"LET ME GO! This is already abduction, Lazaro." I tried to squirm my way out of his hold as he carried me up the stairs. By now, I was starting to freak out. He was carrying me up the stairs to take me to God knows where. I was basically a lamb in the lion's den. "Damn it, Lazaro! What are you going to do to me?"
I squirmed even harder as he walked down the long, seemingly endless hallway. I had taken self-defense classes, I'd practice ju-jutsu and muay thai. If he'd only freaking let me go, I would be able to knock him unconscious.
I panicked even more when we reached the end of the hall and I lifted my head up to see him opening the door in front of him. It was an intimating black double door with gold colored strip edges. I felt like we were going through a portal to hell. Kumapit ako sa frame ng pinto nang subukan niya akong ipasok sa kwarto. Wyatt tried to pull me inside but held onto the frame even tighter. He pulled a little more harder and then he kicked the door close.
I could feel my heart rapidly. I went into immediate, full-on, fight-or-flight mode with adrenaline flooding my whole system. I attacked him the moment he put me down. Using my Muay Thai skills, my legs drew up to kick him on the face. Makikipagpatayan muna ako bago ko bago ako mapagsamantalahan ng kahit sino. I would never let myself be a statistic.
"FUCK!" He cried out in pain as his face flew to the side from the blow. Sinalo niya ang mukha niya and his eyes narrowed at me. "Jesus, woman!"
I lifted my legs up to kick him again but this time he was quick to take action. He was able to hold me by my ankle and I tried to pull away but he wouldn't let me. I used my arms to try to hit me and I let out a shrilling scream when he tackled me to the ground. Nahulog ako sa sahig at pumaibabaw siya sa akin.
I tried to hit him but he pinned my wrists above my head and looked at me with a piercing glare. Blood oozed from the cut on the side of his face where I'd kicked him.
"LET ME GO!" I barked.
"Do you see now why gender equality is unrealistic?" He said in a harsh tone. "We aren't even physically equal. Madali kitang nabitbit dito and now you're under me, you see that? What you want is never going to happen. It's ridiculous."
"How dare you say that?" I said through gritted teeth.
"Newsflash, Veronica Cordova! You don't live in a bubble, you live in a world with men!"
"You think I don't know that? Ang mga katulad mong lalaki ang problema dito sa mundo. You are objectifying-"
"Yan na naman tayo, Veronica. Objectification is a dumb and pointless word made up by man-haters like you that's used to try and shame men who show their attraction to women in any way that they don't approve of. It's complete bullshit and you know it!"
"Just because you don't see the problem, it doesn't mean it's not there, Lazaro! You don't see what women have to put up with everyday."
"And you think we men live in lala land?" His eyes widened in amusement. "We get just as much bullshit. This society fails to see that men can be sexually assaulted. In fact, they're not respected at all. They aren't even taken seriously and worse they get laughed at. Men who are domestically abused by women are seen as sissies, not a real man. To put it simply, nothing women do to men is ever a fucking crime. Shit like this brings the idea that women get a free pass, a pussy pass if you will, to do to men what would never be allowed to do to women. Women and men are same and different in a lot of ways. The thing is people like you don't want to compromise."
"You get off me!" I said, pushing him away. Agad naman siyang umalis sa ibabaw ko. Realizing I was topless, I hugged myself. His shirt had slipped off somewhere while he was carrying me. He was just as topless as I was. "You are the one living in a bubble. You use your 'I'm a man' excuse to justify what you are doing. Hindi mo alam kung gaano kalaking impact ang ginagawa ng magazine mo. I'm sure there are a lot of teenage boys out there that reads your magazines, thinking it's normal to view women in such demeaning way. You are teaching them not to respect women. We're not even interested in being equal to men. As if you men are the standard of all humanity. We want a life where we are valued for our humanity rather than our body. Hindi magbabago ang paniniwala kong iyon. That is a non-negotiable part of who I am."
