Child Abuse

She tries not to cry as her dad beats her harder with the bat. A small tear escapes from the corner of her eye. He hits her even harder as he sees the small spec of salt water run down her face. She curls up into a small ball and takes a brutual beating to her back. Luckily her dad is using the wooden baseball bat this time.

The next day she wakes up on the living room floor in the same position. She gets up slowly and makes sure her dad isn't around. She looks out the window, his truck's gone, he's gone to work. She quickly grabs her school bag and heads out the door.

On her walk to school she adjusts her jacket sleeves to hide the welts covering her arms.
Silently she cries softly to herself on her way, but stops when she sees one of her few friends up ahead.
"Hey Cris, what's up?" Crystal's friend Chelsea asks her. Crystal shrugs. "What happened to your arm?" Chelsea asks noticing one of the big bruises.
"Uh, I fell." Crystal lies, knowing her dad would kill her if she told anyone.

At lunch Crystal and Chelsea sit down at the table with Toby and Mac.
"Yo, Cris," Mac says. Crystal smiles at him as she sits down. She pulls out her lunch that her dad had made for her.
"Tuna? Yuck." Toby comments as she sees Crystal's lunch.
"Better than nothing." Crystal says. Usually that's what she gets, nothing. At least at night.
"Better than this slop." Chelsea adds as she gets up to throw it away, as she does everyday that they have mystery meat.
"I'm so with you there." Toby says and gets up with her. Mac looks at Crystal for several seconds without saying anything. Crystal sheepishly looks up from her sandwich and asks, "What?", with a small hint of a nervous laugh.
"Nothing," Mac says and looks down at his tray. "Er, Crystal, can I ask you something."
"What?" Crystal asks as she takes a bite of her sandwich. She starts making a choking sound.
"Cris, are you okay?" Mac asks.
"Er, yeah, I guess there's something funky with the way my dad makes tu-"
Crystal falls to the floor with a thud.
"Cris?! Crystal?!" Mac exclaims nervously. He rushes to her side. Toby, Chelsea and the lunch monitor join him.
"She doesn't have a pulse." The lunch monitor confirmed. Tears sprung in Chelsea, Mac, and Toby's eyes. A teacher that witnessed the whole scene examines the sandwich. The monitor goes to get the principle.
"Poison," The teacher says to herself.

The teacher testifies against the father, saying he poisoned his daughter.
"Mac, didn't you say that Crystal said her father made her the sandwich?" The father's attorney asks. Mac nods, remembering the previous statement he had made.
"If she died, how is that possible?" The attorney questions.
"Did you already forget my last statement. She started gagging, I asked her what was wrong, she said that there was something funky with the tuna her dad made. Well, more like tu since she died in the middle of the word." Mac says, trying to keep his voice strong.

A week later, the father is sentenced to a lifetime in jail. The girl had a autoposy, showing signs of abuse, and the poison of foxglove, a very lethal poisonious plant. The tuna tested positive to foxglove too, and so did the father's fingerprints.

No one will ever forget Crystal. The poor, abused, twelve year old. She just had something about her that everyone will remember. Especially Mac, seeing as this something had him majorly attracted to her. Unfortunatly, she died right before he had a chance to ask her out. That is a question that will go unanswered.

Written by: Porshia, Nudge, and Fang.

STOP CHILD ABUSE!!!