A Little Story About Love

Part 23

Max- April 14, 2010

Chance and I had been together for two months, a minuscule amount of time compared to how long it felt, but we were celebrating anyway. We were going to dinner at a very fancy restaurant and then having a movie marathon after.

Our reservations for dinner were at 5:00, and I left around 4:00 to pick up a nice formal outfit, something I had neglected to bring when packing my life into a few suitcases. Chance had gone out to take care of a couple last minute things as well, so we planned to meet at the restaurant.

I picked up my clothes and was walking around the corner, checking the time, when someone grabbed me, pulling me into an abandoned ally way. I was thrown harshly into the dark shadows, falling to the rough pavement. My phone flew from my hand and I heard a crunch as a heavy boot came down on it, smashing it to pieces. I scrambled to my feet, throwing my tux off to the side of the ally. Five stocky blokes stood around me, cornering me against a wall. I braced myself, ready to fight as they laughed. They knew as well as I did that I was dead meat. Several of them threw insults at me, calling me a girl, calling me a fairy. I tried to stay calm, but my eyes betrayed my fear. I had taken some basic defense classes because of the bullying in primary school, but against five large blokes, I didn't stand much chance. The men started closing in on me, smiling wickedly. Unconsciously I had backed up, and now felt cool brick against my back.

Even though I expected it, the first blow shocked me. One bloke had clocked me across the side of the head, hitting my temple hard and making me see stars. And then more blows came. I managed a few punches, hitting one bloke in the stomach, another in the nose, and succeeded in kicking a third where it counts. He was on his knees a few feet away. But it was of no use. Blow after blow rained down on me. I felt ribs cracking. My feet were knocked out from under me. My newly healed ankle exploded with pain.

As blood flowed from various wounds, and bones popped and cracked, I tuned out the pain and hisses of "faggot" and "pathetic," just waiting for it to end. I watched as blood pooled around me, the thuds of each blow seemed far off. At long last the world turned black.