Theo the Street Kid and the Extraordinary Competition

Chapter 7 - No Justice For Street Kids

As they burst into the open air, they noticed it had stopped raining.
It was early morning and the sun was just breaking out through the horizon.
As they made their way back to their shacks, Wolfie asked, "What happened?"
 Theo told her about Mr. Joob's attempted anal rape.
"You OK?" she asked, looking very concerned.
"Yeah," said Theo. "I think. Thanks to you."
It was Wolfie's kick to Mr. Joob's head that had knocked him unconscious.
"You would do same for me," said Wolfie.
Sexual assaults on children were quite common in the Kingdom, but it was the first time Theo had experienced it.
He felt ashamed.
He regretted going to Compassion NGO. There was no compassion there.
He also knew he couldn't get something for nothing.
There was no such thing as a free lunch.
He should have known.
He felt he had brought it on himself.
He knew that the laws of the jungle applied not just to animals out in the wild, but equally to humans as well.
Everyone tried to take advantage of everyone else.
That was just how it was, especially in a poor developing nation like the Kingdom of Egalisia.
He tried to banish the incident with Mr. Joob from his mind. He had never felt so defiled in his life before. It had happened so suddenly. It had been so traumatic.
If he weren't already so battle-hardened and toughened up, he would be scarred mentally or suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
But if he became traumatized by every terrible incident that had happened to him in the past few years, then he wouldn't be able to function at all.
Trying to forget about the attempted anal rape, he told Wolfie about the whistle had done. Then, he told her about the figure in the white hood who had appeared and disappeared quickly.
Wolfie looked incredulous. "Wow, really?"
"Yeah," said Theo.
He inspected the whistle carefully.
He had a newfound respect for it now.
How did it work?
Since it was his most precious possession, he had never blown on it before. Maybe he should try it and see what would happen.
He blew on it.
It made a shrill whistling sound.
He waited.
Nothing happened.
He was disappointed.
He was still thinking about the glowing whistle and the figure in the white hood when he spotted a police officer by the side of the road.
Maybe I should file a complaint against Compassion NGO, he thought. Surely other young people had been victims of Mr. Joob.
Theo approached the cop. "I want to file a complaint."
The police officer put up one hand. "You know the rules. My salary is so low that I need some tea money if you want me to listen. I have a wife and 3 kids to support. They ain't cheap, ya know."
"How much?" asked Theo.
"$3," replied the cop.
"But that's all I have," protested the young man.
"Then I guess I can't help you," said the cop.
Theo sighed and forked over the money.
Then, he told the police officer that Mr. Joob at Compassion NGO had tried to rape him.
The police officer raised an eyebrow. "Mr. Joob at the Compassion NGO? He would never do something like that. He is a very nice man."
Theo tried to protest, but the police officer raised his voice at him. "Don't you dare speak ill of Mr. Joob! He is a kind old man who just wants to help the children."
Theo started to speak, but the officer interrupted.
Shaking his head, the cop continued, "I won't listen to you slander kind old Mr. Joob. I have to go now."
"Wait! At least gimme my money back!" cried Theo.
But the cop walked on. "The $3 only paid for me to listen to you. If you want me to investigate, you have to pay me $100. Mr. Joob pays me $50, so you need to pay me at least twice as much."
Theo felt weak. "$100? But $3 is all I have left! It's my entire life savings!"
"Then too bad," said the police officer and then walked on without looking back.
Theo was left in such a state of shock and panic that he didn't know what to do.
He couldn't believe what was happening.
First, his body had been violated and now his dignity had been too.
There was no justice in his country.
Theo was reminded of one unfair fact of life in the Kingdom of Egalisia.
Police officers wouldn't help you unless you had money.
Theo should have known that reporting Mr. Joob to the police would be pointless.
The cop just admitted that Mr. Joob had the police on his payroll.
That was why the director had been able to escape justice for so long.
The wealthy had impunity in the developing Kingdom of Egalisia. Money could buy your way out of almost any sticky situation. That was just the way things were.
It made Theo boiling mad to think about how Mr. Joob wouldn't face any consequences.
It was so unfair how society was set up.
He wished there was a way to change it, to even out the playing field so that everyone would be treated equally and fairly before the law.
As the police officer entered the police car, Theo considered running after him and demanding his money back, but he knew it would be pointless. For one thing, the police officer had a gun and he didn't.
Wolfie, who had been watching the scene the entire time, put one hand on Theo's shoulder. "Come on. Let's just go home."
Exploding with anger, Theo wanted to confront the police officer, but he knew that would get him nothing but a one-way ticket to jail.
He knew he should count his blessings.
He and Wolfie had been lucky to get out of Compassion NGO alive as it was.
He had no money now, but at least he still had his shack.
But when they arrived back at Wasted Tears, he discovered, to his absolutely horror, that he didn't even have that anymore.