Rape & Sexual Abuse
Stolen Youth
I was 12 when it started. I had two best male friends and we did everything together. I have two brothers so I was like a tomboy. The first time was when my parents took all five of us on a camping trip. My brothers were a bit older and were out looking for some girls, so my two male friends and I decided to go for a swim. We had done this many times before and I've gone camping with their families many times. So everything seemed natural until the one I will call Adam tried to kiss me. I pulled away laughing at him. Suddenly, the other one, who I will call Kyle, got a scary look on his face and held my arms behind my back. Adam started grabbing me in places he shouldn't and I kicked him. That made both boys mad, and while Kyle held me down Adam had his way with me. By this time I was crying so hard and I couldn't believe this was happening so they let me up. They told me that if I told anyone, they wouldn't believe me and I'd be taken away from my parents. Being only 12 I believed them. The rest of the day I stayed with my parents and they went with my brothers.
The next day as we were getting ready to leave, they both told me they were sorry and that I just had to forgive them or my parents would know what had happened. So I did what I thought at the time was right I didn't tell anyone. I went on as normal and I hung out with them as usual. For a very long time things got back to normal. I just pushed it from my mind and didn't think about it.
In church you go to confession and confess your sins, then all is forgiven. That's what I believed. For two years we were the "three musketeers" again. If you saw one of us you saw all of us. We had all our classes together. I had girls that were friends but I never got close with them. We didn't have a lot in common. I was just starting to be interested in boys, although I could not tell my brothers this, it was fine to be with Adam and Kyle but no other boys at all.
One day I was alone with Adam, which wasn't unusual, so I had nothing to fear. We were walking in his father's field, when Adam threw me down and again assaulted me. I was so scared and so sure that someone had to see us. But of course, no one did. This time after he was done he left me there with a warning not to tell anyone. I got up, went home and jumped into the shower, then locked myself in my room. Kyle came over that night and wanted to know what was wrong, I ended up yelling at him that it was all his fault and that I was going to tell my parents. Of course he was scared, because of the incident when I was 12. He left in a hurry and begged me not to tell.
The next day I knew Adam and Kyle would not be home, so I felt it was OK to walk around and clear my head. As I was walking I had decided I was going to talk to my mom about this. I didn't like what Adam had done and I knew it had to be said. So I went home and waited for my mom to come home so I could tell her what had happened. I called her at work and asked her when she was going to be home. I said I needed to talk to her; she said she'd be home in an hour and asked if it could wait. I said it could. So I went upstairs to my room and watched TV until she got home.
A while later (I must have fallen asleep) there was a knock on my bedroom door, figuring it was my mom I said to come in. It was not my mom! It was Adam and Kyle. I told them to leave. They said they were there to shut me up and that they were not going to get into trouble. I remember being scared but thinking that my mom would be home very soon. Adam came toward me first. He grabbed me by my hair and hit me in the face hard. Then Kyle came at me and both were beating on me. I could feel my clothes being torn and I knew what they were going to do. Both took their turns, then they beat me some more. Thankfully, I passed out.
When I awoke I was in the hospital. I couldn't see very well but I saw my mom and dad and my brothers all standing there. I was thankful I was alive. Mom noticed I was awake first and told me not to try talking because my jaw was wired shut. It had been broken by the intruder. The police came in with a pen and paper and started asking me questions. Did I get a good look at the guy and so on. I was floored for a minute . . . they didn't know who did this. So I wrote the names of Adam and Kyle on the pad of paper. After that things went fast.
Since Adam and Kyle were minors they were not arrested. There was a trial just weeks after it happened. I was in the hospital for a week, then the next week was the trial. I couldn't return to school, so my parents hired someone to come in and help me. At the trial, I had to tell everything. My parents and their parents were both shocked. They told the truth and were only sentenced to probation and a year in a school for bad kids. It was sickening. A few weeks later my parents decided that we had to move if I was going to have any kind of normal life. So we moved over a hundred miles away.
That was almost 15 years ago. Now I'm happy and I have two children of my own and a great husband. I have overcome the rapes and I have moved on. I can tell this story now with hope that it will never happen to anyone else.
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