Recovery

Men

My name is BABY and you lean out of your car and spit at my feet ; it lands in a puddle in front of me and I am 13 in a surburban neighborhood on the way home from school and I gag and run with my backpack banging like the echo of your words against my back like you are chasing me all the way home.

My name is SWEETIE and I am 15 in the city with my friends for the first time ; we get a little lost and you follow us for a full block, you name my friends things like HONEY and DARLING and WHY THE FUCK WON'T YOU TALK TO ME.

My name is NICE ASS and it's two in the afternoon and I still feel my heart slam against my ribs because I am under 150 pounds and I have weak lungs and weaker fists, and as you saunter down the stairs with a beer bottle swinging in your fist, my father behind me shouts "She's 17, you dipshit!" and maybe I'm near my family but I don't feel safe again until we're home again.

My name is JAILBAIT and my friend is laughing and we just graduated high school and we feel like we're on the brink of something beautiful and terrifying and she is in heels, about to throw up and you name her DRUNK ENOUGH and I have to physically drag you off and when we go home she cried for four hours because a night that should've just been teenage fun almost resulted in the end of her trust in humans.

My name is LOOK AT THOSE TITS and we are on a college campus and the boy I am with holds me a little tighter while you drive next to me. You name him thug and throw a bottle at his forehead. I can't stop shaking until long after it's over. He says "It happens" I say "It shouldn't."

My name is DAMN GIRL and we are walking down the street. There are 10 of you and two of us and you snap a picture when you think we're not looking. You tell us to either come inside or you'll fuck me on the street. You all laugh like this is funny. This is a compliment, this is somebody boys do to get ladies.

My name is LITTLE LADY, my name is FINE MISS, my name is FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR FRIENDS, my name is LOOK ME IN THE EYE, my name is STOP FROWNING, my name is SMILE, my name is WHY DID YOU EVEN GLANCE AT HIM YOU WERE ASKING FOR IT.