Bernice

2

May 12
August,

I happened to be walking into a grocery store and I heard Trina talking to someone on the phone. She was saying something about Maria being in Newport, Wales.

Marie is Bernice's middle name. Now I'm in Newport in a hotel. Jaquan couldn't come because his mom just got admitted to the hospital a couple days ago.

I headed into the library. I typed in Bernice's full name, I found all her information, and I wrote it down.

Jaquan told me that the U.K. has a lot of places where you can search up where someone is on the computer.

I caught a cab. "256 red lane." I said. I was there in twenty minutes. I paid the driver 40. "Keep the change." I said. I got out of the cab.

I knocked on the door. The door swung open. "August." "Bernice." She was surprised.

"How'd you find us?" She questioned. "It doesn't matter. Can I see Aaron?" She nodded. She let me in.

"Mommy I'm hu- Daddy!" Aaron ran to me. I picked him up. He looks just like me. He has blue eyes like his mother.

I sat down on the couch with him on my lap. "Why'd you leave?" I wondered. "I don't want him around your lifestyle." She informed me. I deal drugs while doing music on the side.

"You couldn't just tell me that. I don't even want him around my lifestyle." I said. If Aaron ended up like me I wouldn't like it at all.

"So what you're saying is that you were going to tell me to raise him alone." She scoffed. "Now you're putting words in my mouth. I ain't say all that." I reassured her.

"What are you saying then?" She crossed her arms. "I don't want him to be like me but I can't stop my lifestyle. I have people after me if I leave it'll be easy for them to capture me." I told her.

I can't trust a lot of people. I've had snakes in the past. I have been thrown in jail twice because of that.

"We can co parent." She said. "That ain't going to work for me. He'll be staying with me full time. I can protect him." I decided. "I know you can protect him but I can too." She said.

"I am going to say this even though I ain't on good terms with you right now. You might as well live with me too because I know that they have you on their hit list because you were hanging around me." I mentioned.

"I've been in danger and you knew but you didn't tell me." She mentioned. "I would have told you if you didn't run away." I said. "Touché. There is no way I am going to live with you." She said. "We'll see about that." I smirked.

I know that she ain't gonna stay by herself. She's gonna act like she can be by herself but she can't.