Mama's Boy

♊13♌

"To be subjected to incest is a deeply wounding experience. Just as ignoring an infected wound will only make things worse, trying to ignore past sex abuse only magnifies the damage. Until courageously facing the issues in order to heal, incest victims are typically riddled with false shame and feel like freaks and isolated, but even more so for male victims of female sex offenders because such offenses are shrouded in such secrecy that few people are aware that female sex offenders even exist."

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"Say what?!" Everett bellowed throughout the apartment while she stared at her baby sister. Aiden, in her bunny slippers and an old sweatshirt that had once belonged to Elvis, shrugged her shoulders and continued to eat her ice cream as if what she'd just told her sister was no big deal. "What do you mean you were almost raped?"

Aiden lifted her shoulders again, in a nonchalant way. "I didn't mean rape rape. Just that a very attractive guy almost had his way with me earlier in the week, that's all. You're blowing it out of proportion. This is exactly why I don't tell you stuff."

"What do you mean he almost had his way with you?" Everett persisted, ignoring Aiden's other comments. "What'd he do, AJ?"

"He just..." Aiden shrugs again. "bent me over and brushed up against me a little bit."

"Did he touch your private areas?"

Aiden frowned at her sister. "What are you? Two? Just ask me if he touched my vagina, ass, or breasts." Everett started to open her mouth, but Aiden cut her off. "No."

"Well, do you remember his face or anything?"

"No."

"Do you remember what he was wearing?"

"Nooo."

"Do you remember his build?"

"From what I felt, he was a nice size.."

"Was there anything about him that stood out?"

"There was something about him that stood up." Aiden smiled at Everett, who was not the least bit amused. Everett frowned and placed a hand on her hip. Aiden knew what that look was for, and so she sighed.

"It's not a big deal. He apol-"

"Aiden, sexual harassment and rape are pretty big deals! And you're here talking about it like you would the weather. What'd you even do? Did you fight him?"

"Afterwards, yeah."

"Did you go to the police? Did you report it?"

"No. Because he apologized and I forgave him."

Aiden shoved another spoonful of ice cream into her mouth while Everett looked at her in amazement.

"Sister..." Everett shook her head in disbelief. "Do you hear yourself? Some random man tried to rape you. Then, after he failed, he apologized. And you... forgave him?"

Momentarily baffled, Aiden blinked twice before giggling a bit. She had to admit that the story, in the way that her sister had said it, sounded weird and completely unlike herself. It was absurd to think that Aiden had actually let a random man violate her. Both of Aiden's sisters knew that Aiden was not one to be bossed around. She hated being told what to do or getting forced into something. In some cases, she was nice enough that she was willing to do it voluntarily anyway. She was sure that Knox got away so easily because a hidden part of her had wanted him to touch her. Because Aiden tolerated a lot of things, but being a push-over was not one.

"Aiden..." Everett said with concern. Everett, studying psychology in college, was concerned that her younger sister was going through a stage of denial and desensitization. "Sweety, do you need therapy?"