Exert from The Clandestine Family: A New Point of View

The poor girls face had been beaten beyond recognition and most of her bones were broken. It was evident whoever did this, really hated her and took the majority of their rage out on her face. Was it a jealous thing? If it was, then why was it so extreme?

The school picture that accompanied the files showed a girl that looked much younger than her seventeen years of age although the date on the picture said it was very recent. She wasn’t really what one would call plump but she was a little thick in size. She was a child of mixed race. She appeared to be a mix of Hispanic and African American. Her hair was long and full. Her nose small and pudgy, eyes light brown and her lips full and when she smiled you could see a small gap in her teeth. She was a beautiful young woman.

My heart broke for her, but experience had taught me to look at the victim as a corpse instead of seeing them as the person they were. That way I could focus on the facts instead of getting personally involved.

So without dwelling any longer on the files I placed my hand on the shoe that was included in the box with her belongings and willed a vision to come to me. I saw her walking down the street, she was thinking about topics to do one of her school assignments on, when she heard a familiar voice whisper to her from an alley.

“Who is that?” LaShell asked.

“Just come here, you have to see this. It’s crazy,” the whispered voice beckoned to her. If you listened closely you could tell whoever it was, was trying hard to disguise their voice, it was hard to tell if it was male or female. It was also difficult to tell whether it was the voice of an older person or young.

“Who are you and what do you want me to come see? I have to get home and if you’re not going to show yourself then I’m leaving. I don’t have time for this.”

“LaShell, It’s me come on. You’re gonna miss it.”

LaShell knew better and she kept telling herself that she needed to go on home. Alleys were dangerous and her parents had always told her, “If you’re not sure about something and you have a bad feeling about it, get away from it as fast as you possibly can.” She knew without a doubt, this situation didn’t feel right, but she couldn’t control her curiosity.

Cautiously, she walked down the alley. It was dark, but not so dark that she couldn’t see. The dumpsters were full and trash spilled over into the roadway of the alley. The area smelled bad, so she decided to breathe through her mouth instead of her nose. Taking small steps, she peered as closely as she could into every shadow looking for the voice that called to her.

Halfway into the alley she still didn’t see anyone. “Where are you?” she called. There was no answer. “Hello?” she called a little louder. When no one answered she turned on her heel and quickly began walking back the way she had come.

About five steps into her retreat, she heard a door slam open from somewhere close behind her.