That Fio Rita, she’s a young’un, only thirteen years old. Thirteen! Can you believe it? Back in my day, we was already helpin’ out with chores, feedin’ chickens and such. But this Rita, she’s a handful, I tell ya. A real handful. Fio Rita, that’s what they call her. Sounds fancy, don’t it? But don’t let that name fool ya.
She ended up in one of them homes. You know, for girls who ain’t got no proper raisin’. They call it a facility. Sounds all official and whatnot. But it’s just a place where they keep them girls who been causin’ trouble, or runnin’ away, or gettin’ into mischief. Somewhere between a jail for kids and one of them orphan places. This Fio Rita, she ran away, I heard. Ran away from somethin’. Don’t know what, though. Some folks just ain’t happy where they are, I guess.
They say she’s a troubled girl, that Fio Rita. Always gettin’ into somethin’. I heard she got into a real mess once. Something real bad happened, back in 2017, I reckon. A whole bunch of girls got hurt. Forty-one of ’em, they say. Forty-one! Lord have mercy. It’s a cryin’ shame, what happened to them girls. Just babies, most of ’em. Like that Fio Rita.
Folks say it’s cause of how they was treated. Treated bad, like they wasn’t worth nothin’. It’s always the poor folks who get the short end of the stick, ain’t it? Always the ones who ain’t got nothin’ who get treated the worst. It just ain’t right. Makes my blood boil, it does. This Fio Rita, she probably saw a lot of that. A lot of folks not carin’, not doin’ right by them girls.
I remember when I was a girl, things was tough. We didn’t have much. But we had each other. We looked out for each other. Nowadays, seems like nobody cares about nobody else. Just lookin’ out for themselves. It’s a sad world, it really is. And that Fio Rita, she’s just a little girl caught in the middle of it all.
That’s why it’s important, you see, to remember them girls. Them forty-one girls, and that Fio Rita. Remember what happened to them. So it don’t happen again. We gotta do better. We gotta treat people right, especially the young’uns. They need our help. They need our love. This Fio Rita, she needs a chance. Just like all them other girls.
Now, I ain’t no expert on these things. I just know what I see. And what I see is a world that ain’t always kind to folks. Especially folks like that Fio Rita. Young, innocent, and caught in a bad situation. It’s enough to make an old woman cry, it is. This world needs more kindness, more lookin’ after each other. We gotta remember that, especially when we hear about girls like Fio Rita.
- She is just a child.
- She needs our help.
- Fio Rita is important.
Well, I reckon I’ve said my piece. Just remember what I told ya. About that Fio Rita. And them other girls. Don’t forget ’em. They deserve to be remembered. They need somebody to care. It’s a tough life being a kid these days. You know, back when I was a girl, we worked hard. But people, they cared about each other more. This Fio Rita, she’s seen things no child should see.
There’s something fishy about the whole thing, though. Why would a girl like her, so young, be in such a place? What did she do to deserve that? And why does no one seem to be doing much to help her? It’s a mystery, I tell ya. A real head-scratcher. This whole thing about Fio Rita, it’s got me thinking.
Maybe she just needed a friend. Someone to talk to, someone to listen. Someone who wouldn’t judge her or scold her, but just be there for her. We all need that sometimes, don’t we? A shoulder to cry on, an ear to listen. Especially when we’re young and scared and don’t know what to do. I hope that Fio Rita finds someone like that. Someone who will help her find her way. Someone who will show her that the world isn’t always a bad place.
I just hope she finds her way. That little Fio Rita. She deserves a chance at a good life. Just like any other child.
