The Accident

"On a frosty night in Paris, families were celebrating the new year. People with stable incomes were drinking and indulging in their hard-earned money It was a joyful night for many.

But not all.

In a restaurant called Mouser, two lives were being taken. A gang of fat old men, drunk off their asses, was assaulting a waitress. She was a beauty the waitress was. Although weathered by time and poverty her eyes were captivating. The men were jesting and simply wanted to cop a feel. One of them had seen her once before many years ago in a brothel.

He told his companions about her past endeavors. How she danced and what she showed.

Hearing this his companions leered at the waitress. They waited and planned.

When the restaurant closed for the night they pounced on her. They took her to an alley a did unspeakable things to her.

The waitress did put up a fight. She bit and she clawed at whatever she could reach. She screamed at the top of her lungs for help, but no one heard her.

After the gang was finished with her, one of the men pulled out a gun. He shot her three times in the chest and left with his companions.

That is how your aunt died."

Charlotte gazed at her mother with tears streaming down her face, speechless. 'What?'

"I understand that this seems unbelievable to you now Lottie, but this is the world that we live in." Charlotte's mother Ruby leaned to hug her. Charlotte's shoulders were trembling immensely.

All this time, Charlotte had thought that her aunt had died as a result of a robbery. They lived in the slums, robbery was a common act. Never had she thought that her death was something so horrifying?

Charlotte's thoughts were spinning in her head trying to process this. She buried her head in her mother's arms seeking comfort.

Ruby patted Charlotte's head and spoke softly, "That's why Lottie, you have to be good to your cousins. You and I are all they have."

Charlotte sniffled and rubbed her cheeks to look more lively. "Mm, I'll be the nicest cousin ever."

Unfortunately, that was the last day Charlotte would get to spend with her mother.

Ruby went out to buy fruits for Charlotte and her cousins. She walked through the dirty alleyways to reach the market quickly. She turned a corner and died.

A drunk driver had hit her with his car. Ruby was dead upon impact.

Charlotte was fifteen.