I am not a woman who fears. Dark alleyways, empty subway cars at night, strange men's trucks--I disappear into them, and always come back. What happens to me there sometimes hurts. I have been known to bleed, and to sit on the edge of my bed and press at my water-stain bruises. But to stop myself, I think, would require an act of God.
Tonight I dress for it. A short skirt, no underwear, and a top that's more bra than anything else. I lace up my combat boots and stand in front of the mirror. "You look so rapeable," I tell myself, and then I smile. My teeth glint in the lamplight.
Two hours later, I'm followed into the club bathroom. The man is tall, thick-necked, with the look of someone who's used to getting what he wants. He locks the door behind us and stands there staring at me.
It's not a large bathroom, just a dinky toilet with coke granules on the tank, and a sink with exposed piping. The walls have years of graffiti layered on them. There's not much room for two people, and his presence rubs against mine. This close, I can smell him. Sweat and sex.
"You're not wearing any underwear," he says, intelligently.
I look down as though to confirm. "Maybe," I say, and fear, real fear, puts a tremble in my voice. Because before it happens, I always get scared. Like I'm just a stupid piece of rapebait, putting myself in situations I can't handle. And I know what's about to happen.
He takes a step towards me, which puts him right in my face. I look him up and down. Hair crawls over the neckline of his yellow t-shirt, and there's a bulge in his jeans. It feels as though I can smell his arousal, the brine of precum.
With a sharp grin, he grabs my left tit and squeezes. It hurts, and I try to pull away, but he's grabbing me and pulling him against him. Now I can feel the bulge, hard and barely yielding, pressing up against my abdomen. He's about a foot taller than I am, and I'm trapped in his thick arms.
"Please let me go." My voice breaks on the last word, and tears come to my eyes. I don't want to be here anymore. I never want to be here, not when it's actually about to start. And yet there's another part of me that
does
want to be here, that yearns for it. That needs to be shown her place.
He bends his head down towards my face, and his breath smells like beer and cheap cigarettes. His whisper is humid against the shell of my ear: "I'm going to hurt you now, little girl."
I say the first thing that comes to mind. "I'm not a little girl." What a stupid, stupid thing to say. Because right now, despite my twenty-four years on the this earth, I'm nothing more than an idiot child who's laid her palm on the hot stove.
Without responding, he yanks down my bra-top, so my tits hang out. Then he slides a hand underneath my skirt and brushes a finger against my clit. I jump, and he laughs.