Tw; Rape, sexual assault/violence - this chapter contains a detailed recount of a sexual attack. Please read with discretion.
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I saw a quote once. I can't remember where it was I read it - possibly on twitter or Instagram or something. I don't think it referenced the person who said it either, but I remember it was a good quote. It went; "rape is about violence, not sex. If a person hit you with a spade you wouldn't call it gardening."
Yes. A good quote. Quite jovial, I suppose, and very pointed too. Very much true. Which is why what happened to Mike wasn't about sex; it was about abuse, power, control, humiliation, and putting them all together is what makes it so unbearable.
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At eleven o'clock in the morning, there's a knock at the door.
Two police officers, buy the sound of things, as I sit down next to Mike on the sofa and pass him his cup of tea. When Mom comes back through into the living room, leading them in, my thoughts are confirmed - one policewoman, wearing her blonde hair in a low bun, blue eyes very large but perhaps a little too close together. Her counterpart is a male officer, with neat, cropped dark hair.
"Would either of you like something to drink?" Mom asks, and the female officer shakes her head.
"No, thank you, ma'am. Mike?" She smiles, directing her greeting at him, and he looks up and tries to return it as she holds out her hand. Tentative, he takes it gently and shakes it. "I'm Officer Willow, this is my associate Officer Stone. How are you?"
"Okay," he says quietly. Officer Stone shakes his hand too, and then Willow sits in Dad's armchair and Stone perches on the table. Dad is at work - Mom was supposed to be too, but she's called in sick last minute. Things right now are more important. Mike needs our emotional support far more than he needs money.
"Good, good," she nods astutely, and then brushes down her uniform. "Now, I understand you have something to report."
He nods, and then his mouth seems to glue shut again. Noticing, I nudge the tea towards him again, and whilst he takes a sip I try a smile for the officers. "He'll just take his time," I say softly, and Willow nods.
"Of course. Whenever you're ready, Mike. I need you to tell me everything about the incident you can remember."
"Well..." he starts, and then draws in a long breath. "About a month ago, I was at school. I was walking to my music lesson at about twelve o'clock. I was a bit late because I'd been talking to one of my other teachers so the corridors in the building I was in were kind of deserted and I was walking pretty fast. I was about halfway there when I heard someone shout behind me. It was this guy, Phil Green...he's been giving me hell all year. I just turned around and kept walking, thinking if I could just get to class he'd leave me alone. He was with his friends. Three of them. I kept walking but they caught up to me next to the bathroom and grabbed my jacket so I stopped and turned around. I was about to walk away again but then P-Phil -" he stutters, starting to talk too quickly, and then takes a sip of his tea again, gathering himself. "He grabbed me again, by the arm, and he pulled me into the bathroom. So it was just me and him, his friends stayed outside. He was angry at me because he'd got detention that morning. He pulled my chair from under me in geography for the second time but the teacher actually saw, so he got a detention and blamed me even though I hadn't even said anything. He said it was my fault he got in trouble and if I knew what's good for me I'd keep my head down. And I stood up to him. I told him I didn't have to keep my head down; that I had just as much right to be there as him, that he was the one with the problem. I went to move past him but he blocked me and shoved me backwards, which was when I started getting scared. He walked towards me and he said 'how dare you speak to me like that, Glitch?' He's been calling me a Glitch all year too. I'm epileptic, see, and...I didn't want to back down. I said 'you heard me, now I'm leaving,' and tried to move again but he pushed me harder so I backed into the wall. He said I shouldn't be so cocky when I'm the one up against a wall. He said it wasn't so funny now, now that Miss Elliot left and I don't have anyone protecting me. I didn't know what to do, and then he -"
ŞİMDİ OKUDUĞUN
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