Post by Ravenmaster on May 22, 2006 23:36:18 GMT -5
Lori Philips was the sweetest little kid anyone could ever know.
I was a rebel, back in the day, busting car windows just cause I felt like it, hanging with a bad crowd. Eventually it ended me up in the county jail. My crew and I had decided we'd hijack one of our parents' cars and break into the drug store for some smokes. None of us had our license, though a couple of us were past sixteen years old. Anyway, so we hijacked my friend's-Ron Gaffing's- mother's minivan and broke into the drug store, getting all the Marlboro we could fill our arms with. I didn't actually smoke. Are you crazy? That crap's bad for you! My aunt Suzie has a hole in her throat because she's a nicotine addict.
So, we get back into the minivan, waiting for old Squeaker to hurry up. Squeaker was a gangly kidd with red hair in a mohawk that didn't suit him and too many piercings to count. He decided, "hey. Let's steal some money while we're at it." and it kind of made us feel stupid, that gangly Squeaker came up with that and we just wanted to steal smokes for the fun of it. Anyway, they had this contraption set up right by the cash register. It's called a camera. We were caught the next day.
Since most of us were minors, we got off the hook with an easy Community Service thing. 200 hours. Easy. Help some old geezer cross the street, change some drooling patient's bedpan. Gross, but easy enough. Of course, I got a good talking to by my father. My mom...well I don't exactly know where she is, and I didn't then. She seemed to have ran off with some biker boyfriend of hers. But everymonth we get something from a Mrs. Frieda Barker. Welfare check, if you know what I mean. Anyway, good ol' dad gave me the usual, and he grounded me for a month.
Like that was going to stop me.
My Community Service project was the WORST.
Not only would it make me feel guilty but I'd be around snivling little kids that pick their nose and then brush it on your shirt.
I was to work at the local Orphanage. Yay.
But that's when I met this little kid, Lori Philips.
It was my first day and I was assigned to help give the kids their snacks. After I had passed out all the snacks and juice boxes, I leaned back on the table, a faraway look in my eyes, wondering what it would be like if I spiked the kids' apple juice boxes, when Lori came through the doorway. She was too small. She had really long black hair and these sharp blue eyes. Her face was round and sweet and she was wearing what the other girls were wearing. A little blue jumper and tennis shoes. But she was the kind of kid who you'd look at and at the same time say, "Aww! So cute!" I didn't, but I sure was thinking it loudly.
She came in and, seeing as I was the only one in the room above four feet, walked up to me. She smiled real big and said, "My name's Lori, and you're my new friend!"
I was shocked by this statement. No kid just came up to you and said that you were their friend. I later learned that Lori did this to everyone, but it was still very, very special to me.
I quickly set her down at a table with a juice box and her snack then backed up towards the table again. This kid was cute, but rather creepy. After snack time I was supposed to read to the kids. Lori strutted up to me and looked me in the eyes, holding up an Arthur book. "I want to read THIS." She said, setting it on my lap, then returning to her seat, grinning up at me. I swallowed hard then nodded, mumbling an "Okay". I started reading and realized that Lori was really the only one paying any attention. WHen I'd finished she clapped and said, "Hooray for Blackie, hooray for Blackie!"
It wasn't an insult, I knew. I was merely an black girl dressed in black clothes. It was the only name Lori could think of, I guess...
The other kids became uninterested.
I, however, became even more intrigued with Lori.
Every day I kept coming back and learning more and more about this little girl. Her middle name was Francine, her favorite animal was the frog, her favorite color was yellow, she hated green beans and strawberries because they gave her hives, and her favorite food was spaghetti. I finally told her my real name one day.
"My real name's, Sonya, not Blackie, Lori." I said seriously and she just laughed and said, "You're so funny, Blackie!"
She told me so much about herself I wondered why someone would give up this adorable little girl.
And of course, because Lori knew everything, she told me.
"My mommy tried to kill me."
Now, Lori was barely seven so I was again, shocked, to hear this spewing from her mouth.
I was breathless and blurted out, "Why the hell would she do something like that?!"
Lori gave me that smug little look again, like she knew everything. "She hated me. That's why she tried to kill me. She said I ruined her life and that I was good for nothing but a graveyard."
Lori poked her shoulder. "She put a knife right there. She couldn't see very well and missed. But she told on herself and she's in jail now. I don't have a daddy. I don't have anyone but you, Blackie."
I couldn't understand. Why would she be so cheerful? As if reading my mind, Lori said, "I'm so happy that I got away."
I suddenly felt myself hug this little girl and she started to cry.
Even after my community service was over, I kept coming, just to see Lori.
One day, a few years later, Lori wasn't there.
I often wonder why no one told me first. I was the closest to her. It made no sense...
Lori was sent back to her mother. It was proven that her mother got out of jail and was a capable human being. Booze was gone, no more drugs, no more fast paced life. They said that Lori wasn't exactly happy to go but she admitted she missed her mother.
Lori Philips was the sweetest kid I ever met.
Lori was in the paper the following year. Because it was confidential information, I didn't know how to reach Lori, so she had been off limits for a long time.
Lori apparentally had the crap literally beaten out of her by her drunk mother. Lori had escaped and was now missing. She was assumed dead.
And how I wish the world would quit jerking me around on a leash.
Lori's body was found in the later weeks after her disappearence.
Her mother had beaten her, sure, but Lori had gotten away. But the beating was bad enough that it killed her in the end, right on the side of a rode going towards south of town.
South of town was where the orphanage was.
I was suprised to learn that cases like Lori's weren't uncommon.
Lori Philips was the sweetest kid I ever did meet.
(....ugh....sad...I'm horrible. It's late and I am reading "A Walk to Remember". gah...don't kill me for how utterly stupid and sad this is...)
I was a rebel, back in the day, busting car windows just cause I felt like it, hanging with a bad crowd. Eventually it ended me up in the county jail. My crew and I had decided we'd hijack one of our parents' cars and break into the drug store for some smokes. None of us had our license, though a couple of us were past sixteen years old. Anyway, so we hijacked my friend's-Ron Gaffing's- mother's minivan and broke into the drug store, getting all the Marlboro we could fill our arms with. I didn't actually smoke. Are you crazy? That crap's bad for you! My aunt Suzie has a hole in her throat because she's a nicotine addict.
So, we get back into the minivan, waiting for old Squeaker to hurry up. Squeaker was a gangly kidd with red hair in a mohawk that didn't suit him and too many piercings to count. He decided, "hey. Let's steal some money while we're at it." and it kind of made us feel stupid, that gangly Squeaker came up with that and we just wanted to steal smokes for the fun of it. Anyway, they had this contraption set up right by the cash register. It's called a camera. We were caught the next day.
Since most of us were minors, we got off the hook with an easy Community Service thing. 200 hours. Easy. Help some old geezer cross the street, change some drooling patient's bedpan. Gross, but easy enough. Of course, I got a good talking to by my father. My mom...well I don't exactly know where she is, and I didn't then. She seemed to have ran off with some biker boyfriend of hers. But everymonth we get something from a Mrs. Frieda Barker. Welfare check, if you know what I mean. Anyway, good ol' dad gave me the usual, and he grounded me for a month.
Like that was going to stop me.
My Community Service project was the WORST.
Not only would it make me feel guilty but I'd be around snivling little kids that pick their nose and then brush it on your shirt.
I was to work at the local Orphanage. Yay.
But that's when I met this little kid, Lori Philips.
It was my first day and I was assigned to help give the kids their snacks. After I had passed out all the snacks and juice boxes, I leaned back on the table, a faraway look in my eyes, wondering what it would be like if I spiked the kids' apple juice boxes, when Lori came through the doorway. She was too small. She had really long black hair and these sharp blue eyes. Her face was round and sweet and she was wearing what the other girls were wearing. A little blue jumper and tennis shoes. But she was the kind of kid who you'd look at and at the same time say, "Aww! So cute!" I didn't, but I sure was thinking it loudly.
She came in and, seeing as I was the only one in the room above four feet, walked up to me. She smiled real big and said, "My name's Lori, and you're my new friend!"
I was shocked by this statement. No kid just came up to you and said that you were their friend. I later learned that Lori did this to everyone, but it was still very, very special to me.
I quickly set her down at a table with a juice box and her snack then backed up towards the table again. This kid was cute, but rather creepy. After snack time I was supposed to read to the kids. Lori strutted up to me and looked me in the eyes, holding up an Arthur book. "I want to read THIS." She said, setting it on my lap, then returning to her seat, grinning up at me. I swallowed hard then nodded, mumbling an "Okay". I started reading and realized that Lori was really the only one paying any attention. WHen I'd finished she clapped and said, "Hooray for Blackie, hooray for Blackie!"
It wasn't an insult, I knew. I was merely an black girl dressed in black clothes. It was the only name Lori could think of, I guess...
The other kids became uninterested.
I, however, became even more intrigued with Lori.
Every day I kept coming back and learning more and more about this little girl. Her middle name was Francine, her favorite animal was the frog, her favorite color was yellow, she hated green beans and strawberries because they gave her hives, and her favorite food was spaghetti. I finally told her my real name one day.
"My real name's, Sonya, not Blackie, Lori." I said seriously and she just laughed and said, "You're so funny, Blackie!"
She told me so much about herself I wondered why someone would give up this adorable little girl.
And of course, because Lori knew everything, she told me.
"My mommy tried to kill me."
Now, Lori was barely seven so I was again, shocked, to hear this spewing from her mouth.
I was breathless and blurted out, "Why the hell would she do something like that?!"
Lori gave me that smug little look again, like she knew everything. "She hated me. That's why she tried to kill me. She said I ruined her life and that I was good for nothing but a graveyard."
Lori poked her shoulder. "She put a knife right there. She couldn't see very well and missed. But she told on herself and she's in jail now. I don't have a daddy. I don't have anyone but you, Blackie."
I couldn't understand. Why would she be so cheerful? As if reading my mind, Lori said, "I'm so happy that I got away."
I suddenly felt myself hug this little girl and she started to cry.
Even after my community service was over, I kept coming, just to see Lori.
One day, a few years later, Lori wasn't there.
I often wonder why no one told me first. I was the closest to her. It made no sense...
Lori was sent back to her mother. It was proven that her mother got out of jail and was a capable human being. Booze was gone, no more drugs, no more fast paced life. They said that Lori wasn't exactly happy to go but she admitted she missed her mother.
Lori Philips was the sweetest kid I ever met.
Lori was in the paper the following year. Because it was confidential information, I didn't know how to reach Lori, so she had been off limits for a long time.
Lori apparentally had the crap literally beaten out of her by her drunk mother. Lori had escaped and was now missing. She was assumed dead.
And how I wish the world would quit jerking me around on a leash.
Lori's body was found in the later weeks after her disappearence.
Her mother had beaten her, sure, but Lori had gotten away. But the beating was bad enough that it killed her in the end, right on the side of a rode going towards south of town.
South of town was where the orphanage was.
I was suprised to learn that cases like Lori's weren't uncommon.
Lori Philips was the sweetest kid I ever did meet.
(....ugh....sad...I'm horrible. It's late and I am reading "A Walk to Remember". gah...don't kill me for how utterly stupid and sad this is...)
