How is it possible that I couldn’t see it?
Why couldn’t I see it?
I should’ve known… right?
I should’ve seen it.
I should’ve seen the pain in her eyes.
I should’ve noticed the dimmed light in her personality.
I should’ve noticed how distant she had become.
How every time I bring it up,
She changes.
I should’ve noticed the bruises on her arms.
Of course I didn’t.
I was too caught up in my own world,
That I didn’t see how horrible hers was.
An alcoholic father and a naïve mother.
Forced to stay in her room and cry.
Wishing, hoping, praying her father wouldn’t hurt or hit her,
Like he did her mother.
Sadly, he did.
She was too scared to tell anyone…
Not even her best friend.
Her only friend.
I should’ve known right?
I should’ve known what it would lead to.
All the bruises and scars.
“I got hit with a baseball…”
Her excuse would be when she came to school
With a black eye.
What kind of friend am I?
I could’ve been there to stop her.
If only I had shown up before it all happened.

Jus a few moments earlier.
January fourth.
Her birthday.
The day she was brought into the world
But also, the day she left it.