'I got a job at a convenience store Desmond, his friend, always shopped in. Desmond was always coming to see me and he would tell me about this friend of his that thought I was cute.'
'After a while, I started thinking the friend he was always talking about was himself because I never saw Nate.'
'One day, Desmond told me he had set up a blind date for me with his friend and I was single at the time so I agreed to go on the date.'
'I went to a Chinese restaurant and I met with Nate. He was a perfect gentleman all evening and we talked like we had known each other for years. He said the silliest thing and I was really into him after that first meeting.'
'He took me home and said he was going to call and he did. We went out for weeks after that and each date was better than the last. I was expecting him to ask me to be his girlfriend but he never did.'
'One day, he invited me to a party Desmond was hosting on a rooftop. I was already so into this man and I agreed without asking any questions. The party was great but after it was midnight, Nate told me to meet him in one of the rooms in the building.'
'I was excited because up until that moment, we had not even so much as kissed. When I got to the room, he locked the door and raped me.' She had not blinked once as she told the story.
It was almost like she was watching everything happen all over again.
'What's your name?' Alicia asked.
'Kathy. He even said it sounded like his sister's name, that must be you, Kassy.' She touched my arm.
I did not know how to feel after hearing Kathy's story. It was typical of Nate to do something so heartless regardless of any feelings the woman in question had for him.
Kathy definitely felt like anybody could turn on her at any time no matter how much feelings she had for them.
'And after it, what happened?' I wanted to know how she felt knowing Nate was just a predator and it was just unfortunate that she had been his prey.
'I could not look at myself in the mirror, I felt dirty. I called him over and over, he did not take my calls.'
'Desmond did not come to the store anymore and suddenly, all the customers were male so I had to quit my job.'
'I finally told my mum about three months later and she took me to the hospital.'
'We found out I was pregnant, I had the choice to terminate the pregnancy but I chose not to. I had the baby and gave her up for adoption.' She started crying.
I was lost for words. It felt as though Kathy had gone through it worse than everyone else. It was very understandable why she had sleepless nights and why she hated men so much.
'Do you still have any relationship with her?' I wondered why Mauve had asked. It was not necessary.
'Yes. She's four now.' She laughed and cleaned her face.
Alicia bent down in front of Kathy.
'Look, my brother, Nate, deserves to be stoned to death for what he did to you and all of us. I am really sorry you had to go through all that. No one should have to experience that.'
'I know you're scared of men even now, the truth is, I am too but you really need to move on Kathy.'
'You think I don't know that? You think I want to be scared of men all my life? I just cannot erase the fear just like that. I have tried all I can but nothing is working out. Your brother really destroyed me.' Kathy shouted a little. She was crying so much.
I got scared that George was going to walk through the door but he did not.
'Kathy, you can't live your life the way you normally would not because of one person.'
'I had it really bad because I was raped over and over but I still tried my best to move one and you can…' I cut Mauve off.
She made it seem like Kathy was wrong for being the way she was after what Nate did to her.
'Stop Mauve. You can't just tell her to move on like it's that simple.'
'She has tried and we should look at things from her perspective. She was raped by someone she was beginning to love and she even had a child from it.'
'She has every right to take her time, she does not need to accept men today or tomorrow. Please, don't put any more pressure on her.' I could not take it that Mauve and Alicia thought they could tell her to move on just like that.
Alicia sat back down in her seat and no one said anything for a while. The only sound that broke the silence from time to time was Kathy's sobs.
'I appreciate you guys for coming here. I haven't been able to talk to anyone about what happened in a long long time but it's really late now and I have to sleep. You should get going too.' Kathy said.
She was obviously disappointed that Alicia and Mauve did not fully understand her.
She thought she could finally be free with people that could relate to her problems but in a way, they only made it worse.
'Oh. Okay. I guess we better get going.' Alicia said.
Like we were being controlled, all four of us stood up at the same time. Kathy made her way to the door and just before she opened it, she said,
'Kassy, thank you.'
I had no idea why she was thanking me. I had only said the truth.
'I'll tell George to stop being angry with you.' She opened the door and walked in.
'Goodnight Kathy.' Mauve said.
'Goodnight.' Kathy closed the door behind her.
I felt relieved that it had gone well but I'd already made up my mind to see Kathy again because I was not fully satisfied with everything she told us. I felt there was more.