Dark Angel

*Billie's POV*

We stumbled out the door, with Imogene in the lead. I caught up to her and placed an arm around her shoulder. She giggled at my touch. We had been close ever since the day we met, and I secretly liked her. We started to do our little side step walk. Its where we'd take one diagonal step to the left and then to the right. We continued to walk this way until Imogene lost her balance and fell flat on her ass. Tre, Mike, and I chuckled.

"Shut up," Imogene whined as she got up. She clumsily ran passed us and down an alley way.

"Imo, you're going the wrong way! My house is that way!" I shouted at her, motioning in the other direction.

"I know! I'm going to see if the whore threw Blacky out the window again!" she shouted back before disappearing around the corner. 'Blacky' was the guitar that I had gotten her for her 14th birthday. It was a black Fernandez stratocaster. It looks exactly like 'Blue' except its black and is a little more beat up. I sighed and followed her with Mike and Tre close behind. We came up to her house, and sure enough, all of her belongings were out in the front lawn. Imogene groaned as she went looking for 'Blacky'.

"There it is," Tre said pointing at a scuffed up guitar. Imogene ran towards her guitar and picked it up, cradling it in her arms. Tre was focusing on a spot on her lawn. I followed his gaze and tried to suppress my laughter. In the middle of the lawn were all of Imogene's undergarments. Tre walked over and picked up a bra before walking over to Imogene and tapping her shoulder.

"I think these are yours," he said suppressing laughter himself. She shrieked as she realized what he was holding. Mike and I fell to the ground laughing, as she ripped the bra out of Tre's hand. We were all startled by the sound of footprints scampering across the lawn. We all let out a sigh as Imogene's littlest brother, Luke, come into view. He was only 4 and still pretty short.

"Genie!" he shouted running across the lawn towards his older sister.

"Hush, little man," she said in a hoarse whisper as he bounded into her arms.

"Why is your stuffs out in the yard?" he asked.

"Mommy doesn't want me. She threw it out the window. I was leaving tonight any ways," she whispered. We turned to find Tommy, the second eldest of the Clark boys. He spotted Imogene and ran towards her also. He hugged her and their little brother.

"Listen Buddy. You watch over Luke when I'm gone, okay?" Imogene asked her 10 year old brother. Tommy nodded.

"Where are you going?" he asked.

"I don't know. But, if you ever want to find me, look around Gilman Street. I shouldn't be too far away."

Tommy and Luke nodded. Luke wasn't really following, but he wanted to look smart. Imogene chuckled and pushed aside some of Luke's hair that was plastered against his forehead. She kissed his forehead and then looked at Tommy.

"Can you get me a few garbage bags?" she asked with pleading eyes. Tommy nodded and ran inside the house. A few minutes later he reappeared with a few bags in his hand. He handed them off to his sister. She smiled and started to collect her belongings. Mike and I went to pick up some of her shirts that were on the far side of the lawn. Tre went over and started to pick up her bras and underwear.

"I'll take those," Imogene said taking the undergarments out of Tre's hands and placing them, abruptly in a garbage bag. Luke picked up a few books that had been thrown out the window. Tommy had picked up a bag of tortex guitar picks. They placed those items in a separate bag. In about 20 minutes everything was in 4 bags. Imogene threw a bag at me, Tre, and Mike. She slung 'Blacky' over her shoulder and picked up a bag herself. She ruffled her brothers' hair before kissing them both on the cheek.

"I'll miss you both. I'm serious, if you ever want to find me, look around Gilman Street. If I'm not there ask around for Billie or Mike, that'll set you in the right direction," Imogene said before walking off. She motioned for us to follow and we did.

"That was so touching," I said wiping a nonexistant tear away from my eye.

"Shut up. You try leaving your two younger brothers with a crack addicted mom," she said before storming off. Tre scoffed at me and quickly followed her. I glanced at Mike and he shrugged. I sighed and followed. Imogene was now in tears. She and I had something in common, we both experienced panic attacks. I could tell that she was going through one now. She had fallen to her knees, crying. Tre and I walked over and comforted her. She leaned on me and cried into my shirt. I embraced her and rocked her back and forth.

"It's all right Imo," I whispered in her ear.

"No...it's...not..I just left...my two brothers with a crack...addicted....whore..." She said in between sobs. I could tell that she was having trouble breathing as well.

"Shh. They'll be fine. They're big boys and can take care of themselves. Please Imo, stop crying," I whispered.

"Yeah, Imo. Stop crying." Tre said patting her back. Mike had walked up to us and looked at Imogene. She looked up into all our pleading eyes and nodded. She tried her best to calm down. After a few minutes, she was calm enough to stand. We picked up the bags and continued to walk to my house.

We arrived at my house 15 minutes later. We walked into the house only to find my mom and my hated step father sucking face. I scoffed as I walked passed them and into the basement. I was quickly followed by Imogene, Tre, and Mike. We threw the bags down on the carpetted basement floor.

*Imogene's POV*
I sighed at plonked down on a shabby couch in the middle of the room. I still was a bit shaky. By breaths came out in rasps and it stung my chest. Tears were welling up in my eyes again. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. I felt someone sit down next to me. I looked up, only to meet Billie's intense green eyes. They were full of sorrow and guilt. For some reason I just broke down crying again. I flung myself into Billie's arms and continued to cry.

"I'm a bad sister," I said through sobs.

"Shush. Don't say that! No you're not," he scolded, rocking me back and forth on the couch.

"I left them with my crack addicted mom. She might get rid of them like she did me," I said gripping onto Billie's shirt. He sighed and continued to rub my back. I felt eyes burning into the back of my head. I let go of Billie turned to find Tre's steal blue eyes staring at me. I gave him a weak smile. Black tinged tears, from my eyeliner, were still streaming down my cheeks.

"Please stop crying. I can't stand to see you like this m'lady," he said wiping away my tears with his shirt. I gave him another weak smile and sighed. He was so kind at times, others he was just a bothering pervert. I couldn't really complain about him being a pervert, seeing that I too, am one. He pulled me into a hug and held me tight. Time seemed to stop around us as he embraced me. I felt all my troubles, literally, melt away. He let go of me, leaving my heart beating like a drum. He smiled when he noticed that I had calmed down. I looked around for Mike. He was in the corner of the room smoking a joint. He really didn't like seeing his friends go through their 'little' panic attacks. He had experienced a bunch of them from me and Billie. Mine were always the worst.

*flashback*
I sat in the corner of Billie's street crying. My clothes were ripped from my recent ordeal. My mom had let another drug dealer get a hold of me. Tears stained my cheeks as I started to rock back and forth. The thing I needed the most was for my father to be there, but I knew he was never coming back. I reached into my back pocket and pulled out the picture of my father. For all I know he could be dead. My tears struck the picture as I placed it back into my pocket. I brought my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. As my panic attack progressed, I found it harder and harder to breath. I could hear the sound of someone running up behind me. I turned to find Mike.

"Imogene! What's wrong?" he asked me, out of breath. I looked up at him. He looked me over, and saw my ripped clothes, bruised eye, busted lip and all the bruises on my thighs.

"Imogene, did she let another one get to you?" he asked. I stared into his sorrowful eyes, and nodded my head slowly. He frowned at me and bent down to help me up. I reacted in a way I didn't think I would. As soon as he touched me I slapped him across the face.

"Don't touch me," I hissed at him, more tears were now streaming down my cheeks.

"Imo. I won't do anything," he said, trying again to help me up.

"I said don't touch me," I hissed, hitting hard in the stomach. He buckled over in pain.

"I'm so sorry Mike," I said as I realized what I had done. I immediatly stood up and took off running towards Billie's house. He answered the door after a few abrupt knocks. I collapsed in his arms crying. He hugged me tightly and rubbed my back.

"Calm down Imogene," he whispered before noticing Mike, clutching his stomach. He pulled me away from him and looked at me, then at Mike. I nodded.

"I didn't mean to. I reacted to his touch all wrong. I know he's trying to help," I said still crying. Billie let go of me and ran over to Mike to see if he was alright.
*end of flashback*

I walked over to him and stole the joint from in between his lips. I placed it in between mine and took a long drag.

"I needed that," I whispered, exhaling the smoke. Mike smiled at me before snatching the joint before I could even place it in between my lips again. I pouted as he slipped it in between his.

"Dude, where's the booze?" Tre asked.

"Fridge in the corner," Billie said switching on a small TV in front of the couch. I sat down on the couch next to him, as Tre came around with booze. I took a bottle from him and opened it up. I took a sip of it and sighed. Billie and Mike also grabbed some booze and joined me. Tre also took a sip of his beer. We sat there and watched TV untill everything went dark.