Viceroy

The day it changed

*third person*
The sun peeked it's head over the horizon, and the trailer was filled with light. It illuminated the dust and dirt on the ground. The smallest room did not have a window however, so the bundle of blankets didn't know the sun was up. That is, until her drunk foster parent came barreling into her room.
"HEY BITCH. GET THE HELL UP!" She jolted awake and sat up. She pulled the covers down to see the legal "guardian" slam the door shut. Even though the girl was called a bitch, she wasn't. And that certainly wasn't her name. Her name was Hazel.
Hazel gingerly stood, her face was still sore from her legal guardian named Angella. Her husband, Mark had punched her in the nose for taking too long in the shower. Both were hardly ever home because of their jobs. Angella sold vitamins over the phone while Mark worked in the local harbor, cleaning fish barrels. Most of their pay went to lottery tickets, booze, and their monthly indulgence of cookies which left them both fat.
Hazel gingerly touched her nose and sighed. She took a step and a card and a single white rose lay on the bloody ground before her. Puzzled, she picked them up and tested her busted nose by giving the rose a sniff. Surprisingly, she smelled the sweet scent of the rose. She looked at the card, not knowing whether to open it or not. She looked at the neat writing that scripted it to her. "Hazel, if you ever need me, just call." It had no signature. She put the card in her pocket and set the rose on her "bed" and got dressed.
She opened the door and stepped out of the room, her card and rose in her jacket pocket. She saw Angella trying to tie Marks tie. Both were wearing their Sunday best, despite it being a Wednesday. Hazel was wearing a nice shirt and her best pants. Her jacket concealed both the note and the flower. Hazel followed them to the car, listening to them bicker. "She has a giant bruise on her face!" "Cover it with make up then!" Mark bellowed from the drivers seat. "I can't do that! My make up is expensive!" Angella slathered on yet another layer of red lipstick. "If she looks like that, we won't get another check! " Mark yelled at Angella, despite being right next to each other. The tiny compact car didn't allow for much room as both overweight adults climbed into the poor Taurus. The backseat was covered in lost French fries, empty fast food containers, and reeked of dog and cigarette smoke.

The drive to the courthouse was a slow one, full of practiced answers and angry threats. " I can't believe someone filed us for neglect and child abuse! She was the one who had to live when her real parents committed suicide!" Mark fumed. Hazels eyes pricked with tears. She didn't let them spill. Hazel reached inside her coat and touched the rose. She felt comforted and tuned out her legal guardians bickering. Hazel wondered who could have left the note and the flowers there.
Pulled from her thoughts as the courthouse loomed in front of her, she silently got out of the car. Hazel followed the two into the looming brick building. She stuffed her hands into her pockets, and felt another note in the left one. She pulled it out and it had her name on it again. Hazel looked around but saw no one. The card read, "no one can help you unless you tell the truth. Take the leap, Hazel. " Hazel hurried into the building. She clutched the note. Worried, she waited in line to get signed in.