It was a normal day. School was over with and I had just got done with a Judo lesson. My friend Aaron decided to walk me home because his danger sense was kicking in. I didn’t understand or know what he meant by that. We walked past the community center and then we were near the park. As we were in the park about to go around the hill we saw this group of guys. There were about 10 or 12 of them. As soon as I saw them, I hoped in my mind that they wouldn’t cause us any trouble.

Apparently my hope was invisible…

One of the guys came up to me and started flirting with me. I found that very rude. Did he not see me holding Aarons hand? Or maybe he just didn’t care. He said to me “Why are you with n****, he’s ugly.” I replied that he wasn’t and kept walking. The guy then proceeded to grab my hand and hold it. I snatched away and told him not to touch me because I didn’t know him. I am already a little haptephobic. You see, when people touch me I become frightened and very cautious. I was extremely frightened at this moment. I don’t think he understood though because he kept flirting with me. Aaron just said to keep walking, so I did. As we were about to cross the street I looked back and noticed that the guys started to follow us. I was so afraid…

The same guy, who had been flirting with me before, came up behind me and grabbed my butt. Startled, I turned around rapidly and again told him not to touch me please. Aaron just said to keep walking. I wish I could’ve kept a calm demeanor like he did. He saw the fear in my eyes. When one of them came up to him and shoved him I began to shed tears of fear and sadness. I was afraid for him more than myself. I knew he wouldn’t fight back.

I wish he had…

The one who was flirting with me ran up and punched him in the back in the head. Then, before you knew it, so did another. I dashed to my friend Prentiss’s house and repeatedly knocked on the door rapidly. As soon as he answered I fell into the doorway telling him what happened with tears streaming down my face non-stop. I told him that Aaron was on the ground unconscious. His face looked dismayed so I turned around to show him.
There was no one there…

“He went to go get them” was my initial thought. I know at this moment that he is not himself, which frightens me even more. Prentiss knows this too and runs to retrieve him. Luckily, he succeeded. I didn’t need to see any more bloodshed. When Aaron stepped into Prentiss’s house and I saw his face, I immediately started crying more. His face was bloody and bruised. I think him being harmed hurt me more than it did him. His face was merely expressionless.

Prentiss’s mom called the police and they came in about 3-5 minutes. They asked me and Aaron questions about the guys who did this. What did they look like? What were they wearing? Have you ever seen them before? I couldn’t really remember much. Aaron knew many details though. He is much better than me when it comes to being aware of your surroundings. After all of this, the police decided to take us for a ride in the cop car to drive around the park and see if we could identify any of the guys. We searched high and low but they were gone.

The police then had me and Aaron write a police report. I made sure to put as many details as I could. They then talked to Aaron about his injuries. His face stung and he felt light headed. The police proceeded to call an ambulance to take him to the hospital just in case he had any head injuries. I went with them of course. Even through all of this, I had still not stopped crying and it had been hours. We got to the hospital and they did a couple of tests on him like cat scans and asked him questions to see if his sense of reality was correct. He was fine. They told him to stay overnight just in case though. I of course, stayed also. The main thing I felt in my heart was hatred. I hated them for what they had done to him. His face was bruised, lip swollen, and even a couple of his teeth were broken. I started thinking about revenge. I guess he somehow read my thoughts and with a smile on his face he said to me:

“Don’t worry… Revenge isn’t the way. Besides… God takes care of babies and fools.”

When he said that to me, I finally stopped crying. I hope that one day I can be able to forgive easily and have as much faith as he does.

That was March 22, 2012