The mood I was in I probably should have stayed home that day. Unfortunately, the excursion had been set up for several weeks and a whole bunch of us were going, and I was one of the designated drivers.
I'd much rather have stayed home and had a few quiet drinks on my own rather than go out and party, but it wouldn't have been right to let the others down.
The problem was Mary, a friend of mine. We weren't lovers, past or present, and who could tell where the future was concerned, but she was a good friend.
I received news that she'd been mugged in the park the previous evening and I went to the hospital to see her. She'd been pretty badly beaten up and would be carrying the marks for weeks.
She told me it wasn't a simple mugging. A couple of lowlifes had jumped her with intent to rape and she'd fought. Apparently she'd scratched one of them up pretty good and he'd retaliated by laying into her. She'd been lucky, after a fashion. A cop heard her screaming and came running, so she didn't actually get raped as well, but it was a near thing.
She was able to give a fairly good description and with the claw marks on them they'll probably be picked up. And I hope they resist arrest and get thumped.
So it's understandable that I was feeling a bit down and a bit angry; not really the right mood to be going to the beach for a party.
But a promise was a promise and I'd made use of designated drivers in the past. It wouldn't have been fair to back out when it was my turn. The others would have understood, but I'd still have felt guilty, so off I went.
There were about twenty of us in the group. We were all in the same age bracket, say twenty plus or minus two years. Some of us were paired up, some of us not, just hanging out together. As with any group there were those I got on well with and some not so well. And of course the odd person here and there that I couldn't stand.
Diana was one of the ones that I couldn't stand. She was a holier than thou first class bitch, always ready to point the finger and cast blame. None of the blame ever came her way, naturally.
And, although I hated to say it, she was quite lovely. A really nice figure and a tendency to flaunt it. Once she shed her beach coat she proved to be wearing a sensational little yellow bikini that suited her to a tee.
A reasonably pleasant day was had by all. We had water sports and beach ball. Food and drink were available, even if I was restricted to non-alcoholic beverages. I tended to stay quiet and loiter around the edges of the group today, feeling morose.
It was heading towards the evening and the party was starting to wind down when the subject of rape was brought up. I don't know who started the discussion, or why, but it quickly became clear that several of those present had differing ideas about it.
One girl, for instance, maintained that as soon as a girl says no then that is the end of the matter. To try to continue after that is assault and leads to rape.
Another girl promptly put forward the argument that if a man had to back off as soon as she said no, then she'd never get laid. She liked a man to persuade her.
Diana, of course, had to put forward her opinion that rape was always the woman's fault. She shouldn't have put herself into a position where she was likely to get raped. Alternatively, she was wearing provocative clothes that just yelled for someone to jump her.
I thought of poor Mary, attacked in a public park when all she was doing was walking home. She was wearing her work clothes at the time, and by no stretch of the imagination could they be called provocative.
Diana's comments were not well received by the group in general. Looking at the faces of some of the women I could see real anger. Two of them, according to rumours that I'd heard, had undergone reluctant sexual experiences, to put it in a polite manner. To hear that Diana considered them to be at fault didn't go down well.
I also noticed that Michael was flushed and not looking at anyone in particular. I'd heard a rumour about him and his last girlfriend that I won't repeat, but if true he damn well should blush at the mention of rape.
Things would have been alright if the subject had just been left there, but someone raised Mary's name, pointing out that she'd been attacked on the way home. (Not me. I had enough sense to keep my mouth shut.)
That's when Diana proceeded to get the whole group offside. Mary was a nice young woman, kind and sociable and everyone liked her.
