"Poppy, you sure you really want to leave?" Samir asked Poppy while staring into her big brown eyes. Though he knew once his twin sister made her mind up, there was no changing it. She had always been headstrong and stubborn. While he was always laid back and went with the flow. They balanced each other very well like she was the ying to his yang.
Poppy didn't want to leave her family. Well, she just wanted to get away from her dad. But she was at her wits end and her best option is to leave. Even if she'll be in a new city all alone by herself. She felt sorry for everyone behind. Especially her younger siblings, Carla, Darla, and Ahmir.
"Samir, I can't stay any longer. Daddy is just too much. Can you promise to watch over mom and the kids?" She replied. She was a little sad but she was doing her best to put on a strong front for her twin.
"Of course, when have I ever let you down?" He replied with a smile. He knew she was sad but deep down he knew the safest thing for her to do was leave.
Poppy hugged him tight and said, "never."
"Well you better hurry up and leave before everyone wakes. You know Daddy gets up hella early. Knowing him he'll be up in an hour or two."
"Ok, love you."
"Love you too"
"I'll text you when I make it to the Amtrak station."
"Better," Samir replied with a playful smile and hugged Poppy again. This time a little bit longer before she snuck out the door. He was really gonna miss his twin. She had always been his other half.
She looked at her family home she had known her whole life one more time before getting her Uber.
"Sorry, I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long," Poppy said apologetically as she got into the Uber.
"No. I just got here. Would you like to listen to anything in particular?" The Uber driver replied.
"No, thank you. This is fine." She replied with a smile.
She could care less about the music. Her mind was focused on leaving or running away. Depending on how you looked at it. Why? Her Dad, mister Samir Belton Senior.
Poppy and her Dad have a complicated relationship. When she was a child around 10 years old, she would've never thought she would be running away at 18 years old because of her dad. Back then she was such a daddy's girl. Now she can't stand to be around him. The older she got the more they drifted especially after she hit puberty.
Once she hit puberty it was like a veil around her dad had fallen. First, he became distant towards her. Then she started noticing he was abusive towards her mom and she couldn't stand by and do nothing. So of course, she started to lose respect for him and eventually became his second target.
After that her life got much harder for her. Plus she was so smart and found out her dad had another family on the side. Once she confronted him about the side family, she went from being his eldest daughter to his enemy.
Samir and her had just graduated from high school two weeks ago. On the surface it looked like they had no plans for their futures. He decided to stay behind and she decided to leave.
Where to? Chicago. She got accepted to the University of Illinois at Chicago. Only Samir knew she applied there. Luckily, she got in and had scholarships too. Plus she had money saved that her parents didn't know about. They only thought she worked at Burlington Coat Factory. But she had a second job as a virtual assistant for a podcaster in Chicago named Barley. That's why she chose to move to Chicago. So her and Barley could finally meet in person.
Poppy saved a lot of money in the past two years while working for Barley. She didn't spend any of the money while working for Barley. Since she did her own taxes, it was easy to hide that money. All her money from Burlington Coat Factory went to helping her parents pay the bills. Samir helped with bills too, but their Dad was more lenient with Samir. He felt that boys needed more freedom and girls didn't. Plus he thought Samir would become rebellious if he treated Samir the same as Poppy.
'I made it. I'm about to board the train a little bit. Love you.' Poppy texted Samir.
Poppy looked at Saint Louis and prepared to say goodbye to her old life. She was gonna miss how beautiful the arch looked in the early morning sky. Though times were hard now, she had some good memories too. She hoped she was making the right decision by leaving. She got on the train. There's no turning back now. She found her seat and decided to email her mom goodbye for now.