Sins Of The Past

chapter 16

Ray took in a deep breath as he looked around waiting for everyone to settle. He couldn't believe that this day had arrived at last. He thought three months was a long time but how time flies. He watched as people quite down and at the same time he wondered why he had made himself give the opening speech. For crying out loud, those speeches were made by guest of honours. At least that's what they used to do back home.

He fixed his tie which was okay but he needed to busy himself has people settled. The crowd was much bigger than he had planned. Too big to make him nervous and worse of all was that he was informed of the last changes in the last minute. Like thirty minutes before everyone began walking in. The excuse? He wanted to laugh at that very moment but then again, everyone would see him crazy. It's like Chris was after him to humiliate him if anything. He really was.

If not, why could he not open the speech as he had known for the last two months? Why had he waited till thirty minutes before the show only to say he couldn't? Why? Ray let go of the tie and looked at the piece of paper that he was holding. They say you should always be prepared for anything in life and there he was. All nervous for not knowing what to say or do. Worse now that everyone was quite and waiting for him to start open the damn show.

Ray looked away from the paper and searched where his sister had promised to be standing, their gaze met and all she did was smile at him and give him a thumbs up. That's what he needed, her being there. It's all he ever needed.

Clearing his throat, he began his speech.

"People say that 'whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger'" he had no idea where that came from because that's not the first word on the paper that he was holding. He wasn't even looking at it. "But at times, that's not true. In today's climate where sexual assault and rape is occuring each pacing day. Studies show that only 1% of the reported case in police end up convinced.

"What about those who are born of rape? What about the justice for them?" He looked at people as he asked the question. "Aren't they also humans who deserve justice for what happened to them? I talked to some of adults who were born out of rape and one of them said something that is still stuck in my mind till now. She said that she was born out of rape and that her mother was raped by her uncle and till now, nothing has been done.

"Too ashamed to have a kid born out of rape, she tried to abort her more than five times. And all for what? Just not to have her. And innocent child was paying for someone else's mistake. She went on to say that she wishes that she could do something just to get the uncle arrested and sentenced into prison where he belongs with the other criminals.

"I did feel that despite that not being enough. The reason as to why she wants the the man that gathered her behind bars is to help her feel better. To make her believe that she wasn't a mistake despite her being one. That she deserves love despite never getting one since she was conceive. That's all she wants in her life. The justice that she was never given at all.

"That had me googling in order to understand how this kids feel and how this disease has been there since before and till now, it has never been treated. Or should I say it has never been acknowledged in the first place? And guess what I found in the internet? The social stigma that the kids had to go through. They even were given great labels during war time. For instance, in Vietnam, the kids were called Dust of life. In Rwanda kids who had no idea of how they came to be were called Children of Shame while in Germany Devil's children and the last one that I remember from Russian, they were called Russian brats.

"How cruel can world be? And how long do we've to wait till this kids are given the justice they deserve? How long will it take for the victims to understand that it wasn't the child's fault? That they also need the love that they're deprived of? That they don't need this poor parent child relationship at all where there is no care, no loving bond.