Amayra

Friday morning

TW//rape, sexual assault 

"Teenage boy 13, gang raped by 3 women, last night, women have not yet been identified, tonight at 9 p.m. we will have a discussion on this, make sure to tune in, signing off your local news reporter Asha........"

And just like that the television fades in the background, we don't like the news, in any way possible, we hate it, we hate how rotten the world is but what can we do? It's not in our control, dad says  this all the time.

"It's awful what they did to him" dad said, my dad's a short man, by height I mean, he looks like a harmless, built bear, a hairless one too, he's a hairless bear. He has a degree in law, our household is considered progressive , because my dad has a degree, he isn't working though, he has to take care of us.He says this as he makes us pancakes for breakfast, all of us are sitting at the table waiting patiently for the pancakes. My mother was reading the paper, then she heard the news, she's sitting across me at the table, she looked at my brothers, she looks scared.

One of my brothers is 5, he's cute, I'll give him that, but the question isn't about whether he's cute or not, the question is of his safety. I have two brothers, one older and one younger, I'm the middle child, being a middle child would mean that I'm the neglected one but that's not the case, I get attention and freedom more than my brothers because I'm a female. I'm 15 and my older brother is now 17, we're worried about my brothers, the world isn't a good place, specially if you're a man.

"I hope you take care and stay safe when you're out" my mother asked the Older brother, his name is Anshuman. The pancakes have been served, we're eating, the air feels heavy now, "yes I am." The thing is, as much as we hated to admit it, it really wasn't safe for men out there, there were predators everywhere and of course not all women were to be scared of but there were enough of them for the entire male population to be scared for their lives.

"Mom, we're late" I remind mom, she drops us off to school before going to work, she's a psychiatrist, she's amazing and brilliant. "Yes , Yes let's go" she says. She's kind, cute, her smile is too big for her face yet it looks beautiful. My dad too is an amazing man, he's kind.

In school, I got a note from the principal's office, to go visit his office, it was the middle of biology class when that note arrived, I wish it didn't, I liked biology,I walked to the principal's office at my pace, I was fully aware of the fact that I hadn't done anything wrong so there was no rush. When I got there, Anshuman was sitting there, he looked annoyed or pissed off Aren't they the same thing? Whatever. I knocked twice at his door(the principal's) "come in"he said, he sounded angry, this didn't seem right. Why was Anshuman here? "To what do I owe the pleasure sir?" I asked almost curiously. "Ask your brother right here!" I looked at Anshuman, he was about to snap and yell but he chose not to. I once again asked what had happened and he told me. Here's what he said:"Anshuman's clothes here are quite distracting don't you think? I can see his collar bone and shoulders, they are more visible than the clouds in the sky at the moment!" 

This made me angry.WTF?  I said this in my mind, I wouldn't dare say it out aloud. Anshuman knew this too, he knew his clothes were not quite fitting with the school code, boys aren't allowed to show their shoulders, apparently it's distracting to the girls and its provocative."I apologise of his behalf sir, I'll talk to him and make sure this doesn't happen again."

"Anshuman you know better than to dress like this, keep your dignity please, I'm sorry if I seem rude or mean but it's only for your own good." The principal said.

We left after that, we didn't say anything, what was left say? The principal had made himself clear about what he wanted from Anshuman.

For context the reason why our family is considered progressive is because men  usually aren't allowed to study or get degrees, they're expected to stay at home and take care of the family.