Fifth Grade

***TW: SA, TRANSPHOBIA***

Robert sat on the floor of his elementary school bathroom. Blood dripped from his nose, and his head and right eye throbbed. Tears dripped down his face, which was buried in his knees, and the taste of blood filled his mouth. The voices of three of his peers echoed in the hall outside the bathroom, slowly decreasing in volume as they walked further away. He shivered from the cold air hitting his naked skin, his clothes were thrown onto the floor only a few inches away, but Robert couldn’t move. All he could do was sit there, rocking slightly back and forth silently. He sat there for the remainder of the school day; from the end of the second period to the end of the eighth, he rocked silently, staring at the floor. 

16 years later…

Robert sat on the edge of an old bed with a gold-colored metal frame; his stomach, chest, and back ached. Naked, cold, and afraid, his hands grasped the edge of the mattress tightly as he shivered. The warmth of his tears, the taste of blood, the emptiness, it was all happening again. His clothes were spread around the room. Robert flashed back to that school bathroom, to those two boys holding him down as the third boy forced himself on Robert…

“Look at the fucking tranny,” the first boy sneered, “all alone in the men’s room; who will protect her”

“Fucking faggot,” another boy laughed. 

“Why don't we show her how rough things can get in the boy's room,” the leader of the boy said, “grab her!”

Robert tried to run, but the boys were blocking the door; he was trapped. Two of the boys grabbed Robert, each grabbing an arm, he tried to scream, but the leader shoved paper towels in his mouth. He tried kicking the third boy away, but the boy was bigger and stronger than Robert. Robert was laid on the floor, each arm being held down by the two boys, and the third sat on his legs to stop him from kicking. With Robert unable to move, the leader began ripping his clothes.

A hand touched Robert’s back; suddenly, he was back in the bedroom.

“I told you there was no use in fighting me, Robert,” the man said, “I always get what I want.”