Legal Murder

chapter:14

The division of the crowd outside of the convention center was somewhat uniform. Pro-Choice activists waved around the slogan 'it's a woman's right to choose' on their cardboard banners. Pro-Life supporters marched back and forth on the opposite side of the sidewalk carrying painted signs with the word 'abortion' crossed out on it. There were a few others who either looked forced to be there, undecided, or downright angry like there was about to be a full-fledged blood bath in the street.

Maybe there would be.

"Of all the times to have a protest, why eight 'o clock in the morning on a weekday?" Dixie's eyes traveled around the crowd, and she thought about Mr. Ellis and the rest of her class back at school. If only they could see this. All these people. All these opinions.

As Mr. Simmons parked the Fiat near a coffee shop a block down the road, Dixie suddenly felt nervous. If Virginia asked her to speak in front of all those protesters, she was positive she wouldn't be able to. The closest thing to public speaking she'd ever done was an oral report about the process of making cotton candy. And that was in the fourth grade.

Wet wind sliced through the air and hit Dixie and her dad head on. They rolled their scarves up to their chins, and met Virginia along the curb as she was hurrying out of her car.

"Come on. The conference should have started eight minutes ago. I wish you would have gotten to the school on time." She threw Dixie's dad a pointed look as she applied red lipstick on her way up the steps. Virginia stopped in front of the large doors. Forgetting Howard's lack of punctuality momentarily, she turned to Dixie and rested her hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry to have rushed you out of first period like that-"

"It's fine, Mrs. Peters," Dixie interrupted, putting on a half-smile, "I want to be here for this."

Virginia nodded. "It's a big day."

"Why?"

"Forty-three years ago, today, Roe vs. Wade was argued. It was pretty much the beginning of all of this." Virginia dropped her arms from Dixie's shoulders and drove her eyes over the chanting crowd. "In 1971, people turned their backs on babies. Sure, people fought. They fought hard. But not hard enough."

Dixie bit the top of her lip and stared back at the emotional woman before her. "What happened?"

"A woman named Norma McCorvey wanted an abortion. It was illegal. She claimed it was rape at first, but there was no documentation of that. She turned to the court under the name Roe. It was decided that the Texas law, she had lived in Texas, was infringing the Ninth and Fourteenth Amendments." Virginia kept her eyes glued on the crowds of people, as if reciting something she saw in each of them, "Wade lost. Roe won."

The finality in her voice sent a chill up Dixie's spine.

Mr. Simmons was staring at Virginia as if seeing her for the first time.

When words no longer seemed useful, Virginia turned on her heel and pushed open the doors to the convention center. It was then that the crowd noticed Mrs. Peters, the soul in charge of stirring up controversy at the Women's Resource and Abortion Crisis Center. Virginia didn't just help women who couldn't support their baby, she made abortion a public issue.

But people had stopped listening to her speeches that usually trailed off into a blur of tears or monotone facts. People were forgetting that talking about problems never solved them.

"I need you to help me out, Dixie." Virginia was saying as she stalked down an aisle of empty theater-style seating that led to a large stage. "I need you to speak for me."

Those words were exactly what Dixie had been hoping and dreading to hear.

A loud banging noise prevented her from any kind of argument with Mrs. Peters. People from all different walks and races of life pushed into the convention center. It was like a parade, only a sad one. They waved flags not out of celebration, but out of courage, anger, and hope.