🗣️ The Rumours
I hear the whispers.
Hallway gossip. Mutters at meetings. Little circles where truth is the first thing stolen.
Some residents, uninformed and ignorant, call me a thief.
A thief?
Tell me – what exactly have I stolen, Mary?
💰 What I Did Not Take
Did I steal your property? ❌ No.
Did I touch a single cent of your money? ❌ Never.
Did I sneak away with anything that wasn’t mine? ❌ Not once.
The only thing I ever dared to take was a stand – against harassment, against lies, against abuse.
And for that, you branded me.
💔 While I Was Down
While your board turned on me, piling falsehood upon falsehood, I was already fighting another battle.
I was facing a cancer diagnosis.
Every day was heavy with doctors, tests, fear.
And instead of compassion, what did I get?
Mockery.
Ridicule.
Attack after attack.
📜 My Letters, Your Silence
I wrote to you.
Not once. Not twice. But over and over. Letters begging for decency, for help, for someone to say:
“This is wrong. Enough.”
But you stayed silent.
Some of you even applauded the cruelty – because it wasn’t happening to you.
🗝️ The Real Thieves
So let’s set the record straight:
I am not the thief.
I never was.
The real theft was committed by you.
You stole my peace.
You stole my health.
You stole my sense of safety in my own home.
⚖️ The Verdict
What you applauded was not justice. It was torment.
What you allowed was not democracy. It was persecution.
And I will carry those scars long after your laughter fades.
So the next time you dare to whisper my name with “thief” attached – remember the truth.
The thief is not me.
The thief is you.
You should be ashamed.
📖 The Next Record
And to the rest of you – the community that chose silence, that applauded harassment, that turned away when I needed you most – the next Waterloo Record piece will be about you.
