Summary:
In Chapter 11, Marguerite and Bailey were living in St. Louis with their mother and her boyfriend, Mr. Freeman. Vivian, their mother, and Mr. Freeman both worked. However, their schedules didn't match up so at times, Marguerite and Bailey would have to stay home with Mr. Freeman while their mother worked. At this time, Marguerite and Bailey were both having a hard time coping with everything that they had been through, as a result, Marguerite had nightmares and Bailey stuttered. Marguerite's nightmares got so bad one night that her mother told her to go sleep with her and Mr. Freeman. This went on for a couple of nights. One morning, Vivian got up and left, leaving Marguerite alone in bed with Mr. Freeman. Marguerite woke up to a pressure on her leg. It wasn't Mr. Freeman's arm, or leg, it was his "thing." Mr. Freeman made Marguerite touch his "thing" then he pulled her on top of his chest as he finished masturbating. Once he was done, he held her close to his chest, and she felt loved. Then, he got up, changed the sheets and told her that they had to talk. He explained to her that she couldn't tell anyone what they had done or that he would have to kill Bailey. Confused, Marguerite promised not to tell anyone. For weeks, Mr. Freeman completely ignored Marguerite, making her feel very lonely. One day, she felt so lonely that she went to sit on Mr. Freeman's lap, hoping that she would feel loved again. Once again, he molested her and ignored her for weeks. After that, Marguerite decided to spend her time at the library and she no longer felt lonely.
Response:
This chapter made me sick to my stomach because these events were real. Not only that, but people like that still exist to this day. Mr. Freeman took advantage that one, Vivian was gone and two, Marguerite was a vulnerable, defenseless little girl. Marguerite and Vivian both trusted him. Mr. Freeman was aware that Marguerite had never had a father figure in her life and that she had never had affection from anyone. He also knew how much she loved Bailey, because Bailey was all she had, he used her love for Bailey as a way of blackmail. Mr. Freeman had this all planned out. He knew exactly what to do and say to make sure that Marguerite would never tell anyone. I think that child sexual abuse is something that will always and has always been around because it is so easy to convince a child not to say anything or that what is being done to them is normal. This chapter stuck with me the most because it is something that we still see in our world today and that's just sad.
That chapter made me feel ill as well. It's just disgusting to know that this event happened in some context and that it's happening all over to others as well. It's just all really despicable; the abuse, the manipulation, the trauma left behind for the victim to deal with.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I feel like Mr. Freeman got what was coming to him. Even if he did end up being convicted and going to jail, hurting a child is the one thing people in prisons don't put up with. He'd have died either way.