A heavy weight of depression made it hard to breathe.
My dad died while on a mission at the border. My mom didn’t want me to know the truth, so she told me he was just working far away.
She put all the money he sent into a card, saying it was for when I grew up and got married. But our house was small, and I found his medals and certificates with hardly any effort.
The card was just his pension money. And once that was gone, there was one less thing left from him.
Tears kept streaming down my face, but when I looked through the glass at my mom, hooked up to machines in the ICU, it all felt worth it.
They had tried to cover their tracks, but I wasn’t letting them get away with it. I had to expose them. So, I went online.
I created an account and posted the video of them beating my mom.
[Reporting under my real name: Tyler Graham and his son, Kingston, from Javelin, destroyed my fish stall and beat my mom into the ICU!]
[The police won’t help, the court won’t listen, so I’m turning to the internet for justice.]
The video went viral, and the city started talking.
[This is inhumane! They’re out of control!]
[How is this still happening in Javelin after everything we’ve heard about fighting gangs? The authorities need to step up!]
[Don’t worry, little girl. The bad guys will pay.]
But, of course, they quickly suppressed the post. I didn’t back down though. I kept posting.
First, the principal called me. “Are you crazy? This is seriously damaging the school’s reputation! Delete the video or I’ll put a serious demerit on your record. You won’t get into high school or college!”
I wasn’t about to back off. If I couldn’t get justice for my mom, then what was the point of all those years in school?
Then the lawyer showed up. “What’s wrong with you? Are you out of your mind? You’re posting lies online! Delete everything, or I’ll sue you for defamation and ruining the Graham Family’s reputation!”
I shot him a cold stare and said, “Go ahead, sue me. I’ll take it all the way to court and expose everything live.”
He stopped, clearly taken aback, then shot back, “You’ll regret this.”
I didn’t stop. I kept posting. Sure, they tried to bury my videos, but people still started backing me up. Then, the next day, some account claiming to get the real truth out posted a video.
It showed my teachers, classmates, friends, even neighbors, all tearing me apart. “Samantha James is lying. Her mother didn’t pay her debts, so the people who came to collect destroyed her stall and hurt her. Now she’s trying to frame the Graham Family.”
“They’re one of the wealthiest and most generous families in Javelin. What’s she trying to pull?”
Soon, the paid accounts flooded in, spreading more lies.
[Seriously, how is an orphan and widow running a successful fish stall? There’s gotta be more to the story.]
[You can’t always blame others. Maybe the call is coming from inside the house.]
[Good thing people can see through her nonsense.]
The Graham Family had the money and connections to pay people to spread lies. Then my video got flagged as inappropriate, and a few days later, my account was shut down.
It felt like I was sinking into ice-cold water. Was this really happening? Was there really no way to fight back?
But then, the doctor called to tell me my mom was out of danger and had been moved to a regular room.
I held her weak, frail hand and cried, relieved. But when I looked at her, wrapped in bandages, all I could feel was rage toward Tyler and his son.
