Part 1
=====
Towards the end of 2002, an unique advert appeared in some Italian
papers searching for a person: "1992 May 17th, in (untranslatable
Italian city Wa-Yeh-Li???) business district 5th avenue parking
lot, a white woman was raped by a black young man. Not long after,
the woman gave birth to a black baby girl. Her husband and her took
up the responsibility of raising the baby. Unfortunately, today
this girl has leukemia and urgently needs a bone marrow transplant
operation. Her biological father is the only hope of saving her
life. We hope that if he see this notice, he will immediately get
in touch with Dr Andre"
This newspaper notice made waves through the society, the talking
point was: will this black man step forward? Obviously, he faces
two difficult choices, if he steps forward, he will face
disreputation and the danger of a family breakdown; if he keeps
quiet, he will once again commit an unforgivable sin. What will be
the ending of this story?
The leukemia girl drew out a humiliating secret in the resident
area of the Italian city, 35 year old Miranda was a much gossiped
about woman. Both her husband and her are white, but among of two
children, one had black coloured skin. This abnormality attracted
the neighbours' speculation, Miranda had always told them with a
smile that it was because her grandmother was black and grandfather
was white, so Monica was showing a recessive genetic
characteristic. In the autumn of 2002, black skinned Monica
experienced repeated high fevers. Finally, Dr Andre diagnosed that
Monica was suffering from leukemia, the only cure was to do a bone
marrow transplant operation. The doctor's analysis was: "Amongst
Monica's blood relations, it would be the easiest to find a
suitable marrow donor, your entire family and relatives should come
to the hospital to do a marrow matching test." Anguish showed on
Miranda's face, nevertheless she let her entire family go for the
matching test but none were suitable. Dr Andre then told them that
for cases like Monica's, the chances of finding a marrow match is
very small. The only other probably solution was for Miranda and
her husband to have another child, then transfuse the umbiliac
blood to Monica. This suggestion stunned Monica and made her cried
out,
"Oh God, why is this so?" she looked at her husband with fear and
hopelessness.
Part 2
====
"It was 10 years ago, in May 1992. At that time, our oldest
daughter Elena was already two, Miranda was working at a fast food
restaurant and knocked off from work only at 10pm every night. It
was raining hard that night and there was almost nobody on the
streets when Miranda got off from work. When she was passing by an
abandoned car park, Miranda heard footsteps behind her and
frantically turned around to check, a young black man was behind
her. The black man had a wooden rod in his hand and knocked her
unconscious before raping her. When Miranda regained consciousness
and limped back home, it was already past 1am. I rushed out like a
mad man to find that black man but he was nowhere to be see. That
night we held each other and cried as if the entire world had
collapsed." at this point, Peters' eyes were already filled with
tears. But he continued, "Not long after, Miranda discovered that
she was pregnant. We were very fearful, worrying that this child
was the black man's. Miranda wanted to abort the child but I still
held out hope in my heart that maybe the child would be ours. Thus
we waited in trepidation for several months. In March 1993, Miranda
gave birth to a baby girl, with black skin colour. We gave up and
thought of giving her away to an orphanage. But whenever we heard
her cries, we just couldn't bear to do it. After all, Miranda
carried and gave birth to her, she is a life still. Both me and
Miranda are devote Christians so in the end we decided to keep her
and named her Monica."
Dr Andre's eyes were also teary by now, he finally understood why
this couple were so reluctant to have another child. With this
revelation, he nodded his head and said, "No wonder, even if you
had 10 more children, it would also be very difficult to have one
that is suitable for Monica's bone marrow transplant!" After a long
while, he looked at Miranda and tentatively suggested, "It looks
like you have to find Monica's biological father, maybe his marrow,
or maybe his children's bone marrow would be suitable for Monica.
But, will you be willing to let him enter your life again?" Miranda
replied, "For my child, I am willing to forgive him. If he is
willing to step forward and save the child, I will not take legal
actions against him." Dr. Andre was deeply touched by her strong
maternal love.
Part 3
=====
The unique notice caused an sudden wave of bone marrow donations,
but after so many years, where in the world can the rapist be
found? Miranda and Peters thought over it many times and finally
decided to post the notice in the newspaper anonymously. In
November 2002, all Vieri(?) city's papers carried an unique notice
bearing the story stated above, sincerely appealing to the rapist
to step forward and give the pitiful leukemia girl one last chance
for life! After the notice was published, it caused a powerful
reaction from the society. Dr Andre's mail box and telephone almost
burst, many people kept asking who the woman was, expressing their
desire to meet her and hoping to give her some form of help or
another. But Miranda turned down the people's concern a she did not
wish to reveal her full name and even more so she did not want
people to know that Monica was the rapist's daughter. At this
juncture, the media begun discussing about how this story might
end.
Rome News(?) questioned, "Will that black man come forward? If this
man bravely come forth, how should our society view him? How would
our laws treat him? Should he pay for yester year's crime, or
should he be praised for today's courage?" Vieri(?) Newspaper
started a discussion forum "If you're that black man, what will you
do?" and threw this dilemma to the public for discussion. The local
prison also actively helped Miranda. They provided the hospital
with a list of criminals from 1992 onwards, because there were very
few blacks in the city so the number of black criminals in the past
10 years were also very little. They told Miranda, "Even though
some of these people are not sentenced because of rape cases, but
it is possible they did commit such a crime." Some of them had
already been released but some of them were still serving their
sentences. Miranda and Peters contacted these people one by one,
many of these ex-convicts showed sincerity and concerned, giving
much information and clues. Regretfully, none of them were the
black man who raped her. Not long after, Miranda's story spread
through the prison and many convicts were touched by her motherly
love. Regardless of black or white, they volunteered to be tested
for matching bone marrow, hoping to help Monica. Unfortunately,
none of them were suitable. This incident touched many many people,
not a few volunteered to be tested to see if their bone marrow were
suitable. There became more and more donors and a bone marrow
donation wave started in Vieri City. (garbled text, but a good
guess goes) Due to this, many other leukemia patients were saved by
these donors but Monica was not one of the lucky ones.
Part 4
======
Miranda and Peters waited anxiously for that black man to appear,
but after two months, that person still did not turn up. They began
to worry that maybe that black man has already died? Perhaps he had
already fled the country? Or maybe he did not want to disrupt his
present life and thus did not want to step forward? No matter what,
as long as Monica was still alive, they did not want to give up the
hope of finding that black man. Whenever a soul is desperately
struggling, hope always appears at the darkest moment. When this
unique notice appeared in the Napoli papers, it caused ripples in a
30 year old hotel owner's heart. He is a black man called Aqili
(?). On 17th May 1992, he went through a nightmarish rainy night in
his life, he was the perpetrator in that story.
Nobody would believe that the well to do Aqili was once a dish
washer ordered around by other people. Due to the early deaths of
his parents, he started working when he was very young without a
proper education. The clever and capable young man had hoped to
gain wealth and respect through his hardwork. Unfortunately his
boss was a racist and no matter how hard Aqili worked, he was hit
or scolded. On 17th May 1992, Aqili's 20th birthday, he was
planning to knock off early for some celebrations. Howvever, he
broke a plate in his hurry and his boss grabbed his head and forced
Aqili to swallow the broken shards. Aqili furiously gave the boss a
punch and dashed out of the restaurant. Seething with anger, he
decided to take revenge on white folks, without many pedestrians on
that rainy night, he ran into Miranda at the car park and raped her
mercilessly due to his fury at the racism.
Part 5
=====
After that, Aqili was unsettled and fearful. That night, he used
the money meant for his birthday celebration to buy a train ticket
to Napoli, fleeing the city. In Napoli, his luck took a good turn.
Aqili easily found a job at a restaurant owned by an American. The
American couple who owned the restaurant admire his capabilities
and diligence, eventually marrying their daughter to him and even
gave the restaurant over to him to manage. Years after, Aqili not
only expanded the restaurant into a blooming hotel, he even had
three children. In the eyes of his workers and family, Aqili was a
good boss, good husband and good father. But in his heart, he had
never forgotten the sin he committed, always praying to God to
bless the woman he raped, that she will be safe. But he never told
anybody else this deep secret. That morning, Aqili read the article
over and over again, he instinctively knew he had to be the rapist
they were looking for. He never expected that pitiful woman to get
pregnant and brought up the child that did not even belong to her.
Several times in that day, Aqili wanted to call Dr Andre, but
everytime before he finished dialing the number, he would hang up.
Inside his heart, Aqili struggled, if he step forward and admitted
to it, everybody will know his hideous side, his children will stop
loving him, he will lose his happy family and beautiful wife, he
will also lose society's respect for him. He had fought so hard for
so many years to obtained all these!
That night during dinner, the whole family began talking about the
various news of the day as they normally did. His wife Lena said "I
respect Miranda. If it was me, I wouldn't have the courage to raise
a child from a rape. I respect her husband even more, he is a man
truly worthy of respect, being able to accept such a child." Aqili
silently listened to his wife before asking "What is your opinion
about that rapist?"
"I will never forgive him, he already made a mistake that year and
now at this crucial moment, he's still hiding. He is really
despicable, too selfish and too gutless! He is real coward!" His
wife spoke with righteous anger. Aqili listened in stunned silence,
unable to bring himself to tell the truth to his wife. That night,
because his 5yr old son refused to go to bed, Aqili slapped him for
the very first time. His son cried, "You're a bad daddy, I shan't
bother with you anymore. I don't want you to be my father." Aqili's
heart was struck painfully, he hugged his son and told him, "Sorry,
daddy won't ever hit you again. It's daddy's fault, will you
forgive daddy?"
At this point, Aqili began to weep. His son was frightened and
barely old enough to know anything, he quickly console Aqili, "Ok I
forgive you. My kindergarten teacher said, a repentant child is a
good child" That night, a sleepless Aqili felt as if he was being
tormented in hell, that sinful rainy night and that woman's
silhouette kept appearing before his eyes. He could almost hear her
breathing and cries. He kept asking himself, "Am I a good person,
or an evil person?" But whenever he heard his wife's even breathing
next to him, he lost the resolve to come out and admit it.
Final Round
=========
The next day, he was depressed and disraught, his wife quickly
noticed his abnormal state and caring asked what happened, Aqili
claimed to be feeling unwell to escape her questioning. When he
went to work, his workers greeted him earnestly, "Good morning MD!"
and he returned their greetings with a pale face, his heart full of
embarrassment and shame. Aqili felt as if he was going to breakdown
any moment. After several days of life changing torment and baptism
by shame, Aqili could no longer keep silent and called Dr Andre
from a public phone. He tried his best to keep his calm and asked,
"I would like very much to know about that unlucky girl's
condition." Dr Andre told him, that girl's condition is very
critical. Lastly, Dr Andre told him with sorrow, "I don't know if
she can last until the day her real father shows up." These words
moved Aqili deeply and a sense of fatherly love rose from the
depths of his soul, the girl was his own flesh and blood after all!
He decided that he will step forward and save Monica, he had made a
mistake once, he cannot let the mistake continue. That night, he
drew up his courage and told everything to his wife. Finally he
said, "I am most likely Monica's father! I must go and save her!"
Lena was shocked, angry and hurt, after hearing all of it, she
angrily cried out, "You're a cheat!" that night, she took all three
kids and drove back to her parents house. When she told them what
happened, the old couple was furious for a moment but quickly
calmed down.
After all, they had went through life's ups and downs, they told
their daughter, "Yes, we should be angry at what Aqili did in his
past. But have you considered, to come forward and admit this will
take so much courage, it proves that his conscience has not been
silenced. Do you want a husband who made a mistake but can repent
today? Or do you want a husband who buries his evil sin in his own
heart forever?" Lena was silent. The next morning, she returned to
Aqili's side, seeing his blood shot eyes, Lena firmly told him,
"Aqili, go find Dr Andre! I will go with you!" On 3rd Feb 2003,
Aqili and his wife contacted Dr Andre. On 8th Feb, the husband and
wife rushed to Elizabeth Hospital and conducted a DNA test, proving
that Aqili is Monica's biological father. When Miranda knew that
the black man who raped her finally had the courage to come
forward, she wept. She had hated Aqili for 10 years, but at this
point she was deeply touched. Everything was conducted in deepest
privacy. To protect Aqili and Miranda's privacy, the hospital did
not reveal to the media their true names and personal details, only
informing the reporters that Monica's father had been found.
Happy Ending
==========
The news excited all citizens concerned about the incident, they
called and wrote to Dr Andre, begging him to let the black man know
their forgiveness and respect. They said, "Maybe he was a criminal,
but now he is a hero!"
On 10th February, Miranda and Peters requested to meet Aqili. Aqili
did not had the courage to see them but after several requests by
Miranda, he finally agreed. On 18th Feb, under the secret
arrangements of the hospital, Miranda met Aqili in the hospital's
conference room. His hair was obviously newly cut (don't ask me)
and when he saw Miranda, his footsteps became immovably heavy, his
face pale and ashen. Miranda and husband walked up and held his
hands tightly, all three broke down and cried, their tears mixing
together. After a long while, Aqili choked and spoke "Sorry, please
forgive me! I've been wanting to say this from the bottom of my
heart for 10 years, finally today I have the chance to say it to
you face to face." Miranda replied "Thank you for coming forth. May
God bless you, your marrow will save my daughter!"
On 19th February, doctors tested Aqili for marrow matching and
fortunately his bone marrow matched Monica perfectly. Doctors
excited exclaimed, "This is a real miracle!" On 22nd February 2003,
the moment everybody was waiting for finally arrived. Aqili's bone
marrow was transplanted into Monica and very quickly she was out of
the critical period. After a week, Monica was discharged from the
hospital in good heath.
Miranda and her husband had completely forgive Aqili, earnestly
inviting him and Dr Andre to their house for a visit. But on that
day, Aqili did not come, he entrusted Dr Andre with a letter. In
the letter, he wrote with regret, "I cannot disrupt your peaceful
life anymore. I only hope that Monica and you will live happily
together, if you have any difficulties please let me know, I will
help you! At the same time, I'm very thankful to Monica, from a
certain point of view, she gave me a chance to redeem myself, she
allowed me to have a joyful latter life! That is her gift to
me!"
