Ray wasn’t the first to try and touch me inappropriately, there had been many hands, and each one had met my fire and sheer fury. Ray hadn’t been the first man to hit me either, yet I never allowed myself to be a victim despite all of it. I’m not a victim now. I’m stronger than all of them.

“You’ll never look at me the same way, will you?” I choke; it’s what I always fear about people knowing. It’s one of the reasons I left Chicago. I hated people knowing what ...