Choosing Sides by Treasure Hernandez

causing his head to hit the pavement forcefully. “You’re under arrest,” the police informed him. “You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you. You have the right to—”
    â€œNoo, what’s happening?” Halleigh put both of her hands on her mouth as she cried out frantically. In a matter of hours she had gone from one bad nightmare to another.
    Malek hissed at Halleigh, “Go! Get outta here!” With his hands cuffed behind his back, he kept motioning for her to get away from the crime scene by jerking his head, which in turn, made his entire body jerk.
    Which gave the officer grounds to say that Malek was resisting arrest. Suddenly the cop began to bludgeon Malek with his club to settle him down.
    Guilt overcame Halleigh as she ran away, looking over her shoulder to see the cop beat Malek the way her mother had been beaten. She knew she was the cause of all of this. She should have just left Malek out of it. But it was too late. Now he was in far too deep.

Chapter Six
    â€œW ait!” Halleigh screamed out as she ran out from the alley she had run down and hid in, but her calls went unheard, the police car driving away with Malek handcuffed in the back seat and damn near unconscious.
    â€œMalek!” she called out once more at the top of her lungs. She didn’t know if Malek heard her over the sirens or if he just felt her presence, but he slowly turned back and stared at her with haunting eyes. She watched the taillights turn the corner, her heart beating like a drum in her ear. She had no clue what to do. They are probably taking him downtown, she thought fearfully. She couldn’t believe this was happening.
    In spite of the hot bath, her body still ached as a result of being her mother’s tradeoff. And her heart hurt from the thought of Malek being removed from her life by the law. Her mind hurt as she tried to think of a way to deal with the situation.
    The only thing that she could think of doing was contacting Malek’s mother. The fear of telling Mrs. Johnson that her son was in jail was enough to make Halleigh tremble.
    At last, it had slowed raining and settled back into a soft drizzle, so she was relieved she wasn’t out in the downpour as they had been earlier. She was still wearing Malek’s jacket, but she was soaking wet from her head to her bare feet. Totally oblivious to how she looked though, she headed toward Malek’s house.
    When she arrived she could see Mrs. Johnson inside through the living room picture window. Mrs. Johnson’s head was in her hands as she sat on the couch, and a wine glass sat on the table in front of her. Halleigh could tell that she was worried about her son. Filled with trepidation, Halleigh reluctantly marched up to the sidewalk that led to Malek’s house. Her hands felt like they weighed a ton as she reached up and knocked on the door. Halleigh’s breaths became hollow. She wanted to leave the doorstep, just as she had contemplated the night before.
    Without warning, the door opened and Mrs. Johnson saw Halleigh standing there. His mother’s cheeks were ashy from the many tears that had dried up on her face.
    The sight of Halleigh standing in front of her brought fresh tears to Mrs. Johnson’s eyes. “Where is my son?” she asked.
    Halleigh couldn’t speak. The cat had her tongue. She was in shock and was beginning to feel like Mrs. Johnson had been right all along, that she was indeed bad news for Malek.
    â€œHalleigh, where is my son?” Mrs. Johnson asked, raising her voice a bit.
    â€œHe-he was arrested, Mrs. Johnson,” she finally responded.
    Mrs. Johnson’s heart dropped to her stomach when the words left Halleigh’s mouth. Not my baby, she thought as tears came to her eyes. “Arrested? Oh, Lord.” Mrs. Johnson put her hand over her chest.
    â€œThey took him,” Halleigh cried, staring in the eyes of