Suspicious Kid Hands Note To Waitress, She Acts Fast

Gut Feeling

After the child’s parents sat down, the waitress immediately realized something was amiss. He caught her attention not just because of his sad, despairing expression. The situation was more troubling than that.

She felt doubt creeping in as she pondered what to do. She needs to know what to do. As soon as the boy handed her the note, her doubts dissipated.

Evil In Plain Sight

Evil can be hidden in plain sight and is often overlooked. When it is disguised as something else, that is when it becomes most dangerous.

However, people prefer to avoid issues that are not their own and choose not to look deeper. Thankfully, not everyone decides to be that way, and this story speaks of someone who chose to get involved.

Not Afraid

This story showcases how we often choose to ignore situations to make things easier for ourselves.

Flavaine Carvalho is someone who isn’t afraid of getting involved when she sees something is wrong. She is an example to us all, someone we can learn from.

Working At Mrs. Potato

Flavaine Carvalho has seen all sorts of things while working in the service industry at a restaurant called Mrs. Potato in St. Petersburg, Florida.

She could read her customers well and tell her problematic customers apart from her easier ones; she knew which of them had something to hide and who were going through something personal and needed some kind words. On New Year’s Day, she faced something entirely different.

A Relaxing Day

The day had started as she’d expected, with few customers in the restaurant with everyone else in town recovering from New Year’s Eve.

The regulars had wished the staff a happy new year, making for a relatively quiet day. Flavaine and her coworkers could relax, but the atmosphere would change in a few minutes.

New Customers

The dinner crowd started coming in after a while; many regulars were among them, looking for a warm plate of food after the extensive celebrations from the night before.

Flavaine eventually noticed customers she had never seen before and grew curious. Something caught her attention as she watched them find their seats at one of the tables.

Unusual Family

It was a family of three – the mom, the dad, and, Flavaine assumed, their son. She questioned her assumption when she saw something else.

This was not a typical family that was visibly loving and affectionate. Flavaine’s head started spinning when she noticed the kid seemed sad and looked like he dreaded being there with his parents.

Feeling Anxious

She wondered if their behavior could be explained. Had the kid had a tantrum before they walked in? But what if it was something more? Flavaine grew anxious but tried to think things through.

As she walked over to take their order, she tried her best to calm down. She knew her instincts were right when she saw it.

He Would Eat At Home

Flavaine was confused when they only ordered two meals and asked if the boy wanted anything to eat. They replied that he’d eat at home.

Things were not adding up for Flavaine. She turned to look at the boy and saw something that made her decision to do something definite.

She Had To Help

Flavaine described how she noticed a big scratch between his eyebrows before she noticed the bruise on the side of his eye. When she spoke to the media, she said something was genuinely wrong.

She knew she couldn’t let it slide when she had put all the signs together. She wasn’t sure if those people were the kid’s parents, but all she knew was that kid needed help.

He Needed Help

Now, with all those signs piling up, she could no longer keep ignoring the issue. Flavaine could tell from a mile away that something needed to be done about it. 

But what was exactly the matter with that “family”? Were those people really the kid’s parents? “I could not see the boy going away without any help,” she said.

She Had A Plan

At one point, while their meals were getting prepared, the two adults got up from the table and went outside to smoke. Right then and there, Flavaine saw that it was the perfect chance to act.

Flavaine quietly walked towards the table and handed the kid a note saying, “Do you need help?” along with a pen.

Praying

She prayed and prayed that the child would tell her the truth. God forbid that he was too scared to let her know what was actually going on with his “parents”.

Flavaine stayed a few seconds behind the bar, which felt like an eternity. She kept staring at the child, waiting for him to make a move. And suddenly, she saw it.

He Wrote

The child looked left, right, and behind him. He saw that his “parents” were still smoking. Then he looked at Flavaine. The two held eye contact for a few seconds, as the waitress internally begged for the kid to write a response.

Then, the boy took the pen, leaned forward, and began writing on the note Flavaine had given him.

They Were Still Outside

Immediately, Flavaine walked back to the table as quickly as she could. She looked through the windows; the kid’s “parents” were still smoking outside. But this time, she spotted something that called her attention.

They seemed to be talking about something. As a matter of fact, they seemed to be having quite a heated argument. But what were they arguing over?

She Took The Note

She didn’t have time to try to find out; they could come back into the restaurant at any moment. Flavaine quickly grabbed the note, turned back, and walked away without looking back. 

The last thing she wanted right now was to raise the two adults’ suspicions. She positioned herself strategically behind the bar, where she could observe the child’s table without being seen, and she read the note.

“OK”

The kid had written “OK” in the note, under Flavaine’s question. The waitress looked at him; he looked distressed, turning left and right. He was probably wondering where Flavaine had gone.

Flavaine left her hideout behind the bar so the child could see her. They both locked eyes, and the waitress nodded at the boy. And right then, something happened that made her heart skip a beat.

They Came Back In

The kid’s “parents” had finished their smoke and were walking through the restaurant’s door again. It seemed like they were done with their argument. Had they reached a conclusion? 

Just imagining what they could have been talking about, sent a chill down Flavaine’s spine. She observed the parents sit down again at the table from behind the bar. Right then and there, she set her plan into motion.

She Acted Fast

Instantly, Flavaine went to the kitchen, told one of her colleagues to keep an eye on the “family” and asked to use the restaurant’s phone. Then, she dialed 911. There was nothing else she could do in that situation. Who knew how dangerous those people could be?

The content of that call was recorded and has been recently released to the media. This is what Flavaine can be heard saying to the operator:

How To Express It?

After a few seconds that felt like ages, someone picked up the phone. Before speaking, Flavaine reflected on how she could express what she had just seen, the bad gut feeling the whole situation gave her.

The content of that call was recorded and has been recently released to the media. This is what Flavaine can be heard saying to the operator:

Police Steps In

“I’m super concerned, and I don’t know what to do, can you give me some advice?” Flavaine can be heard asking the operator. “The boy is with bruises, and he’s not eating.”

Shortly after, a group of officers made their appearance in the restaurant. They walked through the door and approached the family without hesitation. From that point, it was on. The truth finally came out.

Hoping For The Best

Flavaine looked at the table again; the two adults were devouring their meals quickly. It almost seemed like, after talking for a bit outside, they had resolved that they had to go somewhere else as soon as possible.

Flavaine hoped that they wouldn’t leave before the police arrived at the restaurant. Only God knew what kind of danger the kid could be exposed to.

Arrested

Shortly after, a group of officers made their appearance in the restaurant. They walked through the door and approached the family without hesitation. 

Flavaine could see how, instantly, the two “parents” became paralyzed. It was evident that they weren’t happy to see the police. From that point, it was on. The truth finally came out.

He Wasn’t His Father

The officers instantly took the boy with them and interviewed him. As it turned out, and as Flavaine fairly suspected, the man who was there wasn’t actually his father.

He was his stepfather. The kid alleged that he was abusive to him on a regular basis and often denied him food as a punishment. And that wasn’t even the most horrifying part.

Abuse

The kid had been subject to endless abuse and mistreatment for months. Immediately, the man and the child’s mother were arrested. They’re currently awaiting trial, and the kid is safe living with a relative.

Only God knows what could have happened if the kind-hearted waitress hadn’t listened to her gut and done the right thing.

Jordan Cooper

Many people would have thought that it was none of their business how two parents treated their kid, but not Flavaine. We can all learn from her example.

However, this is not the first time something like this has happened. Recently, an Olive Garden waitress named Jordan Cooper in Paducah, Kentucky, found herself in a similar predicament. This is how it happened:

A Bad Feeling

From the first minute the family walked through the door, Jordan had a bad feeling. She just didn’t like the parents’ aspect, and she decided to keep an eye on him for as long as they stayed in the restaurant.

Soon enough, her suspicions were confirmed. When she saw those parents’ true nature, she had no other option than to call the police.

A Face That Said “Help”

They were two parents, an eleven-year-old girl, and a baby. “I first walked around to the baby,” Cooper told the media later on. “She looked at me with a face that said help.”

“The baby was sitting in a highchair with a blanket over her head,” Cooper also said. “When the blanket came off, her face had a lot of black-and-blue bruises.” But that wasn’t all.

Aggressive Behavior

Jordan also saw the father force-feeding the baby and behaving aggressively with her. Right then and there, she knew she had to do something.

“What are you doing?” she asked the man. The parents seemed to become suspicious after Jordan’s question, which was left unanswered. They quickly left the restaurant, got in the car, and drove away. However, Jordan took a picture of their license plate, sent it to the police, and told them about what she had just seen.

The Police Investigated Their Home

In a matter of hours, a police car was in front of the family’s house, and the two parents were arrested. “I heard the conditions of the home were so horrific, a police officer had to collect himself outside,” Cooper says.

Fortunately, there are still people like Jordan Cooper and Flavaine Barbossa in the world.

In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author’s imagination. Any resemblances to actual events or places or persons, living or dead are entirely coincidental.