A nimble waitress saved a boy from the abuse he received from his parents.
Flaviane Carvalho, who works at an Orlando restaurant in Florida, served a 4-person table on New Year's Eve.
He noted, however, that no food orders had been placed for the group's 11-year-old boy, according to an Orlando police statement on Thursday.
The boy was weak, very thin and had bruises on his face and hands.
Without wasting time, Carvalho managed to put a note in his hand that read: "Are you okay?". He nodded to her meaningfully "no".
The waitress later put a second ravasaki in his hand, under the noses of his parents: "Do you need help?". The little one nodded "yes".
Carvalho immediately called the police, according to the Orlando Police Department.
"I'm a mother too and that was very strange to me, you do not refuse food to a child, especially in a restaurant," Carvalho told a police news conference. "Fortunately, the boy is safe now."
The child's stepfather, Timothy Wilson, is accused of violently beating the 11-year-old with a broomstick. When he was not beaten, he was handcuffed and tied inside the house, according to the arrest warrant issued by the Orlando Sentinel newspaper.
Social services have removed the boy and his 4-year-old sister from the family. Wilson, 34, is charged with a series of offenses and Kristen Swann, a 31-year-old mother, is charged with neglecting to supervise a minor.