Just A Moment

Trouble Brewing

*Trigger warning - sexual assault

Grabbing her over-sized hoodie from the back of the chair, Hope pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail.

She glanced across to where her new black and white dress laid in a pile on the floor where she had abandoned it when she came in. The people who wore fancy outfits like that weren't like Hope. Scruffy sneakers, distressed jeans and baggy hoodies were what girls like Hope wore. She had been foolish to think that she could change who she was.

With a quick look in on her aunt and uncle, who were embracing lovingly on the sofa whilst watching a show on Netflix, Hope stepped out into the twilight streets. Since it was a Friday night, Mack was probably on his way to the den, so Hope walked in that direction, hoping that she would get an opportunity to speak to him privately before the group of boys descended.

The night was unnaturally dark, and Hope was surprised to find the alley entrance completely deserted. Stragglers of the meets often loitered around the alley entrance beforehand, wolf-whistling at the girls who walked by, so the fact that they were not there was unusual. Bringing out her phone and pulling up the torch function, Hope ventured into the darkness, repressing the urge to shiver.

Upon entering the den itself and finding that as empty as the entrance to the alleyway, Hope quickly turned to leave the area. She instinctively knew that something was wrong since Mack wasn't there. Perhaps she could just talk the situation through with her aunt and uncle when she got home. Hope was sure that they...

'Hey!' A voice shouted into the darkness, making Hope jump out of her skin.

Trying to keep her voice level in spite of her fear, Hope called back. 'Who's there?'

A light lit up on Mack's balcony and a dark figure stood with their hands braced menacingly on the rail. The light was behind them, so Hope couldn't make out their face.

'Who would you like it to be, Sweet Cakes?' The unmistakeable voice leered.

'Bobby.' Hope sighed in disgust. 'I'd like to say it's a pleasure, but that would be a lie.'

'You hurt me.' Bobby said, his voice laced with amusement.

In a swift movement, he pulled himself up to sit over the rail, his legs hanging down to the ground below. He disappeared from view as he dropped from the balcony with a sudden bang.

Moments later, a bright spot light lit up the den. Hope kept her eyes in the direction of where Bobby had dropped, hesitantly waiting for him to appear.

He surprised her by appearing at her back and putting his strong arms around her shoulders, pinning her to his chest. Hope tried to pull away from him but was stuck up against him and was not strong enough to push him off.

'But don't worry about it, Sweet Cakes.' Bobby whispered in Hope's ear as she tried to jerk away from him. 'I'm sure you can make it up to me.'

One of his hands began to travel down her body towards the fastenings of her jeans, and Hope began to hear alarm bells ringing in her ears.

'Bobby, let go of me. Now.' Hope tried to keep the terror out of her voice. 'If you do, I promise I won't tell Mack about this.'

Bobby laughed, his face close to Hope's neck as his nimble fingers undid the buttons on her jeans. 'Mack won't be able to do anything about it Sweet Cakes. He's not here, and by the time he gets here, I'll be long gone.'

Hope knew that whatever she said at that stage would be immaterial and that Bobby was determined to get his prize. She tried to scream out for help, knowing none was available, but Bobby covered her mouth with his hand all the same.

Roughly throwing Hope down to the floor, winding her, Bobby spread her thighs with his hands before dropping to his knees between them.

'Please Bobby, don't do this.' Hope pleaded as he leered down on her despite her effort to push his torso away from her body.

Pulling down the zip on Hope's hoodie, exposing her bare arms to the cold night air, Bobby twisted the fabric of Hope's t-shirt in his fist and tugged it down so that the top of her bra came into view, to which he made an appreciative sound. Hope's ability to call out was restricted once more by Bobby's hand, but she still endeavoured to bring someone's attention by screaming despite the muffling sound.

Suddenly, a shape emerged from the darkness and threw something at Bobby's head, which knocked him away from Hope and distracted him adequately. Hope took chance the to get up to her feet. She prepared to run, but then saw the face of her saviour. Joe.

Joe had been on his way to Hope's apartment to try and talk to her when he had seen her turn down the alleyway. When she did not reappear, and he could see that the lights weren't going on, Joe had decided to go check out what was happening.

Standing between Bobby, who had got to his feet, and Hope, Joe bunched his fists, anger violently shaking through his body.

'She told you to let her go.' He said, aware that his voice was hard.

Bobby looked at Joe in surprise and laughed. 'You seriously think you can protect her? I could beat you any day of the week, and just for interrupting my sport, I think I'll teach you a lesson.'

Bobby took a menacing step towards Joe, and Hope darted between them. 'Don't hurt him. Please.'

Joe grabbed Hope's arm and pulled her towards his chest so that she could escape Bobby's hand as he reached out to touch her. 'Run, and don't turn back.' Joe told Hope, looking deep into her eyes.

Hope did not need telling twice.