Crib Death?

Hazel was only eleven years old when her mother became pregnant. Throughout the months before her mommy, Brandy Norton, began to get bigger around the middle Hazel had listened to her talk about how great it would be to have a baby and had watched her look longingly at infants they passed in the supermarket. Hazel had begged Brandy not to have another baby, she didn't want a little brother or sister but had mommy listened? No, she had went right ahead and gotten pregnant.1

Now months later Hazel found herself following her daddy, Scout Norton, into the hospital to see her mommy.2

When they walked into Brandy's room they saw her sitting in a hospital bed holding a small bundle in her arms. Scout walked over to the bed but Hazel held back, she wasn't so sure she wanted to see what that bundle of blankets held.3

Scout looked down proudly at the little bundle then motioned for Hazel to come over; Hazel hesitantly took one step toward the bed. Brandy looked up from the now wiggling bundle and smiled warmly at her daughter.4

"Come on over here and meet your new baby brother." Brandy said. Hazel walked over to the bed and looked at the baby. "His name is Lewis Santosh Norton."5

Hazel stared at Lewis, unsure of what she should do, "I don't like him." she said as she looked up at her mother.6

"But sweetie you've just met him, you'll learn to like him in time." Scout said as he put one hand on Hazel's shoulder.7

"I don't want to learn to like him! I told you before that I didn't want a baby brother or sister and you didn't listen to me!" Hazel stormed out of the hospital room with her brother's crying pounding in her ears.8

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Weeks passed and still Hazel looked at Lewis with envy. He had taken her family, he had robbed her of the privacy of her bedroom, and had forced her to lose sleep at night with his constant crying.10

Hazel sat on her bed in her room, watching the napping Lewis and she was suddenly reminded of a dog her family used to have; Mekko was his name, he was named after the little raccoon in the Pocahontas movie Hazel used to love so much. Mekko was a black lab and had belonged to a circus trainer, who had taught him how to open the refrigerator. When the Norton's would go out they would come home to find their refrigerator door open and all the food scattered across the kitchen floor.11

After a few more nights of the same thing they started putting Mekko in the basement when they went out, but this failed to work because Mekko would just destroy everything down there. They didn't want to put him outside because he had been a house dog since he was a puppy and he would probably just sit at the door and whine and bark and disturb the neighbors. The Norton's decided that Mekko had to go. 12

Hazel sat there staring at Lewis; she knew that, to her, he had ruined her life just like Mekko had ruined the food in the fridge and the basement night after night. Her parents' solution to Mekko was to get rid of him and they hadn't cared if parting with Mekko was hard for her; so that's exactly what she would do, she would get rid of the problem and she wouldn't care if her parents got hurt or not. She began to devise a plan.13

Night after night Hazel laid awake watching her brother sleeping. When he fussed she would watch her mother come hurrying into the room to lift him lovingly out of the crib and rock him gently in the rocking chair. Each and every night the urge to get rid of him grew stronger but she held it back, she had to wait for her mother to screw up somehow so that Lewis's death looked like an accident.14

Finally after much waiting and many sleepless nights Brandy finally screwed up. Lewis was bawling his eyes out and Brandy had come in to rock him back to sleep except this time when she put him back in the crib, she left a blanket hanging on the right side of the crib.15

After Brandy had left and Hazel heard the creak of the springs in her parents' bed as her mother laid back down, Hazel crept quietly out of her own bed and over to the crib. Lewis was sleeping peacefully now. Hazel watched the soft rise and fall of his tiny chest feeling almost sad about what she was getting ready to do but then the feeling disappeared as she slipped the soft blue blanket off the side of the crib and over his tiny face.16

"I'm sorry Lewis but you seem to have been born into the wrong family." Hazel whispered as he woke up and began to squirm. "The story of your life has ended." The blanket muffled his soft screams and Hazel was sure that her parents wouldn't be able to hear it from their room at the end of the hall.17

The adrenalin coursed through her veins and she pressed the blanket tighter over his face. Soon the squirming and screams stopped and he was still. Hazel let go of the blanket and left it where it was. She crept back to her bed and with one last look at the crib and the feeling of satisfaction rising in her, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.18

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No body really knows what killed Lewis Santosh Norton. The detectives and neighbors suspect it was crib death cause by a blanket hanging on the side of the crib that fell over his face, others suspect the mother, Brandy Norton, but no on could be sure of what really went on that night.20

That is, nobody but Hazel Lynn Norton.21