I heard sobs during the night, and walked to the door of my bedroom where Karina slept. I knocked and opened the door slightly. She got up, and hugged me, "I don't know what to do," she said.
My walls broke down, and I didn't know what to do other than what Dana told us the night before. This little orphaned girl had nowhere to go, and all of my life, for the first time, I felt like a big brother. I sobbed with her, caressing her beautiful silky black hair, and told her, "One step at a time."
I knelt to the ground, and told her, "Someday, you will find happiness. Until then, keep working at helping yourself. This is a good start, and I won't leave you." She dropped to the ground on her knees, and we just hugged each other. Women's rights was a human's right, and as a matter of fact, no matter what age a female human being is, her human rights comes first. We as human being deserved our rights to safety and sexual health and well-being. All assaults were inhumane, no matter the reason for it, because it was pure evil and purely unjust, and no female should have to live to be hurt this way.
"My mind, it hasn't stopped thinking about what happened. It was just so brutal. I wished I could explain, but I'm not even sure what to say or do anymore," Karina said. Her twelve year old body cocooning my stomach, as I held her around me.
There was nothing in the world that could explain the depth of a scarred soul robbed of its dignity. I understood crimes, and have seen criminals, but the robbing of a human life through the most demeaning act of sexual assaults gave more damage to life than the cause itself. It was probably greed and jealousies for soul privilege and birth rights, or perhaps Karina's opportunity in her future as a Tier 1, but all of those opportunities were robbed out of her brutally, forcefully, violently, to give the criminals their stolen rights. At times, I felt it should be a life for a life, but my Democratic heart felt a justice that goes beyond that. I felt Karina deserved more opportunities and more rights because she was hurt so much, at such a young age.
"We will expose Giuseppe Baptiste and his men. It's the only way out of this. We have to cut them at their necks," I told her.
My Father must have heard me, because I heard footsteps from behind me. As I stood in the doorway of my room, I shoved Karina back into the room, and told her, "Go back to sleep. We will talk tomorrow."
"Jake, we haven't finalized everything yet. I need you to go to sleep," said my Father.
Rambo came from behind him, and asked, "Another meeting I should know about?"
"What happened?" asked my Father.
"Karina was crying," I told my Father and Rambo. "She just needed a friend."
"We have to give her some medications," said Rambo.
"I'm going to take her to the hospital tomorrow," my Father said. "Keep the plan, and don't forget to collect the solar cells inside the solar bags. We need each one of them all over town."
"You got it, Mr. O'Connor," said Rambo.
Just write.