One Picture And One Story Week #10".

Scout and Jem Finch were two children, used to live in Maycomb county of Alabama in early 90s with their father. It was the time when time used to pass slowly just like people. The town was the whole universe for the people and they rarely went outside of their world.

Source

During summers, both Jem and Scout would play outdoor on the streets and in their garden. They would make tree house, mud toys, and ring the bells of the neighbours and run away. In one of the summers, they made one more friend who was with them in all their mischievous.

These were white people who had the supremacy in their town. Their father was a practicing lawyer who raised his children with a broader mind. He made his daughter to read from a very young age just like his son.

One day, these kids had to go to the church of coloured people on Sunday with their coloured maid calpurnia. They encountered the strange behaviour of some black people towards them. However, some black people were happy to see them, said they're very grateful of their father to fight a case of a negro in the court.

On their way to home, they asked calpurnia what is this case about. She told them that government has appointed their father to defend a negro who has charged with the rape of a white girl.

Scout asked her what that word means? She replied you should ask your father instead.

But they didn't ask. Jem was twelve years old, he knew it, but didn't tell his sister.

One day they slipped in the courtroom with their new friend Dill to hear the trail of that negro. Their father didn't know about this, they went up to the balcony and set with a group of negros.

They saw their father coming inside the room and sitting with a negro named Tom Robinson. Prosecutor sat with a white man(girl's father)and woman who accused the negro, for entering their house's fence, beating her up and raping her.

The prosecution told the story like this:

The white girl was living in poverty but she still holds superiority over the black man(who was working on wage). She is nineteen years old, had seven little siblings, and a father.
One day she called him inside her fence, when he was returning from his work, to break the chiffonier (chest of drawer). He agreed to do it, when she moved back in her room to give him one nickle, he attacked her from behind, hit her and took advantage of her.

Atticus who is the father of Jem cross examined the statement of girl's father and asked him about the bruises of their daughter, and why they didn't call the doctor immediately.

He tells that he saw them from the Window, Tom ran away, and the girl was lying on the flour. He had bruises on her arms, marks around her neck, and her eyes were also blackened.

Which eye?

Ammm, right eye.

You sure?

Yes, I'm.

Atticus asked the father if he can read and write. He said yes he could. Atticus gave her a paper pen and asked him to write his name.

He wrote his name and eyed the judge, what's strange about that?

Judge said you just wrote with your left hand.

Atticus asked his client (negro) to stand up and come for examination. When he woke up, people saw his left arm hanging like a rubber, it was 12inches shorter than his right arm.
If girl's right eye was blacked only a man with healthy left hand could do that, like her father, and not negro.

Atticus asked his client to tell his story:

He said that white girl used to call him inside his fence for tasks to do, like chopping wood and fixing things. She offered her wage which he denied so she didn't offer him again ( she was poor already). He felt sorry for the girl because her family didn't offer her any help anytime. That's why he used to do her work. He was already married with three kids.

One day she called him inside the house to fix the door, when he entered the room, she jumped onto him from behind in desperation and begged his love and affection. He denied, her father saw this from the Window, negro ran away(because he was black man to get in trouble surely). He heard her father cursing her from the Window, calling her whore, and ran towards her in anger(must've hit her).

This was an easy black and white case.

Atticus made it crystal clear infront of the court that she falsely accused the black man for taking advantage of her. Her father had hit her for falling for a negro and lowering their status in the society.

The prosecution objected saying, negro had feelings for the white woman, that's why he kept doing her work, and now lied for not hitting her.

The trail ended and court dismissed for a while, Jem and scout were sure to win the case.

Court was full of white people, only black person was the accused negro and his community sitting on the balcony.

When judge returned on his seat, there was a pin drop silence, scout and Jem were all ears, felt numb when the judge branded negro guilt, guilty, guilty.

In our courts, when it's white man's world against black man, the white man always win, they are ugly but those are the facts of life(court whispers)

One hearing this, those children burst with the tears of anger. Their father got up of the chair, took his bag and left for his home. They ran after him and asked what would happen now, he said he would appeal in the high court, don't worry children:

^{He said cheating a coloured man is ten times worse than cheating a white man. Says it's the worst thing you can do.
Cry about the hell white people give coloured folks, without even stopping to think that they're human/people too.}

In the cruel world of white supremacy over black and Brown people, it's the children who cry in the end.

Inviting @mehwish-almas @nushrat @hudamalik20