Anna's Justice Journey

The most difficult thing in the world is to be a woman.

I've always thought that. If you're born a woman, then you are doomed to live with fear, pressure, and shame every day of your life. You will be judged for what you wear, or how you act or even the way you look, and those judgements will determine how people treat you. Women are not allowed to make mistakes: if they do, they will be punished more than men, because everyone makes mistakes but women's mistakes are supposed to be more serious than men's mistakes. Like the ultimate mistake would be getting pregnant before marriage. Oh boy, then you really can consider yourself messed up forever.

I know I'm going to disappoint my mother now that I'm moving away from home because I met this guy who lives in Palermo, and he asked me if I wanted to move in with him. My mother has been nagging me about finding a job and working hard so I could have money for rent on my own and no longer have to rely on her for support when she's had a hard day at work. But I just don't want to do it anymore. It's not me; it's never been me! Paying taxes? Working for a company that treats its workers like slaves? Working for someone else so one day I could retire? Forget it all! Why should I care about all that? What use is money if you don't have time to enjoy it? What use is having money if you're constantly stressed out about paying bills or having enough money to buy food? Or if you can't afford medical services when you need them? No, no thank you!

And so, now I'm moving in with this guy who calls himself "the artist." He says he doesn't want to work either, and he claims he has enough money so we'll live there together, and we won't have to worry about anything anymore! That's what he promised me, so why shouldn't I believe him? Maybe he's involved in some illegal activities to maintain the lifestyle, but whatever the case may be, we'll end up being partners anyway and supporting each other! Who cares?! We're young! We have our whole lives ahead of us!

"Anna?" Her mother called from downstairs. "Do you want breakfast?"

"No thanks, mom, I'm not hungry." Anna replied as she threw her last few clothes into boxes to fit them into her suitcase later on. She then heard her mother start crying again upstairs before she came into Anna's room carrying a small bag filled with sandwiches wrapped in plastic bags and some fruit in little baskets.

"Here." Her mother said while handing her the bag.

"Mom..." Anna sighed exasperatedly as she took the bag from her hands and placed it on top of one of the empty boxes laying around on the floor in her room.

"What?" Her mother said as tears began running down her cheeks again. "You don't even give me a chance anymore." She whimpered pathetically before turning around and walking back towards the door where she leaned against it with both hands after closing it behind herself softly.

Anna felt tears welling up inside her eyes too and forced herself to swallow hard before sobbing loudly. She knew she was being unfair toward her mother, but she couldn't help it: she just didn't feel like dealing with any of this right now! She only wanted to move away from here and find somebody who would take care of all her problems without making her work hard at it while still treating her poorly along the way! She wanted someone who would accept all the mistakes she made without judging them more harshly than they deserved just because they were made by a woman instead of by a man! And that somebody was obviously not going to be her mother!

The front door opened and closed quietly downstairs, after which Anna heard her father say quietly: "She left already?" He walked past his daughter's bedroom door carrying his own suitcase as well as one packed with clothes for Anna, which apparently she had forgotten at home last time she went on vacation with his parents down south. Once he reached the front door, he turned around just before leaving through it again, looked sadly at his daughter sitting on top of some boxes sobbing violently, then went downstairs once more. There, he found his wife crying loudly into another box, holding onto whatever was still left of their child while trying to stop herself from falling apart completely. It broke their hearts knowing they would miss out on witnessing many of their daughter's achievements and even potentially not meeting their grandchildren, especially if they ended up having an unsupportive son-in-law.