Toni Hocking
The first time I ran away it was to Stephanie's house and it was not planned well. I didn't get off the bus at my stop, trying to fly under the radar of the bus driver. My cousin didn't get the memo and kept trying to get me to get off at the stop with her but I was on a mission. I stayed on the bus and got off with Steph at her stop. The bus driver gave us both the stink eye. Stephanie and I got to her house and I was so excited and feeling brave. This was the first time I got to go to her house and hang out with her outside of school. Unfortunately our good times didn't last long. Before it was dark outside, my cousin's mom was there to take me back to my grandparents house. If it was up to Steph she would have let me stay with her as long as her mom would tolerate me lol. One of many memories I have of her. We would write notes to each other that could qualify as novels nowadays. She once wrote me a poem and I wish I still had it or could remember what it said. But I remember it saying that she would be a light in my darkness and rest against my door, ready to help me to open it. We would memorize Jim Morrison poems. I remember specifically the Lizard King. Lions in the streets and roaming... She pretended to be a girl named Mariah that we made up so that she would be allowed to talk to me on the phone occasionally. It's been so long since I've seen her but I can still see her in my mind and she will always hold a place in my heart.