A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

Everyday is the same at the Phillips household, nothing ever changes. You wake up, get dressed, feed the chickens, eat and go to school. Im only 6 years old, and my mother Tina always tells me that as a girl I have to learn how to take care of everything, so that when she dies nothing will go wrong. When I woke up this morning my mother told me that I was not going to school, she said we had some important business to take care of. My mother didn’t seem herself, it looked as if she had been up all night crying, she refused to tell me anything.

My clothes were already hanging on my door when I woke up, they were special clothes the type of clothes we only wear on Sundays. I got cleaned and walked downstairs, my brothers Billy and Bob were in suits, I couldn’t believe it. They didn’t look very happy, I was very curious to see what my mother had planned for us today. When I walked to the kitchen I noticed that my grandmother was not in her usual spot, knitting, she was missing. I went towards my mother who was fixing her hair, she looked pretty too. I was walking outside when I noticed that our horse Hairy was tied to a carriage, we have had Hairy for over 4 years and we never used him for transportation, we looked at him as family.

It didn’t bother me that my father was missing, he was always out fishing trying to get our dinner for the day, but I noticed that he left his fishing poles in the shack. “Brenda!” yelled my mother. I walked back inside and she had my coat in hand, said we needed to bundle up because we were going to be doing a lot of walking. My mother said she would have let us go to school but the risks were to high, she didn’t tell me what she ment by risks. I was starting to think that my mother was hiding something from my brothers and I.

We got into the carriage, there was a mysterious man sitting up front managing the ropes. My mother leaned up to the mans ear and whispered something. The man and my mother both looked at my younger brother Billy and shared a laugh. Billy was the weird kid of the family, he had blondish hair, and the tiniest nose in the world. My mother said he looked just like my grandfather when he was a baby. When the carriage stopped we were in front of our towns court house, my mother told us to stay in the carriage while her and the man went to the court house. She rushed into the house and soon disappeared into the crowd.

They were back in about 30 minutes, and they seemed happy, and my mother had an envelope in her hand. She was shaking it and laughing, she was still to far away for me to hear what she was telling the man. When they got into the carriage, they looked at my brother again and smiled. Me and my other brother, Bob looked at eachother confused, not knowing what was going on.

We were back home and there were boxes outside. We all walked into the house, the man came along with us and he sat down at the dinner table. We all sat down, Mom had made us an apple pie. She said she and the man had something important to tell us, she took the mans hand and said that Our father had left because he had found something out, she told us that this man that was sitting here with us was Bobs biological father. We were shocked and I started crying, he left the dinner table and said he was going to get his boxes because he was moving in. We were left alone sitting by the dinner table, with our new father.

Pet Peeves

A list of my pet peeves

1. When other people besides me sleep on my bed.

2. When people grind their teeth.

3. Crying kids

4. When he slaps my arm until its red :]

5. When somebody lies

6. When people dont brush their teeth.

7. Men who honk the horn at you.

8. When 2 people talk at the same time.

9. People who dont flush the toliet.

10. When people that walk in front of you spit

11. When I'm Rushed to do something

12. Fwd text messages

13. RAp that you cannot understand

14. The sound of people making out

15. when people ask me why I dont like spagettti

16. When people speak spanish and i dont know what their saying

17. When im really tired but cant fall asleep

18. When there is no cold juice in the fridge.

19. When people go through my phone

20. When people drink my arizona tea.

21. When i want chocolate and there is none to eat

22. COMMERCIALS!

23. when you say something and do another

24. When i cant stop biting my lip

25. guys with crooked teeth.

The Secret

Ally T.
3/23/09
The Secret

It was my best friend’s deepest, darkest secret and it would be a hard one to keep.
He came to me crying, I’ve known Rocky for 7 years, and I have never seen him cry, ever.
His mother was friends with my mother, and when we first met we had so much in common, we’ve been best friends ever since. I always got to him first than anybody, no matter what the issue is.
He told me he had something big to tell me, something that would change the way I looked at him.
“You’re my best friend Ally, I have to tell you, your the only person I could ever tell”
I was scared, I didn’t know what he was about to tell me.

He told me to sit down because what I was about to hear might ruin our friendship.
“Rocky, nothing can make me not want to be your friend”.
He grabbed my hand and broke down to tears, made me pinky promise that I would never tell anyone. “You’re the only one who could know Ally”.
At this point Rocky was starting to scare me, I had no idea what he was about to tell me.

He asked me if I had remembered that girl he was seeing, Shannon. I told him he never really explained her to me, so he began.

*From Rocky’s point of view*

She is 17, and goes to the same school as us, I never noticed her before. Shannon had just broken up with her boyfriend when I started seeing her, She told me that she was done with him. I took her out on a date, after the first time we hung out I felt really close to her, like I was suppose to be with her. When I took her home that night, I walked her to her front steps, and noticed that their was a car parked across the street with all the lights off, I figured it belonged to her parents. I kissed her goodnight and she said she would call me later.

When I was driving home I felt like someone was watching me, possibly even following me. I pulled into my garage and walked to the basement. My phone was already ringing, and it was Shannon. I answered and said, “that was fast”. No one answered on the other line, all I heard was panting. I hung up, and my phone rang again, this time it was private. I answered and a guy said he knew what I was doing.

I figured it was a kid playing a prank on me, so I really didn’t care about it.
“My phone was ringing all night Ally”
I never answered the calls because they were all private, when I woke up in the morning I had 47 new voice messages. When I went to my car there was a note stuck behind the wipers, it said “Trust me pal, leave her alone”. I threw the note away and went to pick up Shannon from her house, she said that someone strange was calling her all night. I told her about my experience, and we decided that it was a friend of ours playing a joke. When we got to school I walked her to her locker, when she opened it a dozen roses were wrapped on one of her shelves.
She thought it they were from me, but I never told her that I never put them there.

We started getting real close, she was with me everyday, we never made it official but we were getting there. About a month passed and she began telling me about her ex-boyfriend. His name was Billy Bob and he was her first real love. He was sweet in the beginning and turned out to be abusive towards the end. She decided to end it because she was tired of covering up the bruises he left her. She said he forced her to have sex with him the night they broke up, she told her parents but they could do nothing about it.

“It was hard for him to leave me alone” Shannon
Once I found out that Billy didn’t go to our school I figured there was no way he could find out about me and her. She was safe, and we were happy. One night I decided to crash at her place, we watched a movie and went to sleep. In the middle of the night she would scream, she kept screaming “NO!”. When she woke up in the morning I told asked her if she had a nightmare, and she told me she couldn’t remember.

*********
She kept calling me, she was blowing up my phone. Shannon always wanted to be around me or
know what I was doing. I decided that she was to jealous of anyone I hung out with, and I told her we needed some time. She threw a fit, and then stopped calling. She never answered any of my calls, none of my texts, and never talked to me at school. A part of me was happy but the other part really missed her.

She texted me one night and asked for me to come over, I was surprised she wanted to see me and in a heartbeat I was ringing her doorbell. It was open, so I went straight upstairs. I brought her favorite movie, Enough with Jennifer Lopez. She had always said she loved that movie because it represented her relantionship with her and Billy, abusive.

I called her name, and she didn’t answer back. I walked all around the house and no one was home, not even her parents. I walked upstairs, and then my phone rang, it was another text message “Come upstairs”. I walked upstairs and all the lights were off, except in one room. I thought she was trying to get romantic I mean we havent been together for more than 3 weeks. I walked to the lit room, and saw her laying on the bed. I walked to her and kissed her forehead, she didn’t even move. I was talking to her, and talking to her but she never said a thing. I touched her and she wasn’t breathing. She had on a tank top and some boy shorts, I looked at her head and she had blood coming out of her hair.

I was freaking out, and didn’t know what to do. Should I call someone, leave her here, or what?

*Back to Rocky & Ally*

“Rocky what did you do?” “Did you tell call someone?”
“I didn’t know what to do, Ally”
“ROCKY!”
“Ally, I feel bad enough what was I suppose to do, everything was leading to me, they would think I killed her, I cant go to jail”.

As much as I still wanted to be Rocky's friend, I just couldn't.
I made him leave, and told him to never call me again, unless he was planning on confessing.
He left and never called, ever.

Her Mysterious Death.

Her Mysterious Death

Her death was due to mysterious circumstances, and I was assigned to the case. I’m detective Allen Sircleface, I’ve been with the law for over 12 years and I have solved almost every case I’ve been assigned. When this case came upon me I had a very strong feeling about it. I knew I was going to solve it. I live in a small town, Harrisburg Pennsylvania. We don’t get much action up here, so when I’m presented to a new case I take it seriously. I’m not your average investigator, I have problems of my own. I was into drugs before but I went to rehab for almost 5 years. I’ve been sober ever since.

**************
When I walked into the hotel room, it was horrid. I felt like I had been there before, in that room and on that bed. The white sheets were covered with blood, moist fresh blood. Cops had the whole hotel floor covered, no one without a badge was allowed to enter. Her name was Ribbon E. Flow, she was married with no kids. Her Id said she was 28 years old, just 3 days shy of being 29. She resembled someone I knew and I couldn’t put my finger on it. I felt extremely connected to this women and I didn’t know why.

Private Investigator Blue Scale told me that there was no sign of struggle, no alcohol, no drugs. She was fully dressed although her clothes were covered with blood. I soon found out that her stomach had been slashed open. She was still bleeding when we found her body, that didn’t make sense to me. Investigator Scale had a bag of her belongings in it was her cell phone, wallet, car keys, and a condom.

We checked her phone records, only to see it was a prepaid phone, and only one call had been made. It was to a Mr. Sergo Push. When I went into her wallet, everything was where it should be. Id was there, Cash was their, Credit cards were their. So who ever committed this crime did not want any money. When I went to look in her car, I noticed that it was missing. How could that be if the car keys were in the bag with her belongings.

I decided to find this women’s house and further my investigation. When I arrived to her apartment I noticed there were no men’s clothes. I only thought, where was her husband? This apartment had one bedroom, a kitchen, and a bathroom, nothing special. I didn’t know what I was looking for, maybe just something out of the ordinary. I walked into the kitchen, there was a yellow sticky note posted on the fridge door. It was written in clear cursive handwriting, it said “Meet me @ the Yellow Rock Hotel”. No name was signed at the bottom.
This was the same Hotel her dead body was found at, I knew something was fishy. Although we didn’t find any fingerprints in the room, I knew someone was in that room with her and I was going to find out who.

I was looking for a marriage certificate, birth certificate, something to give me a lead. I found nothing. I’m beginning to think this women wasn’t even married. I searched her in the computer, but she was never arrested nor ticketed. This women seemed as clean as a maid. So far my investigation wasn’t going anywhere, I had no names of family members, no husband, no car records, and no bills, the only thing that I had was the name of a guy. Mr. Sergo Push, was arrested once before, for breaking and entering served 3 years in the slammer. What did this women want to do with a criminal? I found the most recent address and went to pay Mr. Push a visit.

I pulled up and it was a rehab center, a center for alcoholics, a place where you can come and go as you please. Walking into another rehab center gave me chills, it only reminded me of the last time I was in one of these places. I walked up to the front desk and asked for my suspect, she said he was in the Smoking Room, how great their preventing you from drinking but not from smoking. When I walked up to Mr. Push he looked shocked to see me here. He was with another man, someone much younger. I walked in to the end of their conversation, hearing nothing. I asked him if he had a moment to talk, he said lets walk to my room. I followed as he lead.

His room was super clean, and filled with super white sheets. He was not allowed to smoke in his room, which was why they had a smoking room. In his hand I noticed he had a box of matches. He laid it down and went to get a drink. I noticed a big yellow rock on the box, I flipped it over and on the back said “Thanks for checking in Yellow Stone Hotel”. I had a feeling this was my guy. When he came back into the room, he had a bottle of water said he was trying to stay sober. I asked him where he was on the night of March 30, he said here, my rehab center. He didn’t even ask me why I was asking, but I had to tell him. I asked if he knew a Ms. Ribbon E. Flow, he said no. I knew he was lying because Ms. Flow was calling him, and he had the same box of matches from the hotel. I pointed to the box of matches, and he said “Needed a moment to get away from this place”.

I left him with my card, told him if the heard anything to give me a call. I went back to my station, thinking about if I was ever going to crack this case. Detective Scale told me an autopsy had been performed on Ms. Flow, he said I needed to see it, now. The clip board was hanging from the side of the table her dead body laid on. I flipped it open and read, said that she had sexual intercourse moments before she died, that explains why she had the condom. To my surprise it said that she was pregnant, 5 months to be exact. Her stomach was cut open when we found her, someone had tried to kill that baby, and they did. But why did she need the condom, if she was already pregnant?

When I saw her cold body laying on that metal table, I felt the same connection I had with her that I felt in the beginning, why was I so connected to this women? I needed to solve this case, I wanted to solve this case, what’s going on with me why cant I get my big break. I pulled up to my drive way and noticed that a car was parked in what used to be my wife’s spot. I figured it was just the neighbors. When I walked towards the steps my door was already unlocked. That was strange because I had no one to come home to. I forgot to mention my wife left me when I was a drug addict, she was pregnant with our first child but she miscarried and she blamed it all on me. When I walked through that door I felt as if though I hadn’t been in here for weeks. I walked into my house with caution, not knowing who was in there. When I walked into my living room the light was already on, and I heard voices. When I peeked I saw that all the furniture was messed up, and a line of cocaine was on the table. Was this just one of my hallucinations or was this real?

I walked in and sitting on my couch was my boss, Sergeant Lincoln. He stood up and said that he needed to talk to me, I said okay. First he asked me what went on in here, I had no idea and said when I left this morning the house was fine.
He looked like he didn’t believe me, I didn’t sound very convincing. I was trying to put all the pieces together, you know get my story straight. I don’t know why I was nervous, because I didn’t do anything. I asked him if it was his car on my driveway, and he said no that he parked the patrol car on the next block. At that moment I was confused, whose car was on my driveway? Sergeant Lincoln changed the subject and said something very important was going to happen.

He said that when Special Victims Unit searched the hotel room, they found finger prints, they said that it traced back to Me. He said the car on my driveway was Ms. Flows, and that the keys on the table were the keys to her car. I was calm, like I knew what I did, although I had no clue what he was talking about. Before I knew it I was in hancuffs, and for the first time in the back seat of the cop car, not in front. I was speechless, which made him probably think I was guilty. When we got to the station they explained everything to me.

She was my wife, I had killed my baby actually take it out and got rid of it. They said that I hired Mr. Serg Push to be one of the suspects so I wouldn’t get caught. They blamed everything on me, said I had stolen her car, got rid of her clothes, made it look like she wasn’t married, and plain out killed her. They said the baby wasn’t mine and that’s why I wanted revenge on her, I was back on drugs, which explained the reason for the line of cocaine. The station said due to the high dose of cocaine I did things I never knew I did. So here I am in this cell, telling my story to a reporter who is naming this article Good Cop gone Bad.

How to make Logandale Better

3/17/09
What would make Logandale a better school?


Logandale is a great school to be apart of, but there are some things that can make it better. If we have more after school programs it will attract kids. If we’re running low on spending money we could always have fundraisers. Sometimes the teachers have impacts on the students, so we should get some motivated teachers. So think about it, what can you do to better this school?

More after school programs will attract students. If the school offers more after or before school programs it will attract more students. If we take a survey asking students what they are interested in, then the school can make after schools depending on what the demand is for that activity. Most students like to have after school time to unwind, or do something fun so what better way than to spend it meeting new people. I know that creating some new after school programs will cost the school more money, but if we have some fundraisers we can make extra money.

If our school needs more money, we could always have more fundraisers. If the school has more events such as dances or field trips then the money they profit from that they can use to buy more resources for our school. If there is more money for the school then there can be more things, like more books, better sports equipment, and even things to sell. What I mean by things to sell is that in the lunchroom they have juices and cookies you could buy. If the school has more spending money one thing that they can do is offer more things for sell if the kids don’t like the lunch. Even though the school cant please all the students I’m sure the teachers can help.

If we have more motivated teachers, then maybe students will want to come to school everyday. Some of the reason kids do well in school is because some teachers always tell their students to always try their best, sometimes teachers can make difference on a students perspective. If the students attend school inspired to do good there is no way that they will want to leave. If students have something to look forward to everyday when they come to school not only will they do better, but they will want to come everyday. If teachers act like they don’t care, then the students wont care either. So I think that its best if the teachers try to motivate the students.

Logandale is a great school to be apart of, but there are some things that can make it better. If we have more after school programs it will attract kids. If we’re running low on spending money we could always have fundraisers. Sometimes the teachers have impacts on the students, so maybe we should get some motivated teachers. So although this school is already a good school, don’t you think adding some of these things would make it better?

Allyson Torres's Life Story.

I remember the day I felt the pain, the very very strong pain. I was 9 months and 2 weeks. She was late, almost 2 weeks late. I wanted this kid out of me, I felt like I had 10 watermelons inside of me. I couldn’t see my feet, my hands were swollen, and I was angry at everyone. When September 11th 1994 came around I knew it was time, time to welcome a new life into this world. My labor pains started at 7:00 am, it felt really bad. I told David, the baby’s daddy to get the bags ready, that we were ready to explode. We rushed to the hospital, nervous as I was they said I was not fully dilated yet. I was put in a huge hospital room. I was told to take a walk around the Labor and Delivery Room, to speed up the process. The pain was ridiculous, almost 16 hours of Labor, and she finally came. The doctors gave me the epidural way to late so I felt everything, her shoulders coming out, the head ripping my skin. The moment I heard her first cry, I knew it was over and well worth the wait.

She was born with a fever, and passed it along to me. I was not allowed to hold her or see her until I was better. I couldnt walk because by the time the epidural kicked in my legs were all numb. When I finally got to see her I broke down to tears, she was cute and had the biggest cheeks in the world. She looked exactly like her father, curly hair and full lips. Me and her father couldnt decide on a name until we saw her. We had a few names in mind but the moment we saw her we knew that she was an Allyson. Her middle name was Raquel because my sisters name was Raquel and my mothers name was Rachel, the spanish name for Rachel is Raquel. It was a perfect fit. Her father looked so proud, he took billions of pictures and brought me dozens of flowers and balloons. I was in the hospital for 3 days, my baby had to stay for 5 days. I came back everyday to see her, and feed her.

When we could finally take her home it was overwhelming. Family came over non-stop, bringing gifts and clothes. Allyson was the second grandchild on my side, but the first girl on both sides. I could not believe that I was 19 and had a baby. I knew that on the first night she was home with us, I became another person. I was no longer selfish, but I was a mother, one of the happiest. She was an easy child, loved to sleep at 4 months she slept through the whole night. She loved to take naps during the day, she always had a new oufit and her father always bought her jordans. Her grandfather on her dads side always wanted a girl, he got his wish because his first ever grandchild was a girl. Everyone loved Allyson, well it was kinda hard not to.

The first years went by really fast, the first halloweens, the first birthdays, and the first steps. She was an easy child, a loving one too. She loved to sing, by 2 years old she knew the whole theme song to Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Her and her cousin Jake were always together, they were only 6 months apart, that was her best friend. By age three we nicknamed Allyson to Ally Raquel, she always wanted to be called Raquel, because she loved her aunt. By age 4 it was just Ally, because she no longer wanted to be Raquel, she wanted to be just Ally. She loved going to her Lito Davids house, every weekend she spent the days with him. Her father treated her like a princess, always with the best shoes, and best toys. I was the best mother I could be, I loved this kid more than life its self.

She has a big attitude, her father always said that it was the puerto rican in her. She is very responsible for her age, I always said that was the mexican in her. She still has the same curly hair she was born with, and the same full lips, just like her father. Nothing of me passed down to her, but I know some how some way she is like me. She's 14 now, and I know life is hard on her, beeing that me and her father are not together, and she has big responsiblities to take care of, but I know that someday she will be okay. I think I raised a pretty great kid, I couldnt be happier.