Violated

“Here, from her ashes you lay. A broken girl so lost in despondency that you know that even if she does find her way out of this labyrinth in hell, that she will never see, feel, taste, or touch life the same again.”
― Amanda Steele, The Cliff

She opened her door to him and he came in, sat down and began conversing, laughing like they had always done the past six months. He had been a friend she had relied upon ever since they met on a rainy morning on her way to work and he had kindly offered her a ride.

It was her birthday and she decided a dinner at her place was better than his idea of eating out that night. They had visited at each other’s houses couple of times and she felt like sharing her day with a friend she did care about and not with lots of people she didn’t really care very much to hang out with. It felt great to do something different for a change and spend time with a friend whom she felt very comfortable being around.

He insisted he did not want her to go through the stress of cooking a meal as it was her special day, so he had picked up dinner from a Chinese restaurant. The meal was just as she had expected; very delicious. She smiled as she recalled a time she had convinced him to try out her favorite Chinese meal and the funny faces he made as he confessed that Chinese food was really not his thing. He had been pleasantly surprised at how good the food had been and his face showed amazement as he enjoyed every bit.

She made her way to the kitchen to pick up the wine from the fridge. She was rinsing the glasses when she sensed him standing behind her. She was startled but kept her composure. She turned around and asked why he liked sneaking up on her. He grinned as usual, collected the glasses from her and led her to the living room.

They enjoyed the wine and she babbled to keep the conversation flowing and make herself feel at ease. He was already making her nervous with his silence and excessive grins. He inched closer to her on the couch and placed his hands on her thighs. She tried to move away but his other held her shoulders and prevented her from moving away.

She looked up at him and was about to tell him she wanted him to stop holding her when his lips crushed on hers. She tried to push him away but he kept a strong grip on her. Before she knew it, his hands were groping all over her body touching her and squeezing intimate parts of her body. She kicked, scratched and even tried to bite him; all to no avail.

Right there, in her own living room, she was raped by the man she had trusted for six months. After satisfying his urge, he left her wriggling in pain and sobbing heavily. He stormed out of the house without looking back. How could he? What could have prompted a friend to behave in such a beastly way? He had never showed any romantic interest in her. She could not understand why he decided to force himself on her. She would not have rejected him if he had made any romantic overtures at her or asked to take their relationship to the next level.

For days, she couldn’t step out of the house. She couldn’t bring herself to face the world after being violated. She felt like ending her own life.

Her friends tried to contact her but she switched off her phone. Three days after the incident, her closest friend at work, Bisola, came looking for her. Bisola knocked and shouted her name several times but she ignored her. Bisola had to threaten to break down her door before she let her in.  She opened the door for Bisola and couldn’t hold back tears.  Bisola looked bewildered at her state and frantically asked her what the problem was and if everything was alright.

Bisola hugged her and led her to the couch and allowed her to sob for several minutes, regain her composure before she began to probe her again on what happened.

She narrated her ordeal to her friend and observed a strange look on Bisola’s face as she continued with the story. Bisola looked shocked. When she finally spoke, she asked how her friend could claim she had been raped by the guy everyone thought she was dating. Bisola felt she was making up the story and that the story sounded unbelievable.

She couldn’t believe Bisola doubted her story. This hurt her as deeply as the violation of her body. She felt nobody would believe her story if she mustered the courage to speak out when her own dear friend Bisola could not believe her.

She felt deeply saddened that she had made a wrong decision to trust her male friend and invite him to her house.  She hadn’t asked to be raped neither did she ever imagine such level of betrayal from a friend she trusted. This should never have happened to her.