“Hello?”

“Thank God you answered.”

“Jenny,” Carmen smiled softly. “What’s up?”

“Well—things aren’t too good here. There’s a problem.”

Carmen got concerned. “What’s wrong?”

“Uhh—Shay’s here at my house right now.”

“Shane’s brother?”

“Yeah.”

“Why is he there?”

“Carla dropped him off here—she left a note saying that she couldn’t take care of him anymore since Gabriel ran off. So she decided that Shane should take care of him. I don’t know what to do.”

“Have you called Shane?”

“I’ve called her three times, and she hasn’t answered her phone.”

“Shit,” Carmen muttered. “I’ll call her and see if she answers.”

“Okay, call me back if you hear from her.”

“All right, bye.” Carmen hung up and called Shane’s phone.

“Hello?”

“Hey,” Shane smiled on the other line.

“Hey—why are you calling so late?”

“I wanted to see how you were holding up in the NYC.”

“I’m doing good, I’m doing real good.” Carmen smiled. “How are you?”

“I’m doing great you can say, but have you got any calls from Jenny?”

“No I haven’t.”

“Did you have your phone on?”

“No, I turned it off because I was busy with the big night tomorrow at the salon.” Carmen heard footsteps and went over to the door.

“She called you about three times.” She saw Shane walked past her door and moved away from the door.

“Why? What’s up?”

“Shay is at her house.”

“What?”

“Shay—your brother is at Jenny’s at this moment.”

“This is a joke right?”

“No Shane—this isn’t a joke.” Carmen sighed. “Jenny called me and told me that Carla left him there and said she couldn’t take care of him anymore because Gabriel left her.”

“What the—damn it.” Shane bit her bottom lip. “What the fuck am I suppose to do?”

“Go home and take care of your brother.”

“What about my big night?” Carmen groaned and walked towards her door.

“Can you at least for once think about others than yourself Shane?” She walked out of her bedroom and went towards Shane’s door. She knocked softly. “This is your little brother, and he is all alone now.”