The night was calm. The moon shone quietly on the suburbian neighborhood. The breeze whispered to the trees so as not to disturb the silence. It was Sunday and the rich inhabitants of the area were sleeping through the late hour, not aware of the one household not at peace.
Lennon sighed and settled into her homework. She sat on her bed in her lavish room, papers spread out around her. She was a junior at Gotham Academy Prep, the private school for the children of the influential rich. Lennon couldn't care less.
Just as she began another Trigonometry problem, her father burst into her room. Catching her off guard, he slapped the teenager so hard that she flew off her bed backwards.
Lennon glared at her father, Richard Johnson. She used all her control to hold in her tears as her cheek burned with pain. She and Richard didn't come to terms, ever. Richard was a criminal defense lawyer, and a damn good one at that. The problem was that he only defended those who were actually criminals. Lennon didn't know why when she grew up in a house with underground scum and criminals she came out with good morals, but she knew she could attribute part of the credit to Harvey Dent, Gotham's District Attorney and her father's nemesis.
"What was that for?" she yelled.
"Dammit! Don't you talk back to me, girl! You dare sass your father?" he slurred. Lennon noticed by his slight swaying that he was quite drunk.
"You're no father, Richard. What kind of father runs into his daughter's room and hits her for no reason?" Lennon was now crying without restraint, though more angry than sad.
"I don't need a reason to beat an ungrateful little bitch like you!"
"The courts would think differently," she mumbled as she made her way back onto her bed to reassemble her homework. She felt her cheek swelling up and knew well enough that there would be a bruise there the next day.
"What did you say?" her father screamed.
"I hate you! I hate who you are, I hate what you do, I hate that you're my father!!"
"The feelings are mutual, I can assure you of that!"
Lennon shrugged off Richard's cruel comments. In the seventeen years she was alive, she heard worse than that from him. And she knew what would get him going. "There is absolutely no way you can beat Harvey in court on Thursday," she said. "He has infallible evidence incriminating 'Lucky' Moroni."
"Dammit! Damn Dent and damn you! I should kill you both!"
Richard lunged at Lennon to punch her. She easily rolled out of the way and pushed him off balance with her foot. Amazingly enough for a drunk, her father caught her ankle as he fell over backwards. Using his momentum and intoxication against him, Lennon put her weight into the leg he had grabbed and landed on him as they hit the floor. Since she was in her bare feet, she forcefully kicked him across the face and knocked him unconscious.
Lennon carelessly tossed Richard's two hundred pounds of dead weight out of her room and down the hall a ways. She closed her door, locked it and again attempted to reorganize her strewn homework papers. She stared blankly at her Trig homework. She had more important things on her mind than math at the moment and she was restless. She decided to let the homework wait until the next day. She hoped she wouldn't regret it.
Lennon sighed and settled into her homework. She sat on her bed in her lavish room, papers spread out around her. She was a junior at Gotham Academy Prep, the private school for the children of the influential rich. Lennon couldn't care less.
Just as she began another Trigonometry problem, her father burst into her room. Catching her off guard, he slapped the teenager so hard that she flew off her bed backwards.
Lennon glared at her father, Richard Johnson. She used all her control to hold in her tears as her cheek burned with pain. She and Richard didn't come to terms, ever. Richard was a criminal defense lawyer, and a damn good one at that. The problem was that he only defended those who were actually criminals. Lennon didn't know why when she grew up in a house with underground scum and criminals she came out with good morals, but she knew she could attribute part of the credit to Harvey Dent, Gotham's District Attorney and her father's nemesis.
"What was that for?" she yelled.
"Dammit! Don't you talk back to me, girl! You dare sass your father?" he slurred. Lennon noticed by his slight swaying that he was quite drunk.
"You're no father, Richard. What kind of father runs into his daughter's room and hits her for no reason?" Lennon was now crying without restraint, though more angry than sad.
"I don't need a reason to beat an ungrateful little bitch like you!"
"The courts would think differently," she mumbled as she made her way back onto her bed to reassemble her homework. She felt her cheek swelling up and knew well enough that there would be a bruise there the next day.
"What did you say?" her father screamed.
"I hate you! I hate who you are, I hate what you do, I hate that you're my father!!"
"The feelings are mutual, I can assure you of that!"
Lennon shrugged off Richard's cruel comments. In the seventeen years she was alive, she heard worse than that from him. And she knew what would get him going. "There is absolutely no way you can beat Harvey in court on Thursday," she said. "He has infallible evidence incriminating 'Lucky' Moroni."
"Dammit! Damn Dent and damn you! I should kill you both!"
Richard lunged at Lennon to punch her. She easily rolled out of the way and pushed him off balance with her foot. Amazingly enough for a drunk, her father caught her ankle as he fell over backwards. Using his momentum and intoxication against him, Lennon put her weight into the leg he had grabbed and landed on him as they hit the floor. Since she was in her bare feet, she forcefully kicked him across the face and knocked him unconscious.
Lennon carelessly tossed Richard's two hundred pounds of dead weight out of her room and down the hall a ways. She closed her door, locked it and again attempted to reorganize her strewn homework papers. She stared blankly at her Trig homework. She had more important things on her mind than math at the moment and she was restless. She decided to let the homework wait until the next day. She hoped she wouldn't regret it.