what about that girl's brother?"

Zadia took a sip of her water, before sitting the cup back down. "White privilege happened. He spent like a week in juvie, since he was seventeen. And then after that, got out just in time to leave for college."

"Esa maldita perra." (That damn bitch.) "He's a whole Punk. If I had a sister and he did that to her, I would've beaten his ass and everything. Cops would've had to drag me away in handcuffs." He frowned. "Is that why you don't have friends?"

She looked down at her plate. "My friends stopped being my friends, the day my Tax bracket became less. I don't have friends, because there's no reason to have them. They aren't a life necessity. I'm fine with being alone. Alone is good."

Abel shook his head. "I'm gonna have to disagree with you, on that."

"That's totally fine... we're meant to disagree with one another."

They fell into a comfortable silence as they continued to eat their food.

Abel glanced over the place as he ate. He made some small mental notes, here and there as his eyes ventured around. Note one, Zadia only liked a set of three colors, which was black, red, and baby blue. He knew this because those were the three colors decorated around her space. Note two, she was a die-hard J.cole fan. When he went into her bedroom to use the bathroom earlier, he saw a bunch of J.Cole quotes/lyrics on her dresser. Note three, she was both clean and messy. Her bathroom was spotless, and so was her living room, but her room was messy.

"You're real, right?" She questioned out of the middle of nowhere. "I mean, you're not just some ghost coming into my life, impersonating to be a human in order to get me to change my life around? Because if you are, and I gotta find out in the end that you are, I just might scream. Especially if you disappear out of thin air."

Abel rolled his eyes. "I'm obviously not a ghost, since I can touch stuff. And you spoke with my aunt just a few minutes ago." He pushed his phone towards her. "By the way, can you type in your address before she calls back."

Zadia grabbed his phone and began, typing in her address. "She could be a ghost too."

Abel sucked his teeth. "Be real, you not on drugs right?"

"I'm not." She said, before handing him his phone.

He nodded. "Aye, so you just crazy." She shot him a look and he smiled at her. "Relax. I mean the good type of crazy, mami."

"You talk a lot."

"And you don't talk enough." He resorted.

Zadia opened her mouth to respond, but her mouth clamped shut as soon as thunder roared throughout the place. She jumped up as everything went dark. "Shit!" She cursed, standing up. "My phone isn't even fully charged, yet."

Abel gulped. "Please, tell me you've got candles or even flashlights laying around here somewhere."

"I've got a portable car jumper. It has a bright ass flashlight and some charger ports that come with it. Go ahead and get it. There are also some candles in there, so be careful with the box. I don't need you breaking anything and I sure as hell don't wanna pick up any glass." Zadia dropped her spoon on her plate once she finished chugging down on her cup of water.

"How long does APS usually take to get here, in situations like this?"

Zadia groaned, leaning against the island. "APS doesn't give a shit about the people in this neighborhood... therefore two days max.

Abel sucked his teeth at her. "You for real?"

"Dead serious." She said as she got up to put both plates in the fridge. Just as she was about to shut the nearly empty fridge, a hard knock came at the door and it caused both her and Abel to shutter. "You think that's your aunt?" She whispered, frightened. No one ever knocked on her door, not even Jehovah's Witnesses... which she was great full for.

"Of course not... she couldn't possibly get here that quick. And she has a 12-hour shift ahead of her, remember." He glanced at the door nervously. It was creepy to him, how there was only one knock that came, and then there was silence. "You sure it isn't your landlord?"

Zadia scoffed. "It's not, I've already paid rent for this month. That's the only time he'd ever knock on my door."

"Alright... so then maybe it's no one. It was only one knock so it could be a mistake."

"We won't know until we find out... not it."

Abel sucked his teeth, glaring at her. "What the hell you mean not it, this is yo house remember." He said, trying to mimic her voice. "I'm the guest, guest don't open doors. And didn't my aunt say, she'd kill ya if anything happened to me while I was here."

She huffed before pointing at her room. "Fine, I'll open it. But in the meantime, you go look for the damn flashlight."

Abel nodded, mischievously. "You don't gotta tell me twice!" He said as he walked to her room with quick pace.

"You better not go looking through my underwear's Abel!" She shouted, soon regretting how loud she was. She turned in the direction of the door and slowly inched forward with each breath she took. Her hand touched the doorknob and as she twisted it, she mentally cursed Henry out for not adding peek holes.

Finally opening the door, a frown plastered itself on her face as she saw no one in sight. It wasn't until she looked down, that she saw the familiar black car seat. Her eyes widened in disbelief. Laying inside the car seat was an olive skin baby, sleeping peacefully as it sucked on its thumb. Zadia's body stiffened. Having no clue what to do, she quickly slammed the door shut and leaned against it as she stared at her dark apartment.

With shallow breaths, she tried comprehending what just happened.

"Who was it?" Abel shouted, from inside her closet.

"I...I..." She struggles to say. She cringed when she heard the small baby begin to cry. The sound made her feel... anxious and it made her skin crawl.

"Is that a crying baby?" Abel shouted, confused. He found the box with the car jumper and turned it on so he could see better. The light nearly blinded him.

The baby's crying gets louder and Zadia grew more conflicted about whether she should open the door or not. She didn't know what to do... she'd never dealt with a child before. She didn't even want kids.

"Shut that damn baby up!" One of her neighbors yelled, through the walls.

Zadia took a deep breath, and with shaky hands opened the door and pulled the car seat inside. Locking her door and setting down the car seat, she does nothing but stares at the baby, who continued to cry as though it was the end of the world.

"It took a minute, but I..." Abel's words trailed on as he looked at the crying baby in disbelief. "You have a baby?" He questioned, utterly confused. He put the box with the candles on the counter but held up the car jumper, so its light could lighten up the place.

"No... of course not." Zadia rushed out. She felt as though she was hallucinating. "I opened the door and there it was... just laying and crying."

His eyes grew bigger. "Dios mío!" (Oh my God.) "Someone left their baby at your front door. That's so fucked up."

Zadia's face scrunched up at all the noise surrounding her. "Can you please pick it up, so it could stop crying. It's getting annoying."

Abel glared at her for what felt like the hundredth time today. "Stop calling the baby an it!" He said as he bent down to unclip the belt. He picked up the baby and began to bounce around in his spot. "Shhh, Va a estar bien, pequeño." (It's gonna be okay, little one.) The baby didn't bulge. "Maybe he or she needs a woman's touch."

"Shut that damn baby up!" The neighbor yelled again, which made Zadia huff in frustration as she ran a hand through her dreads.

"You shut up! It's a baby, babies are meant to cry, idiot!" She shouted back, which caused the baby to cry harder but hushed the annoying neighbor. Abel walked closer and poked out his arms to hand her the child. "Here goes nothing." Bending her arms she took the baby from Abel and rocked it around steadily.

"There's a note in the car seat." Said Abel. "Want me to read it?"

"Hold on, let me get I—" She caught herself. "Let me get the baby to be quiet first." There was nothing on the car seat that told her the baby's gender. The car seat was black and the baby's onesie was plain grey. "Shhh, stop crying, little human." She begged the baby. "It's gonna be okay." Walking over to the refrigerator, she pulled out an ice cube before passing it to the baby. The baby latched onto it, quickly shutting up. "Good baby."

"Can I read it now?"

"Yes Abel, read the note."

Opening up the small white sheet of paper, Abel began to read out loud,

"Dear,

Zadia I'm guessing by the time you finally see this note, you'll be freaking out. I don't blame you if I was in your shoes, I'd be doing the same thing too. I wanna start off by saying that I only know your name because I heard the landlord say it once in his office. I've been keeping an eye on you for some time now because I knew deep down inside that a day like this would soon come... A day, where I'd have to leave my baby behind for his own protection.

I can't explain it all in one note, so I'll just fill you in on what you need to know. I'm being chased, by Los Ánarquistas and every other criminal organization you can think of that's in this city. They're after both my baby and me, which is why I need to disappear again. And I sadly can't do it again with a baby by my side, because as you can see, they found me.

I'm asking you woman to woman, please keep my baby boy with you. He's safer there with you than with me. If I had someone else out there that I trusted, I would surely give him to them... but I don't. You're my only hope. Do not call the cops, they are all corrupted and will give my boy away the second they get the chance too. Stay low and let no one know that you have him.

The men that you said were in the building earlier, they'll be coming back. This is why you need to head over to my apartment as quickly as you can and get the baby supplies that I've left behind. Right along with the money that I left you. This money is enough to pay a year's worth of rent, electricity, and whatever else you need money for. You can find it in a bag under the kitchen sink and when it's all gone, I'll send you more. Don't worry about how... just know that it will be done. It's the least I can do, for giving you such a task.

My baby's name is Santino. He's six months and has a soy allergy. He fusses from time to time and music is the only way to get him to calm down. Everything else you need to know about him is in his baby bag.

I'm not sure when I'll see my baby again or even if I'll be alive too... I'm trusting you to take care of him like he's your own. No words can describe how much I thank you for this and how painful it is to leave him behind. He's my heart.

Sincerely,

Eliśa — A mother who's trying to give her son a better life.

When Abel is done reading the note, he shook his head and glanced at Zadia, who had an unreadable expression. "You alright?" He asked her, worriedly.

"No, I'm not alright Abel." She responded. "Why would she do this to me? I can't take care of a baby right now. I can barely even support myself at the moment, how am I supposed to do it now with a whole baby!" She shrieked. "I don't even like kids! I've got too much on my plate as it is, and now she wants me to take care of her baby! She's his mother... this is her job."

"I get it, I really do Z... but right now she can't do that. She has gangs with mob ties chasing her. Do you know how dangerous they are?" Abel said, trying to reason with her. "I wouldn't want to raise someone else's kid either, but this is for a good cause."

"I don't give a shit about a good cause!" She yelled, causing the baby to jump. "If that fucking gang finds out that I've got her kid, what do you think they'll do to me, huh? What about my life?!" Abel stayed silent. "I can't do this Abel... I'm gonna turn him in... into one of those kid shelters."

"You can't do that Zadia! Do you know how life will be for him, growing up in a shelter?"

"He'll get adopted. Plenty of people want to adopt a baby."

"But he's not guaranteed that spot! He'll most likely grow up in the system and by the time he's eighteen they'll kick him out into a world he won't be ready for. And if Los Ánarquistas finds him, it'll be the thug life for him!" He told her. "You heard what she said in the note, he's safer here with you than anywhere else."

"I'm not fit for this!" She raged.

"Then learn to be! As humans, we're meant to adjust... so start adjusting."

Zadia rolled her eyes. "Stop using my words against me!"

Abel shrugged. "I will, just as soon as you agree to keep the baby."

Zadia huffed, heavily. "You're a child, you don't understand." She told him. "God, this isn't what I imagined when I said extra good luck." She said in her mind. She looked at the baby in her arms and hazel eyes stared right back at her. "I'll keep him here for one week... if I can't handle him... then I'm giving him up to people who can."

Abel nodded. "Okay... that's good. That's progress. You got this." He encouraged.

"Yeah." She said and gulped. "I got this."

Only time would tell if she did.