Under The Skin
Under a tree on a hot afternoon, sat two young women. They were both
of fair complexion and in their late teens. This exact spot was "their
place" for lunch. No other place even came the closest to being tranquil
and secluded as under the big oak tree.
"How are you doing in your classes?" asked girl number one. The
other girl only shook her head. "That bad, huh? Maybe you need to
study more."
"That won't work. The work here is just so overwhelming! I never
knew that college would be so hard. If my grades don’t improve by the
end of this term, maybe I should start doing favors for the teachers or
maybe bribing will work. What do you think about that?"
"I don't. Your talk about kissing up to teachers makes me think of
what happened five years ago in this particular college. It''s scary just
thinking about it." stated girl number one.
"Why? What happened here five years ago? I don't know that much about
this place, so please tell me about that event." demanded girl number
two.
"Well, it's kind of a long story. But a very real one. Five years
ago, there was a girl named Majorie Johnson coming here to earn a degree
as a doctor. She didn't exactly get treated all that good."
"What happened?" inquired girl number two.
Majorie Johnson was a black girl of eighteen years when she entered Stanley
College. She had high hopes and dreams of becoming the first doctor in
her family. The only thing that didn't come true was Majorie's dreams,
aside from her nightmares.
Majorie made a lot of friends when she came to the college. She seemed
to have so much fun in the girls choir and playing the major role in a
production of "West Side Story". She was a straight-A student.
Nothing could stop Majorie from achieving her goals. But she probably
tried too hard.
"Majorie, can I speak to you."
"What's up Mr. Stevens?"
"I wanted to ask you if you could help me with a project I'm working
on. I have a lot to do and you’re one of my best students. I know that
you'll be able to help me with my project. So, what do you say? Hey, it
might give you a chance for some recognition that you deserve."
"Well, I guess I can help you. Right now, I don'[t have that many
projects to do. What kind of project is it? I hope I'm not being too nosy
in asking you if it's for some contest or something." declared Majorie.
"Thanks for saying that you'll help me. I have some knots to untie
in my research that you might be able to resolve. I'm going to be working
on it tonight in the library. If you could meet me there at around 6:00,
I'd really appreciate it." Mr. Stevens said.
"Sure, I'll see you then. Bye."
Majorie walked to her economics class. The hall was practically empty
now. The late bell was about to ring any second. Majorie glanced at her
watch and hurried on to her class. She had some weird feelings about why
Mr. Stevens had picked her to help him with his project. She tried to
push away from her mind, the slightest suspicion that something was definitely
wrong.
"I can't think about this anymore. I'm probably becoming paranoid
or just seeing something and imagining it when I shouldn't be." Majorie
mumbled to herself.
That night, Majorie found Mr. Stevens in the most quiet corner of the
library. There was hardly a soul around. Mr. Stevens was hard at work
on reading through some books. He didn't notice her until after a few
minutes.
"Oh hi, Majorie. I'm sorry if I didn't know that you were standing
there. I hope you weren't waiting that long. Pull up a chair and sit down.
I won't bite you."
"What are you researching?"
"A problem in the world that has no answer yet. You're very good
in biology, right? Maybe you can help me with this brainstomper."
Majorie was an extremely intelligent girl, so she seemed to understand
how to get an answer to most of the questions that had plagued Mr. Stevens.
"You know, it's quite strange, but real that sometimes students know
more than their teachers. How did you ever get so smart?"
"It's actually nothing. I just study hard, I guess. Some of the problems
weren't actually very tricky. You just have to give it some thought sometimes."
"Did you know that your skin seems to kind of glow a soft pink whenever
you blush? It's kind of fascinating." commented Mr. Stevens.
Majorie's suspicion started to shift gears and started coming straight
at her. She shifted her eyes to the pile of books in front of her. Mr.
Stevens touched her lightly on the arm. Majorie seemed surprised that
she jerked in the opposite direction as a response to a stimulus. It was
like being touched by a hot iron. Majorie shifted in her chair uncomfortably.
"What's wrong? Are you feeling sick or something?" asked Mr.
Stevens. He put his hand on her forehead to see if she had a fever. Majorie
pushed his hand away.
"I'm not really sick. I think that it's quite late now and I should
be going. I have an early class tomorrow morning. Hopefully, I helped
you with your project and that it's almost finished. Bye." declared
Majorie. She turned to leave, but Mr. Stevens grabbed her arm.
"But Majorie, I have one more favor to ask of you. You can't just
desert me in my time of need. Right? I mean, if you do this favor for
me, I'll guarantee you that I’ll repay you greatly."
"Let go of me. You're hurting my arm."
"I have a question for you, Miss A-Student. Have you ever fantasized
about someone so bad, that you just had to do something? You don't have
to answer that because I think I already know the answer."
Mr. Stevens pulled Majorie towards him and started caressing her neck.
Majorie struggled with him, but it was no use because he was much stronger
than her. She tried screaming, but the tears all came at once that it
stuck in her throat and no sound would come out of her mouth. Her mind
kept racing and wondering why no one would come and rescue her from this
monster. It seemed strange and coincidental that no one was in the library
anymore.
The next morning, Majorie got out of bed with dark circles under her
eyes. She didn't get a wink of sleep last night. Her mind just kept on
replaying what happened at the library. It seemed so unreal that it actually
happened to her. It was like being in a movie theater and watching the
scene unfold before your eyes.
Majorie felt so dirty and awful. She felt so used like an old rag. She
had so much anger in her heart and fear, that she had absolutely no idea
what she was going to do. She avoided looking into the mirror because
she was afraid to see the event all over again.
"Why was I so weak and stupid? I should have run out of there or
done something. I was so helpless and so vulnerable. Why? Why did this
have to happen to me? I have to do something about this. I can't let that
creep get away with this. Mr. Stevens, you're going to get what you deserved!"
Majorie shouted aloud in her dorm room.
In the next few minutes, everything was going by in a blur. Majorie got
dressed, fixed herself up and took out the pocket knife that she had gotten
as a present from her brother. It was never useful until now. She stuffed
the knife into her blazer pocket and walked out of the room.
When she reached Mr. Steven's room, she just stood there. She started
breathing more heavily and her hands were getting clammy and hot. She
held on to all the bit of courage left in her and turned the knob on the
door. She rushed into the room and pulled out the knife instantaneously.
She stabbed Mr. Stevens in the side of his torso. He didn't even have
a minute to escape from the sharp point.
"I hope you burn in hell! I trusted you and you took away everything
from me: my virginity, my future, my self-esteem and my privacy."
Majorie returned back to her dorm in tears. She knew that she just committed
an offense that wouldn't be dismissed no matter how good and smart she
was. She had no idea what to do anymore. She looked at a picture of her
parents on her desk and only cried even harder.
After a few minutes of crying, she went to her closet and pulled out
a long piece of rope. She attached one end of the rope to the ceiling
fan. She made a loop with the other end. She raised herself by standing
on a chair. Then she put her head through the noose and kicked away the
chair that was beneath her.
The president of the college and the police discovered Majorie's body
after a few minutes. Her friends cried when they heard the news. Mr. Stevens
was taken to the hospital to get a bandage on the cut. There was a funeral
for Majorie the following day. It was a rainy day, but all the people
close to Majorie came out for the service.
"I don't believe it! It's so sad. I can't believe that a teacher
would do that. Didn't the faculty kick that creep out?"
"No one ever found out. Majorie never left a suicide note or anything
like that. That teacher went on teaching and just retired last year."
"I'm so glad that he's not here anymore. I don't know what I would
have done if that happened to me. What would you have done in that situation?"
"I don't know. Maybe I would have shot the teacher and then myself.
No girl could possibly live with that secret forever." said girl number
one.
"It's such a shame that the world is full of perverts and rapists.
If only something could be done about all the rapes that happen in the
world today. What surprises me is that a teacher and not a group of guys
raped a girl. You can never know what will happen before it’s too late.
Oh yeah, how did you ever know the exact details of the incident?"
asked girl number two.
"Because my sister was in the library during the rape. She was the
only one left in the library besides Mr. Stevens and Majorie."
Jump to another story – Straight
To The Heart or A
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