Social Injustice and the Rise of Capitalism Essay Example

Social Injustice and the Rise of Capitalism Essay Ryan Glover 4/15/2010 Social Justice and Diversity Final Research Paper If you ask a lot of people to define  social  justice  you’re going to get many different definitions. Personal experiences and individual views on society play a major role in our interpretation of social justice issues. A person’s take on a particular issue may vary but the overall idea of social justice stays the same. Social justice is concerned with equal rights, in all aspects of society. The poorest to the wealthiest people in the world should all have equal opportunities. What they make of the opportunities given is a completely different story, but they still need to be readily available. Education and healthcare are just two examples of services that we as people should all have equal access to. Race, class, gender, religion, socio-economic status, sexual orientation and geography should never be a reason why a person’s human rights are violated nor be a reason for advantage gain or an increase in opportunity availability. Rather than dealing with one of the more obvious social justice issues like injustices in the education system or lack of healthcare in low income neighborhoods, I am going to be discussing a social injustice that has plagued our society from the time of slavery, throughout the industrial revolution, all the way up until now. Not only is it a major part of US history that goes unnoticed, its influences on society, specifically African American communities are still visible today. We will write a custom essay sample on Social Injustice and the Rise of Capitalism specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Social Injustice and the Rise of Capitalism specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Social Injustice and the Rise of Capitalism specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Black labor exploitation has been prevalent in our society since the beginning of slavery and is ultimately the backbone of capitalism and the United States economy. Throughout the history of capitalism, there has always been some form of black labor exploitation that has enabled the white man to make gains by violating the human rights of others. Without the exploitation of black people, capitalism and the United States economy would not be what it is today. Just as black labor exploitation helped shaped the United States economy, it also helped to shape black gender roles, stereotypes, elationships between black men and women, and also relationships between blacks and whites. The origins of black labor exploitation in the United States of America started with colonial slavery during the seventeenth century. Africans were taken from their homeland and brought to the â€Å"New World† to work as free laborers on plantations for white owners. The slavery taking place in the â₠¬Å"New World† was minute compared to the slavery-taking place in the Caribbean but for the purpose of this paper I am strictly going to speak about slavery in the continental US. Slavery was the ultimate violation of human rights. Not only were African slaves exploited for labor, they were sexually exploited, physically, mentally and emotionally abused and had absolutely no control over any aspect of their lives. Never mind worrying about education and healthcare, they had to worry about when their next meal would come as well as being beaten or even killed by their master. In the late eighteenth century the bill of rights were passed. None of the amendments in the original bill of rights included slaves, so according to the government, by law slaves had no rights. It wasn’t until the mid nineteenth century where slaves were freed on the accord of the emancipation proclamation. The thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth amendments were passed giving African Americans equal rights across the board in the eye of the law. White slavery enthusiast did not take this lightly and still did everything in their will power to exploit African American for labor purposes and continued to violate their human rights. Following the abolishment of slavery sharecropping jobs were the only jobs made available to black men as a result of the white man’s fear of job competition. White men were fearful that black men who were once slaves would take their jobs, and they would not be able to efficiently provide for their families. There were no benefits in working in sharecropping and no wages to be earned. The job would almost always lead to an ample amount of debt. Domestic service jobs were the only jobs available to black women, because white women would not take them. Because of the dynamics of the job market for blacks at this time, the women had to be the breadwinners. What whites thought to be the standard gender roles in regards to work could no longer be held in black households because the female was out working long hours and earning wages to take care of her family while the male stayed at home to take care of the house and kids. Gender norms underwent a shift in the black communities. Black men â€Å"wanted black women to conform to the gender norms set by white society. They wanted to be recognized as men, as patriarchs, by other men, including white men. Yet they could not assume the position if black women were not willing to conform to prevailing sexist gender norms. †Ã‚   Black women could not conform to gender norms because of white supremacist capitalist patriarchy’s refusal to allow black men access to employment. You can still see traces of this in black communities today with the mother being the head of the household. Black labor exploitation had a number of effects on the black community. During the civil rights era, black genders roles began to look more like white gender roles. Initially the black men were ok with their â€Å"unconventional† gender roles created by white society. Whites begin to critique black family structure and begin to question the black man’s masculinity. â€Å"White social critics looking at black life have continually emphasized the notion that black men were symbolically castrated because black women were often the primary breadwinners. †(P. 9) this takes a toll on the black man and he begins to become very self-conscious about his masculinity. As a result of this many black men go to fight in the military as a way to regain their patriarchal status. The exploitation of black labor effected black men involvement in the military. It was purposely done this way by whites. During the civil rights era â€Å"black men declared that they were connected to white men, brothers under the skin, bound by masculinity, by a shared allegiance to patriarchy. †(P14) With the civil rights movement black men began to become obsessed with the idea of patriarchal masculinity. It was at this point where black men started to move the blame from white men to black women. Here is where black gender roles began to look more like white gender roles. Prior to WWI whites always had a fear of competition with black workers and blacks gaining political power. During World War I, many white American men went off to fight in the war leaving a large opening in the industrial job market for black men. Black men began moving to the north and working in factories for low wages. Black men now had the ability to earn wages and become the breadwinners. In Harold Baron’s  Demand for Black Labor, â€Å"this new demand for black workers was set in motion three key developments: first, the dispersion of black people out of the South into Northern urban centers; second, the formation of a distinct black proletariat in the urban centers at the very heart of the corporate-capitalist process of production; third, the break up tenancy agriculture in the south. †Ã‚   The black proletariat class spoke about in this quote had access to patriarchal masculinity that no blacks before them had access to. They finally had the ability and resources to partake in the patriarchal masculinity that white men had been accustomed to since the beginning of America’s existence. At these factory jobs the black workers had no say in what was going on and could not complain about the horrendous conditions they were working in. Even after they had made some progress in reference to labor and jobs, they were still being exploited. I read about a concept call the â€Å"psychological wage† which is what I have come to understand as the psychological satisfaction provided by the owning class to white workers that enables this owning class to pay low wages. To white workers the psychological wage was more important to than the actual monetary wage because to them blacks being inferior and not being able to compete with them was a lot more important than the actual monetary wages they were earning. They would rather take a pay cut than work with someone black. The fear the white working class had of job competition with blacks, helped shape a number of black stereotypes such as the black male rapist and promiscuous black women. After slavery was abolished as a result of fear of job competition and blacks development of political power, white men began lynching black men. To disguise the real reason why they were lynching these men, white men used the excuse that black men were uncontrollable sexual deviants who were going around raping white women. On the other hand white men were going around raping black women just as they did during slavery. Black women tried to complain but the myth of black women being promiscuous enabled these rapes to be swept under the rug. The white man’s justification for raping black women was, how could someone be raped if all they do is want to have sex all the time? It was not considered rape because it was said that the black women wanted t. Black women who worked in domestics were subject to sexual harassment and rape by the males of the white families they were working for. You can see how the labor exploitation of black people led to a number stereotypes and misconceptions produced by white southerners. Some of these stereotypes are still prevalent in today’s society and black people are looked down up on because of them. Deindustrialization started occurring around the 1950’s and it left black men jobless, and again taking away the ability to participate in patriarchal masculinity. Exploitation of black labor has been the backbone of American capitalism and our economy since the beginning of the countries existence and now all of a sudden black labor is no longer needed. Factories were closing down and you begin to see the development of the urban crisis. With the development of the urban crisis, the unemployment rate being sky high and Ronald Regan coming into office, the conditions in which black people lived were only getting worse and social injustices becoming stronger. In Jeff Chang’s Cant Stop Wont Stop: A History of the Hip-Hop Generation  it stated, â€Å"Regan’s recession had bloated unemployment levels to the highest since the Great Depression-30 million searching for work. The official black unemployment rate hit 22 percent. Poverty rates were soaring to† (Chang 177). â€Å"It was much worse for young people. One estimate was that only 1 in 5 New York City teens had a job, only 1 in 10 African Americans, the lowest ratios of youth employment in the country† (Chang 178). The only light shinning from the darkness Regan and deindustrialization created was the development of hip-hop. The developments of hip hop in the late 1970’s to early 1980’s led to young black men having taken on a new identity. Black men now had a means to express themselves and the ability to earn money for something they enjoyed doing. It started off with graffiti, break dancing and DJ’s and as a result of the multiplier affects it spread to a number of different industries. Young black men found a way to assert themselves into their communities and in society on their own terms. The bigger hip-hop became, the more money they earned, and the more confident black men found themselves. As they began to earn money, they were once again able to have access to patriarchal  norms. Finally we begin to see something good come from the exploitation of black labor or lack there of. Since the arrival of the first slaves to America, black labor has been an essential key to capitalism and the development of the United States economy we see it today. Black exploitation is a major part of capitalism, and throughout history the exploitation of black workers took a number of different shapes. It started out with free labor during slavery, went to sharecropping jobs and domestic service jobs following the abolishment of slavery, black men being misled into fighting wars, black men being used to keep wages low, and even the working conditions blacks they had to deal with in industrial factories. It is sad that this is what it took for capitalist development to take place in the United States. This is a huge social injustice that has been going on for a very long time and will continue to go on unless we bring light to the history. The injustices black faced with regard to their involvement in capitalist development in the United States needs to be taught in all schools because this is a topic that sometimes goes untouched.

Free Essays on Families in Corporate America

Since the 1950’s and 60’s, America has lost the true meaning of families. Less time is spent with our youth in order to keep ahead in the fast paced corporate America. When is the last time you can honestly say you have had a family dinner where everyone was present. Employers expect their employees to put their jobs first and families second. Many corporations are decreasing the size of their workforces, and increasing the workloads of their employees. Because of these high demands placed upon employees, families are in more trouble than ever. It has also caused employees to lose respect and loyalty to their long time employers. Before the 1990’s, it was commonplace to find employees who retired with the same company that they had originally started with forty or fifty years ago. Now, it is almost impossible to keep an employee for more than a couple years. How as a society can we change the decline of family values and employee/employer loyalty? To start, the government has created several new policies and regulations that give more rights to both parties. On August 5, 1993, The Family and Medical Leave Act was passed in order to end conflicts between employees and their employers. The FMLA states the rights of employees and their employers with specific guidelines that must be followed by both parties. Besides the FMLA, several other policies and regulations were revised in order to solve relations between employees and employers. Even though these policies are present, employers can still discriminate or get around them. The main problem with these policies is that they are too broad to provide any protection. Except for a few states with break laws, employees can be made to work as much as 72 hours a week. According to Ethan A. Winning, an employer advocate for over two decades states â€Å"When all is said and done, employees have considerable rights in the workplace, dependent to some extent on the existence or la... Free Essays on Families in Corporate America Free Essays on Families in Corporate America Since the 1950’s and 60’s, America has lost the true meaning of families. Less time is spent with our youth in order to keep ahead in the fast paced corporate America. When is the last time you can honestly say you have had a family dinner where everyone was present. Employers expect their employees to put their jobs first and families second. Many corporations are decreasing the size of their workforces, and increasing the workloads of their employees. Because of these high demands placed upon employees, families are in more trouble than ever. It has also caused employees to lose respect and loyalty to their long time employers. Before the 1990’s, it was commonplace to find employees who retired with the same company that they had originally started with forty or fifty years ago. Now, it is almost impossible to keep an employee for more than a couple years. How as a society can we change the decline of family values and employee/employer loyalty? To start, the government has created several new policies and regulations that give more rights to both parties. On August 5, 1993, The Family and Medical Leave Act was passed in order to end conflicts between employees and their employers. The FMLA states the rights of employees and their employers with specific guidelines that must be followed by both parties. Besides the FMLA, several other policies and regulations were revised in order to solve relations between employees and employers. Even though these policies are present, employers can still discriminate or get around them. The main problem with these policies is that they are too broad to provide any protection. Except for a few states with break laws, employees can be made to work as much as 72 hours a week. According to Ethan A. Winning, an employer advocate for over two decades states â€Å"When all is said and done, employees have considerable rights in the workplace, dependent to some extent on the existence or la...

MCAT Scoring 101

MCAT Scoring 101 MCAT Score Frequently Asked Questions    MCAT scoring information will no doubt have you lying awake at night, worried that you may have missed something. Sometimes, you can get so worried about your score, that it prohibits you from doing your absolute best on the exam itself. Lets not go there, shall we? Heres MCAT Scoring 101. This article contains details about how your MCAT score works, so you dont divert any of those very important brain cells toward needless fretfulness. Trust me, youll have enough to worry about when it comes time to prepare for this bad boy! MCAT Scoring Basics When you get your MCAT score report back, youll see scores for the four multiple choice sections:  Biological and Biochemical Foundations of Living Systems,  Chemical and Physical Foundations of Biological Systems,  Psychological, Social, and Biological Foundations of Behavior, and  Critical Analysis and Reasoning Skills  (CARS).  Ã‚   MCAT Score Report When you get your score report back, youll see your percentile ranks, confidence bands and score profiles. The percentile rank is merely how well youve done in comparison to others whove taken your exam. Youll see percentile ranks for every one of the four sections and your overall score. The confidence bands are visual clues to show the approximate area where your score lies, since the scores from the MCAT will never be perfectly precise (statistics rarely are). The confidence bands help discourage distinctions between test-takers with really similar scores. The score profiles show your weaknesses and strengths across all four sections.   MCAT Scoring Numbers Each one of the four sections can earn you between a 118 and a 132, making your highest possible cumulative score a 528 since the cumulative score is the sum of the four sections instead of an average. At press time, the national MCAT score average was a 500.   MCAT Raw to Scaled Scoring Your scores are based on the number of questions you answer correctly, but since you realize that you will be answering more than 15 questions per section, there is some score scaling involed. You are not penalized for incorrect or incomplete answers; only your accurate answers are counted.  The scaling system is not a constant thing, either, in order to account for different questions on different exams. A new raw to scaled score table is defined for each MCAT administration to provide for variances in testing questions. MCAT Scoring Retrieval So, how do you get your score report? In order to retrieve your MCAT scores, youll need to use the MCAT Testing History (THx) System on the AAMC website and will have to have an AAMC login user name and password. The THx is the online score release site that you use to view your scores and send them to different application services/schools. Your scores will be available about 30 – 35 days after you test, so keep that in mind when you register if youre pushing your application deadline! Current MCAT Score Release Dates Sending Your MCAT Scores Once you access your score report after logging in, click the link that reads â€Å"send all my scores.† On the next screen, you can scroll through different application services and schools to which youd like to submit your scores. Click the recipients youd like and then scroll to the bottom of the screen and hit Submit to send your scores. Since AAMC has a full disclosure policy, you may not send select scores to schools. If you choose to send, youll be sending every one of your MCAT scores from each test administration if youve tested more than once. More MCAT Scoring Information So, now you know the basics! If youd like more answers to all of your MCAT scoring questions, then take a peek at these MCAT Score FAQs to find out about things like what good MCAT scores look like based on the top 15 schools, average national MCAT scores, score percentiles and more!

Illicit Networks Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Illicit Networks - Assignment Example The spread of false ideologies that justifies violence is also a common aspect of the anarchist groups. Most of the people who join such groups are usually radicalized which makes them a threat to the government and the society as a whole. The anarchist groups have been responsible for several terrorist attacks in Europe that has led to several deaths. The paper thus discusses a hypothetical anarchists group in relation to a terrorism network operating in Western Europe. There are several transnational terrorism groups that have been targeting Western Europe and are likely to interact with the network. Al-Qaeda is one of the transnational organizations that are likely to interact with the network. The group has been involved in various terrorist activities and it has been seeking to recruit members from Western Europe to carry out terrorist activities in the region. The group is also interested in carrying out terrorism activities in western Europe since the governments in the region is heavily involved in the fight against terrorism and has killed several members of Al-Qaeda (Cronin, 2012). The group is therefore likely to interact with the network in order to infiltrate Western Europe and carry out terrorist activities in the region. On other hand, it is also important to note that Al-Qaeda is currently weak and associating with the network will give it a boost. Islamic State of Iraq and Levant is a terrorist group operating in Syria and Iraq and it may also interact with the network. The group has about a thousand members from Western Europe in its rank fighting in Syria and Iraq (Laub & Masters, 2014). The group is a transnational terrorist organization that has always expressed interest in carrying out its terrorist activities in Western Europe. The group is therefore likely to interact with the network for the purposes of recruiting members from Western Europe as well as plan and execute its terrorist activities in

How I will lead groups to become great teams Essay

How I will lead groups to become great teams - Essay Example As a member of the Large Learning Group, I noticed various issues that emerged in the process of our interaction and learning. To begin with there were various psychodynamic characteristics that emerged among the group members which are pertinent to any person with the ambition to lead and make decisions on large groups or team. The first lesson I learnt from the Large Learning Group is that it is pertinent for any group to define roles among the members. I will apply this strategy in my leadership program. I will begin by allocating roles to each member of the group; a process which will begin by identifying my roles and ultimately the roles of others. Allocation of roles is pertinent due to the fact that it allows the group members to focus on their specific duties and have a sense of direction. This process will be guided through proper communication and motivations as well as supervision in order to ensure that members follow direction and are enthusiastic in performing their duties. Proper communication also encompasses taking feedbacks from the group members in order to determine the challenges faced as they perform their duties and the development of solutions. Secondly, I also learned a common feature that existed between the Large Learning Group and the Peer Learning Group; the confirmation of authority. It is very crucial for any person aspiring to be a successful leader to be in a position to confirm his/her authority that is, it is imperative to determine and confirm your duties and responsibilities as well as the duties and the responsibilities of others. This step is arrived at by making agreements among the group members on each person’s responsibility as it will ensure that there are proper intra-group relationships and a harmonious flow of actions. As a leader, I am going to apply this strategy to ensure that the possibility of occurrence of conflicts is reduced and that

Civil Order For Sports Organizations :: essays research papers

Pro Case Public Forum Everyone knows that there is violence in sports. The question is what is being down about it? An even more important question is who should be responsible for maintain civil order? Today’s public forum topic addresses this problem. Resolve: PROFESSIONAL SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR MAINTAINING CIVIL ORDER. Due to the numerous sports organizations that might be called professional for various reasons, we are defining â€Å"professional sports organizations† as the team for the corporations for athletes who are paid to participate in sports organizations such as: Colorado Avalanche Organizations, Denver Nuggets Organizations, and Colorado Rookies Organizations. We agree with today’s resolution. In the words of Kevin Quinn from his book, â€Å"Violence is craved by the America’s entertainment industry and the same goes for Americas sports industry.† This is a one problem in society. Another problem stated by Don Allen sports directory for ABC News Channel, â€Å"The entire arena erupts with cheering when there are fights, Even if the team is losing, the fans still get excited when they see two players pummeling each other.† He further explained that, â€Å"In hockey, there are players whose specific purpose is to be the reams â€Å"enforcer† or as some call them, â€Å"goons.† Referees will even allow players to fight for a few minuets without the intervening. After the fight, the players simply receive a five-minuet penalty, after which they can return to the ice. Rarely are players ejected and often they go to the penalty box with blood gushing form their face.† Now that we have established the problems, here are possible ways to find solutions. First, the corporate owners of these sports franchises need to exercise more control. As an owners job to keep the employees under his rule in line, in this case the employees are the arenas staff, and the players. The various professional teams owners should not wait for consequence fir violent actions by the athletes to come from their sports commissioner or from law enforcement. These organizations must reward positive good behavior and must penalize inappropriate behavior with zero tolerance. In addition, these organizations should look to their sports commissioner to punish violent athletes with penalties that need to be stricter. Thousands dollar fines, and 3 games suspension are no doing enough. Professional Athletes who are fined, say â€Å"I don’t care if I get fined. I make $3 million. What’s a couple of thousand?† Some athletes don’t even care if they’re suspended for a few games.

Twilight 21. PHONE CALL

21. PHONE CALL I could feel it was too early again when I woke, and I knew I was getting the schedule of my days and nights slowly reversed. I lay in my bed and listened to the quiet voices of Alice and Jasper in the other room. That they were loud enough for me to hear at all was strange. I rolled till my feet touched the floor and then staggered to the living room. The clock on the TV said it was just after two in the morning. Alice and Jasper were sitting together on the sofa, Alice sketching again while Jasper looked over her shoulder. They didn't look up when I entered, too engrossed in Alice's work. I crept to Jasper's side to peek. â€Å"Did she see something more?† I asked him quietly. â€Å"Yes. Something's brought him back to the room with the VCR, but it's light now.† I watched as Alice drew a square room with dark beams across its low ceiling. The walls were paneled in wood, a little too dark, out of date. The floor had a dark carpet with a pattern in it. There was a large window against the south wall, and an opening through the west wall led to the living room. One side of that entrance was stone – a large tan stone fireplace that was open to both rooms. The focus of the room from this perspective, the TV and VCR, balanced on a too-small wooden stand, were in the southwest corner of the room. An aged sectional sofa curved around in front of the TV, a round coffee table in front of it. â€Å"The phone goes there,† I whispered, pointing. Two pairs of eternal eyes stared at me. â€Å"That's my mother's house.† Alice was already off the couch, phone in hand, dialing. I stared at the precise rendering of my mother's family room. Uncharacteristically, Jasper slid closer to me. He lightly touched his hand to my shoulder, and the physical contact seemed to make his calming influence stronger. The panic stayed dull, unfocused. Alice's lips were trembling with the speed of her words, the low buzzing impossible to decipher. I couldn't concentrate. â€Å"Bella,† Alice said. I looked at her numbly. â€Å"Bella, Edward is coming to get you. He and Emmett and Carlisle are going to take you somewhere, to hide you for a while.† â€Å"Edward is coming?† The words were like a life vest, holding my head above the flood. â€Å"Yes, he's catching the first flight out of Seattle. We'll meet him at the airport, and you'll leave with him.† â€Å"But, my mother†¦ he came here for my mother, Alice!† Despite Jasper, the hysteria bubbled up in my voice. â€Å"Jasper and I will stay till she's safe.† â€Å"I can't win, Alice. You can't guard everyone I know forever. Don't you see what he's doing? He's not tracking me at all. He'll find someone, he'll hurt someone I love†¦ Alice, I can't -â€Å" â€Å"We'll catch him, Bella,† she assured me. â€Å"And what if you get hurt, Alice? Do you think that's okay with me? Do you think it's only my human family he can hurt me with?† Alice looked meaningfully at Jasper. A deep, heavy fog of lethargy washed over me, and my eyes closed without my permission. My mind struggled against the fog, realizing what was happening. I forced my eyes open and stood up, stepping away from Jasper's hand. â€Å"I don't want to go back to sleep,† I snapped. I walked to my room and shut the door, slammed it really, so I could be free to go to pieces privately. This time Alice didn't follow me. For three and a half hours I stared at the wall, curled in a ball, rocking. My mind went around in circles, trying to come up with some way out of this nightmare. There was no escape, no reprieve. I could see only one possible end looming darkly in my future. The only question was how many other people would be hurt before I reached it. The only solace, the only hope I had left, was knowing that I would see Edward soon. Maybe, if I could just see his face again, I would also be able to see the solution that eluded me now. When the phone rang, I returned to the front room, a little ashamed of my behavior. I hoped I hadn't offended either of them, that they would know how grateful I was for the sacrifices they were making on my account. Alice was talking as rapidly as ever, but what caught my attention was that, for the first time, Jasper was not in the room. I looked at the clock – it was five-thirty in the morning. â€Å"They're just boarding their plane,† Alice told me. â€Å"They'll land at nine-forty-five.† Just a few more hours to keep breathing till he was here. â€Å"Where's Jasper?† â€Å"He went to check out.† â€Å"You aren't staying here?† â€Å"No, we're relocating closer to your mother's house.† My stomach twisted uneasily at her words. But the phone rang again, distracting me. She looked surprised, but I was already walking forward, reaching hopefully for the phone. â€Å"Hello?† Alice asked. â€Å"No, she's right here.† She held the phone out to me. Your mother, she mouthed. â€Å"Hello?† â€Å"Bella? Bella?† It was my mother's voice, in a familiar tone I had heard a thousand times in my childhood, anytime I'd gotten too close to the edge of the sidewalk or strayed out of her sight in a crowded place. It was the sound of panic. I sighed. I'd been expecting this, though I'd tried to make my message as unalarming as possible without lessening the urgency of it. â€Å"Calm down, Mom,† I said in my most soothing voice, walking slowly away from Alice. I wasn't sure if I could lie as convincingly with her eyes on me. â€Å"Everything is fine, okay? Just give me a minute and I'll explain everything, I promise.† I paused, surprised that she hadn't interrupted me yet. â€Å"Mom?† â€Å"Be very careful not to say anything until I tell you to.† The voice I heard now was as unfamiliar as it was unexpected. It was a man's tenor voice, a very pleasant, generic voice – the kind of voice that you heard in the background of luxury car commercials. He spoke very quickly. â€Å"Now, I don't need to hurt your mother, so please do exactly as I say, and she'll be fine.† He paused for a minute while I listened in mute horror. â€Å"That's very good,† he congratulated. â€Å"Now repeat after me, and do try to sound natural. Please say, ‘No, Mom, stay where you are.'† â€Å"No, Mom, stay where you are.† My voice was barely more than a whisper. â€Å"I can see this is going to be difficult.† The voice was amused, still light and friendly. â€Å"Why don't you walk into another room now so your face doesn't ruin everything? There's no reason for your mother to suffer. As you're walking, please say, ‘Mom, please listen to me.' Say it now.† â€Å"Mom, please listen to me,† my voice pleaded. I walked very slowly to the bedroom, feeling Alice's worried stare on my back. I shut the door behind me, trying to think clearly through the terror that gripped my brain. â€Å"There now, are you alone? Just answer yes or no.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"But they can still hear you, I'm sure.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"All right, then,† the agreeable voice continued, â€Å"say, ‘Mom, trust me.'† â€Å"Mom, trust me.† â€Å"This worked out rather better than I expected. I was prepared to wait, but your mother arrived ahead of schedule. It's easier this way, isn't it? Less suspense, less anxiety for you.† I waited. â€Å"Now I want you to listen very carefully. I'm going to need you to get away from your friends; do you think you can do that? Answer yes or no.† â€Å"No.† â€Å"I'm sorry to hear that. I was hoping you would be a little more creative than that. Do you think you could get away from them if your mother's life depended on it? Answer yes or no.† Somehow, there had to be a way. I remembered that we were going to the airport. Sky Harbor International Airport: crowded, confusingly laid out†¦ â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"That's better. I'm sure it won't be easy, but if I get the slightest hint that you have any company, well, that would be very bad for your mother,† the friendly voice promised. â€Å"You must know enough about us by now to realize how quickly I would know if you tried to bring anyone along with you. And how little time I would need to deal with your mother if that was the case. Do you understand? Answer yes or no.† â€Å"Yes.† My voice broke. â€Å"Very good, Bella. Now this is what you have to do. I want you to go to your mother's house. Next to the phone there will be a number. Call it, and I'll tell you where to go from there.† I already knew where I would go, and where this would end. But I would follow his instructions exactly. â€Å"Can you do that? Answer yes or no.† â€Å"Yes.† â€Å"Before noon, please, Bella. I haven't got all day,† he said politely. â€Å"Where's Phil?† I asked tersely. â€Å"Ah, be careful now, Bella. Wait until I ask you to speak, please.† I waited. â€Å"It's important, now, that you don't make your friends suspicious when you go back to them. Tell them that your mother called, and that you talked her out of coming home for the time being. Now repeat after me, ‘Thank you, Mom.' Say it now.† â€Å"Thank you, Mom.† The tears were coming. I tried to fight them back. â€Å"Say, ‘I love you, Mom, I'll see you soon.' Say it now.† â€Å"I love you, Mom.† My voice was thick. â€Å"I'll see you soon,† I promised. â€Å"Goodbye, Bella. I look forward to seeing you again.† He hung up. I held the phone to my ear. My joints were frozen with terror – I couldn't unbend my fingers to drop it. I knew I had to think, but my head was filled with the sound of my mother's panic. Seconds ticked by while I fought for control. Slowly, slowly, my thoughts started to break past that brick wall of pain. To plan. For I had no choices now but one: to go to the mirrored room and die. I had no guarantees, nothing to give to keep my mother alive. I could only hope that James would be satisfied with winning the game, that beating Edward would be enough. Despair gripped me; there was no way to bargain, nothing I could offer or withhold that could influence him. But I still had no choice. I had to try. I pushed the terror back as well as I could. My decision was made. It did no good to waste time agonizing over the outcome. I had to think clearly, because Alice and Jasper were waiting for me, and evading them was absolutely essential, and absolutely impossible. I was suddenly grateful that Jasper was gone. If he had been here to feel my anguish in the last five minutes, how could I have kept them from being suspicious? I choked back the dread, the anxiety, tried to stifle it. I couldn't afford it now. I didn't know when he would return. I concentrated on my escape. I had to hope that my familiarity with the airport would turn the odds in my favor. Somehow, I had to keep Alice away†¦ I knew Alice was in the other room waiting for me, curious. But I had to deal with one more thing in private, before Jasper was back. I had to accept that I wouldn't see Edward again, not even one last glimpse of his face to carry with me to the mirror room. I was going to hurt him, and I couldn't say goodbye. I let the waves of torture wash over me, have their way for a time. Then I pushed them back, too, and went to face Alice. The only expression I could manage was a dull, dead look. I saw her alarm and I didn't wait for her to ask. I had just one script and I'd never manage improvisation now. â€Å"My mom was worried, she wanted to come home. But it's okay, I convinced her to stay away.† My voice was lifeless. â€Å"We'll make sure she's fine, Bella, don't worry.† I turned away; I couldn't let her see my face. My eye fell on a blank page of the hotel stationery on the desk. I went to it slowly, a plan forming. There was an envelope there, too. That was good. â€Å"Alice,† I asked slowly, without turning, keeping my voice level. â€Å"If I write a letter for my mother, would you give it to her? Leave it at the house, I mean.† â€Å"Sure, Bella.† Her voice was careful. She could see me coming apart at the seams. I had to keep my emotions under better control. I went into the bedroom again, and knelt next to the little bedside table to write. â€Å"Edward,† I wrote. My hand was shaking, the letters were hardly legible. I love you. I am so sorry. He has my mom, and I have to try. I know it may not work. I am so very, very sorry. Don't be angry with Alice and Jasper. If I get away from them it will be a miracle. Tell them thank you for me. Alice especially, please. And please, please, don't come after him. That's what he wants. I think. I can't bear it if anyone has to be hurt because of me, especially you. Please, this is the only thing I can ask you now. For me. I love you. Forgive me. Bella I folded the letter carefully, and sealed it in the envelope. Eventually he would find it. I only hoped he would understand, and listen to me just this once. And then I carefully sealed away my heart.