College cracked the fantasy wide<\/p>\n
open. All our Pretty\u200b Woman\u200b\u00a0<\/em>dreams<\/p>\n flatlining in the bottom of some frat guy\u2019s<\/p>\n basement. Memories of the \u201ctalk\u201d and how<\/p>\n she left out the part about surgery. The stitching<\/p>\n and staining and then, there\u2019s recovery.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Came home for break still soaking through<\/p>\n the gauze of this girlhood and all our moms<\/p>\n could tell. But no one spoke the truth.<\/p>\n That you can be six shots in and his hands<\/p>\n won\u2019t reek of meat. That his toothy grin won\u2019t<\/p>\n be dripping with blood and shit. All the songs<\/p>\n he\u2019ll play in the dark corner or the back seat<\/p>\n of his car will be foreshadowing. But you won\u2019t<\/p>\n remember a thing. You won\u2019t ever know it<\/p>\n <\/p>\n happened. Cause molly is the new pick-up line<\/p>\n and he\u2019s got those for days. Nothing mom said<\/p>\n about chivalry and not putting out on the first<\/p>\n date prepared you for date rape drugs and scalding<\/p>\n hot showers to rinse the blood off.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Vanishing after you texted and told him<\/p>\n you were pregnant, and the shame slut-walked<\/p>\n all over Facebook. That innocence we knew is gone<\/p>\n like hope the RA isn\u2019t hooking up with freshmen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Somewhere between t-ball and toga parties<\/p>\n the rules changed from checking yes, no,<\/p>\n maybe, to him marking his criminal territory.<\/p>\n At least then you had the right to choose<\/p>\n <\/p>\n or feel like you had options. But here, now,<\/p>\n you\u2019re left to break and mend, stitch the wounds<\/p>\n to not spill the secrets, sober your sorrows<\/p>\n and be back before Monday\u2019s 8 a.m. exam.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Came home for break still soaking through \/ the gauze of this girlhood…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6054,"template":"","categories":[9,49,119],"tags":[6,1764,201],"class_list":["post-6049","article","type-article","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-aquifer","category-literary-features","category-poetry","tag-aquifer-the-florida-review-online","tag-khalisa-rae","tag-poetry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n