4 / 5
How it ended
What happened next? What did you do, what changed, and where did it leave you?
She looked at me and said, "Sorry." A man in his twenties approached me with a brown paper bag that looked like it contained a pint of liquor. "What's your name?" "Jade." "Jade? Then you'll be my Jewel for the day." Nobody calls me Jewel except Damon. My God, what would Damon think if he found out? He wouldn't want me any more, I was sure of it—he who still hadn't dared to kiss me. "Do you want a drink?" "No thanks. I'm not allowed to drink." "Are you Muslim?" a second one inquired. Most of my friends were Muslim. Sometimes I did Ramadan, and with a brother who’d converted, I thought I could say I was too—especially if it could save me. "Yes, I'm Muslim." "But your name’s Jade?" "Yes. My father is Muslim and my mother is Christian." A third one turned to his friends. "I'm not touching her. I'm not risking hell." "Are you serious, bro?" Frank asked. "Wallah, I'm not touching her. I'm out. Tayo, come on." "Don't say my name, man. Fine, I'm with you, I'm burned." "You guys have no guts," Frank remarked. "I don't care if she's Muslim," said the first. "They're the hottest. Here, have a drink." "No, I don't drink. I'm 16." And at that very moment, I saw fear in their behaviour. "You're 21. You're lying. Your friend’s 22." "You told him you were 22?" Vitali couldn't speak anymore. She was frozen with fear. "Your body looks way too mature to be 16. I'd even say twenty." I had my period later than my friends, and before that, I was as flat as a board. But when it arrived, my hips and my arse blossomed, like a Coke bottle, causing many men in the street to get stiff necks. "Want to see my student ID?" Before I could even show it, every guy fled the garage, cursing Frank. The gist: "Are you sick? Minors? That's straight to jail, man. Didn’t you see what happened with that Sophie girl? Don't bring your messed-up plans here." "You're 12, Vitali, and you didn't tell me? Come here, you stupid—" He swept her legs and then kicked her in the head. She was on the ground, covering her head. When I tried to intervene, the guy who had stayed grabbed me and started touching every private part of me at once. When I pulled his hand out of my top, he tried to put it in my underwear. It felt like he had a thousand tentacles. I ended up biting him. He let go, kicking me hard in the back, which knocked me to the ground. Before walking off, he cleared his throat and spat something big and slimy on me. "That's all you deserve, you dirty skank."