Bring him home ?

Alright y'all. Now I don't know about you, but we Southern Okies , well we pretty much all of us have that " one " relative. You know , the ner'do'well who just try as they might couldn't keep from interacting with the state penal system.  In my family growin' up we had two. On Mama's side we had sweet little  Aunt Juanita  who just couldn't seem to keep her hands out of other peoples checking accounts. Then, on Daddy's side , there was dear ole cousin Jim Bob, who discovered the wonders of drugs in the late 70's, the end result of which was him robbing and shooting a man who owned a liquor store . He got back out a few times, but much like Aunt Juanita just kept going right back. And you love 'em cause they're family, but you also know their nature , so you don't doubt their guilt. Instead you just grow acustomed to visitors days at the women's correctional facilities , or in Jim-Bob's case , you write lots and lots of letters. Truth be told, I only ever met Aunt Juanita about 3 times in my life, as for Jim-Bob , I have never met him in person, but we have written for over 10 years. Because of this , courts , and prisons and sentances only became "real" for me , a little over three years ago. Prior to that , although i had incarcerated loved ones, in my mind , it was something you watched on " Law and Order" , not something that happened in real life .

Now I'm gonna give you a little back-story , before I go on . You see, after my parents got divorced , during my teenage years , for a number of reasons, most of which could not be helped, it was not always possible for me to live with my family of Origin. Because of this I gained several other wonderful families who took me in , and also participated in my raising . I got a whole mess of awesome siblings this way ( which was great since my bio Brother lived in another state and was 11 years older than me , and my bio sister went bat-shit crazy ) last time I counted around 15 or so . Thanks to this I now had big brothers and sisters, and little brothers and sisters , it was and remains great ! We are all still in contact ! I would like to take a minute to introduce you to one of my brothers . I  will call him Tom Robinson , and in a few minutes , so will you .

Tom started his life as a scrawny , sweet, lovable little flute-playing closeted kid in a VERY rural school district , where he was bullied near constantly . His dream was to one day create a place where kids like him could go and be safe , and be themselves without fear. It would take him years to accomplish his goal, and a lot of hard work . But he did it . He created the place he had dreamed , and was doing the work  he was meant to do . Then one night everything changed .  One night Tom found himself  cornered by an unwelcome advance , which turned into attempted rape. The other guy was easily a foot taller and 100 pounds heavier than Tom and Tom was terrified . He managed to get away by the skin of his teeth, and like so many other victims , did not report it for fear of not being taken seriously . You see, here in America,we have a nasty tendancy to blame the victim in male on female rape, her clothes provoked him, she was drunk etc. But most people, and especially law-makers and law enforcement don't even recognize the fact that rape can take place between a man and a man , or a woman and a woman just as easily.  In the particulair jurisdiction where this took place, Tom knew he had a snowball's chance in hell of having ANYONE listen to him, let alone do anything about it. So he did what most victims do , he went home, cried, tried to put the pieces back together and go on with his life.   Then the next day , before he knew what hit him , the police were breaking down his door and dragging him away from his family in handcuffs.

Eventually we were able to put the pieces together. It turns out his attempted rapist was 15 , and having not gotten his way , had decided to go down to the police department and tell a VERY different story about the events that took place. What followed after that was Tom , in jail . My precious Tom, behind bars , the victim being punished for a crime he didn't commit. Bail was set ridiculously high , and while he had a competent attorney , there was little she could do against a crooked small town judicial system. In the months that followed , as he made it through appeal after appeal and docket after docket , more and more came to light about 'Burris" his accuser , including multiple stints in the local mental hospital, sociopathic tendancies, and a history of having done something similar at least three other times previously to his interaction with Tom.  Now in a perfect world , this new information would vindicate Tom, and send Burris to a state Juvenile offenders home . Instead, Burris was never reprimanded at all, and while the 'authorities' did drop some of the charges ,they were sure not to drop so many that they couldn't still 'stick it to 'em" .


Not long after that , Tom was offered a 'deal' , a 'plea bargain' , if he would plead guilty to the lesser charge , they would commute his sentence to where it would be mostly house arrest and probation , with only 6 months or so spent in a minimum security facility . His lawyer counseled him that this was the best he could hope for , and to take it. So he did. And within that polluted and predjudiced system , it probably was " the best he could hope for " , But that didn't make it right. It didn't help matters at all that during this ordeal , a significant portion of the gay community , both local and abroad , had turned their backs on him. In order to distance themselves from him they threw him to the wolves. By the time he was released to house arrest , there were few indeed who would still call him friend . Then the time came and he was taken to the minimum security prison. True to form, Tom kept his spirits up and did his best not to allow the circumstances to dampen his spirit , or put out the beautiful light within him, and I am sure there were days when that was very hard indeed. For me these months were fraught with prayer and worry that the others would pick on him , or hurt him. Fervent prayers for his safety and safe return punctuated my days and letter writing filled my nights. Those were some of the slowest months of my life, and i'm sure they were even slower for him.

"God on high, hear my prayer. In my need , you have always been there. . . "

After months of family prayer , worrying with every spare minute I had, and breaking into tears whenever I heard " Bring him home " from Les Miserables . The day finally arrived when it was indeed time to bring him home . I wept for joy when I heard ! After all this time ! Finally ! It was like Seeing a real - life Jean valjean walking away from the quarry . He is coming home ! Bring him home ! My heart was in my throat , and it was all I could do to make myself wait a bit to go run up there and hold him . I had to tell myself , " It's a long trip from there to there, they will be tired. Give them time ", "Give him space, and time to get used to being on the outside again " Then , as I was in the midst of all this pining here in Mayberry , I had my socks knocked right off unexpectedly.

Less than 24 hours after my precious Tom was liberated, I saw his name and face plastered on facebook, by none other than a member of the gay community there . Along with the rest of the bad news, that he was now a registered sex offender and would have to find a new place to live asap , because he is no longer allowed to share a residence with his elementary school aged niece whom he has helped raise since infancy. The fact that this thing listed his name , address EVERYTHING scared the shit out of me .  Now all the people who didn't know he was innocent , all the ignorant and hateful people , would know where he lived. They could find him , they might hurt him. For the first time ever , I became worried about what kind of world and home we were bringing him home to. What kind of peace would he have ? How would he earn a living ? Most importantly , what kind of a world do we live in where the victim can be incarcerated for a crime he didn't commit , while the attempted rapist roams free ? And he will try again, and eventually he will succeed . Will Tom be exonerated then ? Or will the damage have already been done ? Is the damage already done ?

I know what your thinking . Your thinking I am delusional and I have just " bought his story " hook, line and sinker , aren't you ?  Well let me tell you something , I KNOW THIS MAN .  I have known him for 20 years. I know his character , and i believe him. Because I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that he is inncocent . Because i have seen inside this man, and greed and evil are not there. He is my mockingbird, my Jiminy Cricket. and I love him. Our judicial system is not perfect, nor is it without prejudice. If you don't believe me , go check out the Southern Proverty Law Centers website , they have exonerated countless people from death row who were convicted by predjudiced jury's , with falsafied evidence . This crap does happen in real life , and now I have seen it .

For now , I ask that you keep he and his family in your prayers . Pray for their peace and their safety . Pray that somehow the rest of the world will be able to see what i know already, Pray that someday, my mockingbird will be truly free again, and that the time he has lost will be given back to him in abundance !

As for Burris. God will deal with him in a way that's perfectly fitting in his own good time , of that I have no doubt !

Thank you for bearing with me . I promise the next one will be funnier :-) or at least less serious .