Kids.

Georgia hadn’t had a new toothbrush in months, her parents spent all the money on what they wanted, no thought for the twins. So they were forced to use the frayed remains of their old toothbrushes, without toothpaste either.
She walked into the kitchen in her too small school clothes, rubbish and dirt everywhere, no one cleaned around here. Opening the cupboard for lunch for school she found a packet of stale chips, she stuffed them in her bag. She was hungry, had been for a while now.
“Where’s mine?” her brother asked, she hadn’t noticed him sitting at the bench.
“There’s none left, you always get food on the way to school anyway,” she knew he stole food from the grocery store, she had watched him one day when she got suspicious of why he would never walk to school with her.
He stood, bag on his back and walked out the front door.
“Shit,” she had to leave quickly, she hated being in the house by herself, on the off chance her parents would be up early and say hateful things.

Her feet landed with a soft thud as she jumped from the top step, her hands reached up behind her head to tie up her hair with the one hair tie she owned. The walk to school was about ten minutes and she savoured every one. She wasn’t at home to be abused and she wasn’t at school, which was just plain crap. On the way she ripped open the packet of chips and enjoyed each bland one, it might be the only food she got all day.

It took her fifteen minutes, just before the bell, to reach school. Today was no different, kids teasing her because her family had no money, sitting by herself all day and more homework she wouldn’t be doing. She never saw her brother during school, he hung out with the kids who hung out the back and smoked all the time. He shouldn’t have started smoking, he is only fourteen.
School is a six hour waste of time, she wasn’t going to grow up to be anything. Just another girl. She still went though, to appease her parents, they would kill her if she didn’t go. Even if she were sick or hurt. One time she had a broken arm, at least she thought it was, she wasn’t allowed to go to the doctors. Bills to pay apparently, bullshit. Her parents made her go to school anyway, no matter what.

Twenty minutes to get home, another ten before she was told she was a worthless piece of crap.
“I wanted a fucking can of Pepsi, not this shit,” her mother threw the can at her, the underside hitting her elbow making her yelp. “Just fuck off...fuck off! And get me the Pepsi.” She did what she was told, she’d learnt not to get emotional, that was more ammo for her parents.

She went back to the room she shared with her brother, right now he was in the bathroom, that was his sanctuary. She jumped up to her bed and lay down, there was nothing to do here. They didn’t have any possessions, just clothes and crap they got as hand-me-downs. She just thought, about the crappy life she had, about why her brother would leave her there. He always took care of them when bad things happened, even if he got hit. It never happened as bad as that day though, she watched through a crack in her door, both of them did. She didn’t think her father could have been serious, but when he just watched him leave. They have spoken about him once, when mum realized he had gone, she asked dad, when he answered she just said ‘good’. That’s all that’s been said. Still Georgia didn’t get emotional, she had become numb from so much of her families stuff, she just thought about things.

She didn’t speak to her brother when he came in, she was busy tracing pictures on the wall, butterflies, dinosaurs and love hearts. Her stomach giving the usual grumble, a never ending earthquake, it hurt sometimes. She pushed her small pillow over her head when she started hearing banging and moans coming from her parents’ bedroom, she shut her eyes tight and tried to sleep.