The sun is up. I am too. The only difference is I never went down. Savannah fell asleep quickly with her arms wrapped around me. I tried to sleep, but I just kept thinking about my father. Every time my eyes closed, they were forced back open by the haunting image of him coming here and hurting Ria or Savannah or Julia. There was no way I could sleep like that. So I stared at the ceiling all night and now it's four o'clock and I can't stand laying here any longer. I carefully remove Savannah's arms and get out of bed. And because it's four in morning, I head to the couch and grab the remote.
          I flip through the channels until I find the news. The plastic anchors drone on about elections and nuclear threats and the newest Apple innovation
            After about an hour of  fake people with fake sympathy "inspired" by scripts that they're obviously reading, I grow tired of them. I stand up and start to click the television off, but a new headline on the screen stops me. 'Husband pleads not guilty'. I slowly lower myself back on to the sofa. The anchors are having a conversation.
"Well, Thomas is saying it was a suicide. Says he saw her put the gun in her mouth and pull the trigger with his own two eyes.", says a blonde anchor that looks like she's been doing Botox injections since she was five.
"Do you think the judge is going to buy it?", says a very skeptical looking black guy. He doesn't believe my father's story one bit and I'm right there with him.
"I don't know," the blonde replies, "But in the end the autopsy will decide." The blonde looks like she doesn't want to believe my father, but something inside her believes that a married housewife with two kids killed herself.
"And still no news on the daughter?", the black man asks.
"No. She's kind of MIA, but we're looking. We suspect any information of her location died with her mother. We don't know where she went, if she's alone, but I'm sure we'll find her soon. It's a small world." I turn the TV off. I lay out in the couch and stare upward. A suicide. Really.
             "Serena?"
I jump up off of the couch.
             "I didn't mean to startle you.", Savannah said apologetically with a blanket in her lap as I stared at her wide eyed.
             "You didn't. It's okay.", I lied as my heart beat like I was running from a rabid dog.
             "Okay," she said as she wheeled over to where I was standing, "What's going on." At her question I drop to my knees and bury my head in the blanket on her lap.
           "They were talking about mom on the news," I say, starting to cry, "They wanna know where I am, they wanna find me and make me talk about mom, they want me to go to court and talk like this fucking Law and Order or something." I pause for a moment to catch my breath. Wisely, Savannah stays quiet.
           "And now dad is saying that he didn't kill her but she killed herself! He's pleading not guilty! And the worse part is, some people actually believe him! How can they? How can they believe a man who beat his child and his wife that he says he didn't kill. How can they believe a man that sick!" I am sobbing now.
            "Because they don't know.", Savvy replies calmly. I look up at her.
            "What?"
            "They don't know what your father has done. All they can see is an average Georgia man who was suddenly accused of murdering his wife. That's why you have to testify.", she replies.
              "I'm sorry, what?" I am sitting up now and staring at Savvy in disbelief, "You want me to go up in front of a jury with a thousand cameras outside the courthouse and talk about my dysfunctional family? What is wrong with you?!" Suddenly I am filled with uncalled for anger. I stand up and storm out of the apartment. I step into the elevator and press the lobby button. I exit the building and start walking. No idea where I'm going, I'm just going.
I walk for about twenty minutes when I come to a small park. I sit on a bench and sigh. It is not until then that I realized that I was at a park in my night clothes at six o'clock in the morning. And a little while later I realize that I don't care. I take deep breaths. I can't believe Savannah wants me to testify! How could she want that for me?! Doesn't sh understand how terrifying that would be?! Ugh!
I guess I'm not doing a good job of hiding my distress because an older man with a shopping cart full of various random things sits down next to me. He smells like soap.
"What's up kid?", he asks me. I look up at him.
"You don't wanna know." I reply.
"Well I wouldn't be asking if I didn't want to know, now would I?", he says with smirk. For some reason I've decided to be an idiot and I tell him everything. Starting from when my mother and father met all the way up to now. He listens patiently. Nodding and making affirmative noises at exactly the right moments. It felt really good to let it all out. Releasing anger and pain you've stored up since age seven feels amazing. When I finish he nods and says nothing. There is silence, but it's not the usual chilling silence. It's a thoughtful and perfectly placed silence. After around five minutes of the blissful silence, he speaks.
"Well I think it's quite obvious what you have to do.", he says.
"Really? Cause I'm not seeing it.", I reply.
"You have to testify, Serena."
"How do you know my name," I ask, "I never told you."
"You're all over the news kid! Everyone's looking for you! Your best bet is to find them before they find you."