A scream erupted from the alley. Debbie took off in a run. Down the endless staircase. She ran and ran and ran but more stairs appeared below her. The scream grew louder, echoing in the stairwell and making her head ache. The door finally appeared in front of her. Blood was flowing beneath the entrance like a river. More blood than she'd ever seen before. She pushed the door open, and heard a gunshot. Debbie tried to scream but she had no voice. She tried to run but her feet had turned to lead. The body stared at her with glassy eyes.
Debbie's body jolted up. Her heart was pounding, sweat dripping down her back making her oversized shirt cling lifelessly to her thin frame.
She was having a nightmare again. The same nightmare she hadn't had in weeks, the nightmare she thought may have finally been gone for good, came back with more intensity than it had ever had before.
"Are you okay?" Daisy's voice whispered.
Debbie looked over her bed, to see Daisy sitting criss-cross on the floor smoking a cigarette. Smoke swirled up in the dark room and curled around Debbie's face. "Why are you in here?"
"I couldn't sleep. Tyler said I was making too much noise so I just came in here cause I know I couldn't wake you up with a gunshot."
Debbie cringed at the word gunshot, her dream still fresh in her mind.
Daisy put her cigarette out on a dinner plate noticing Debbie's discomfort. She pulled herself up into Debbie's bed, making herself at home under the covers.
"Are you having nightmares again?"
"No." Debbie tried to reply sternly. However her voice stuttered from the fear she was still encountering. Daisy grabbed Debbie's hand and tried to look her in the eyes. Debbie quickly turned her face to look out the door into the living room, pulling her hand from Daisy's firm grasp.
"I've been having nightmares too." Daisy confessed. "You know why I moved down here don't you?"
"Yeah, because of the gang violence." Daisy let out a deep breath that Debbie could feel brush through her long red hair.
"Yeah, I mean it was gang violence I guess. I just... never really told you the whole story..."
Debbie turned to look at Daisy finally as her voice trailed off. Daisy had pulled her knees up right under her nose, tiny streams of tear drops rolled down her cheeks and stained her red plaid sleep pants.
Debbie suddenly felt angry, like she wanted to punch her wall, break a window, or fight a stranger. She had never seen Daisy cry before, and she knew it was something she'd never want to see again.
"Hey Daze what's your problem? Don't cry."
"I almost got Dominic killed." Daisy burst out. Tears were pouring from her eyes at this point. Her face was dark red, her eyes were blood shot, and her upper lip was quivering. "The police caught me dealing. They told me they'd let me off if I ratted on the leader." Daisy punched the pillow twice. "What was I supposed to do Deb? If I went to jail who'd take care of Dominic? I'm his only family!"
Debbie pulled herself onto her knees, placing her right hand under Daisy's chin to forcing them to look into each other's eyes.
"Daisy it doesn't matter, you're here now. You're safe."
"But we're not." Daisy yelled as she jumped out of bed. "They found us. I shouldn't have fucked with them. I didn't know they were going to..."
Daisy wiped the tears from her eyes, attempting to calm herself down.
"That's why I needed the money. They want seven hundred thousand dollars by next month, or they're going to kill Dominic and take me back up North."
Debbie felt her throat go dry. She thought of what they'd make Daisy do if her old gang got a hold of her, and it made her feel sick. The images wouldn't leave her mind, and she felt the urge to check the front door lock.
"Hey come on let's get out of here." Debbie said finally pulling herself out of bed and yanking on a pair of black leggings.
"It's almost 3am." Daisy giggled lightly under her breath.
"Oh come on Daisy!" Debbie groaned, grabbing Daisy's wrist and pulling her into the living room.
"Where are we going to go at 3am in our pajamas?" Daisy asked, trying to contain her laughter as to not wake her younger brother sleeping on the couch.
Debbie opened up the cabinets and began pulling out all the dishes, ignoring every one of Daisy's questions. She walked out the door, down the stairwell and into the alley that connected their apartment building to another. Daisy followed closely behind.
"Think of your old gang showing up." Debbie told Daisy hanging her a plate. "Then throw this at the wall as hard as you can."
"Why?" Daisy asked, her body shivering slightly from the cold damp air.
"Just do it!" Debbie cheered as she forced the plate in her hands.
Daisy sighed deeply then turned to stare down the wall. She flipped the plate in her hand, over and over. Then she thought of Dominic. She thought of her old gang beating him to death. She heard him screaming and begging for her help. The she chucked the glass plate against the brick wall. As it shattered, her fear shattered with it, and in its place came a rage. A fire she had never had before. She wouldn't let anything happen to Dominic.
She grabbed the other plates from Debbie's arms and hurled them quickly one at a time toward the wall, until only one plate remained.
Daisy pulled Debbie into an embrace. "Thank you" she panted, her heart beating so fast Debbie could feel it against her own chest. "For everything."
Debbie smiled, hugging the shorter girl as tight as possible. The last plate was still in Daisy's left hand when she pulled away. She flipped it over once, than handed it to Debbie.
"Here. It's your turn. This one's for all your nightmares."
Debbie carefully took the plate from Daisy's hands, treating it like a bomb that could go off at any moment. She stared at it. Thinking of her nightmares. Thinking about the lifeless body lying in the alley by her old home. Steve. The person she used to love most in the world. The person she couldn't save.
But as she hurled the plate at the brick wall that sprawled in front of she only had one thought on her mind. Daisy. Debbie didn't even watch the plate as it shattered into a million pieces, she watched as Daisy smiled and clapped and jumped up and down excitedly.
"I'm never going to let anything happen to you Daisy. I promise."