Antagonym

Chapter 39

"I'd like to thank everyone for coming today," Sylvia started off, her powerful voice filling the Yale auditorium and leaving no corner without her smile. "My name is Sylvia Riley, and this is my sister in law Danielle Riley. And while we have similar stories, I can not emphasize enough how diverse our experiences have been and how common these occurrences can be."

"While the goal of your time here together is to point out the systemic problems with how our society deals with rape, it is imperative we all acknowledge that any gender, race, and age can be raped or rape another person. If we keep this in mind, this will be a powerful presentation of the horrors millions of people across the world face," I took over as confidently as I could, using a simple hand gesture to emphasize are point.

"I'll do is all the favor of starting off, as my case had been much more publicized on the news," Sylvia traded off. "Eighteen years ago when I was a senior in high school, I was gang raped by a group of fellow lacrosse players after a game. While I could go on about how my gender should not dictate my role on a male sports team, that is not why we are here today. I am here to talk about how as a society we demonize victims unjustly."

"When I went to court for my rape, my face was all over the news and the internet. The problem with this was it opened my vulnerable, barely eighteen year old brain to the criticisms folder men and women who had their own opinions about my innocence. There were people across the world who claimed I was the one sleeping around and I was the one with ulterior motives, but I don't think anyone would voluntarily take a beating that would scare them for the rest their life." With a click of the small black presenter in her hand, the black slideshow behind us changed to three sets of photos from the night of Sylvia's attack, documenting her busted up lip and bruised cheek as well as the awful black strangulation lines around her neck. The other picture was an outline of a body from the hospital, marking the tears on her vagina and the lacerations cross her body.

My eyes flickered to Finn, watching him swallow deeply as his lips formed a tight frown and his eyes diverted from the screen. He had been there that night; he had been the one to nurse her back to health and it haunted him every day.

"And that brings me to my next point," Sylvia began after her pause, acting like the pictures of her beaten body weren't behind her on a never before seen court document to the public. "Hopefully my husband will forgive me, but his reaction is exactly where I am going. He is sitting in the front row, white knuckling his chair eighteen years later just looking at this picture because rape doesn't just effect the victim; it effects every person in their life." Finn's green eyes shot up, suddenly very large and very annoyed as he glared at the two of us. He was supportive, but Sylvia and I had both expected this from him. We basically just called him out in front of everyone.

"I can't tell you how many times I woke up screaming or how many instances where I broke down on the floor in an anxiety attack that required medication to get out of. Violent crimes like this stick with people for the rest of their lives, vividly recreated in the hypocampus almost exactly as they occurred. The human brain is a remarkable thing and when we are scared, we remember things almost picture perfectly. That is exactly what happens to the families or rape victims. Parents end up in therapy, relationships could be ruined, friend could be scarred; every single person who knows the will never see the world the same way again. But no one can tell you that better than my sister in-law."

I took a short inhale, stepping forwards on the train ark red circle carpet of Ted Talk.  "As you know, my name is Danielle Riley and I play division one men's hockey. Some of you might know me especially considering I'm standing on enemy territory right now," I smiled lightly as a few laughs filled the air. This wasn't that bad, right?

I got this.

"But what you don't know is that my name used to be Danielle Malton and seven years ago I was rapped by my athletic trainer at my private high school, not ten miles from here. Now, allow me to fill in some details that aren't online like my sisters." This was it. This was the moment.