At the prison cells the fighting
continues, until one police officer guarding them, made a threat. The next day
they were in court to answer to charges of assault and disturbing the peace.
The son got his chance at the podium to defend himself.
“Your honour, I am tired. I am tired
of this man. He just came home from prison and instead of reconciling with us,
he has just been causing havoc and giving us stress. Every weekend he is
drinking, bringing over relatives, or going to relatives’ houses or forcing us
to do whatever he wants. We have been doing as he has been saying in the hopes
that maybe he will change, but he has gotten worse and worse. My siblings are
developing depression thanks to him. They are being forced to do what they are
not comfortable with. It has been ten years, we have developed friendships, we
have school, we have a social life, and we are planning our futures, so we fail
to understand the reason why someone would try to take that from us.”
“He is our father, we will always
respect him for that. We cannot change him for another. However, I refuse to be
subjected to more torture both psychological and physical. When I was small he
used treat me like an idiot, insulting me and parading me in front of his drunk
friends like manikins at a clothes store. He used to beat me like he was
fighting an equal. He continued, moving on to my siblings. My mother suffered
the most.”
He wipes the tears from his eyes.
“I know as a first born I have to be
an example, and yesterday I snapped. I hurt my mom and brother, the people I
was fighting for. And for that I apologize. I am ready to be sentenced for
that. But for standing up against this animal, I regret nothing.”
The father takes the stand and is
warned against using foul language that made his son receive a warning
”Your honour, you have seen first-hand what I go through. I am supposed to be accepted and integrated in the society.
What happened in my past is done and gone. I have moved on. I am a different
man now. My problems are that my family have not helped me at all. I came back
nobody cared. When I was in prison nobody cared. When I asked for family
meetings to apologize for what happened, nobody cared. What else was I supposed
to do? Everybody has moved on and left me behind. Even my last born does not
care for me. I love them so much, so I did what I could to get their attention.
That is when my first born decided to challenge my authority. I am guessing he
had tasted the joy of leading a family, therefore he saw me as a threat. He
challenged my position and I defended myself. If you ask his mother, whom he
had pushed aside like a dog, he was the one attacking.”
The trial continued for a while as
the rest of the family gave their evidences. The court was adjourned, now everyone
is waiting for the judgement.
The End
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