Safety in Numbers

Safety in Numbers 

It was a party

It was supposed to be fun 

And it was at first

With a bunch of people I barely knew

Who all worked together

Writing the news 

From our own point of view

Everyone was drinking

Even me

The new girl on staff

This party for the newbies

A festive initiation

To become one of the guys

I went to the bathroom

Alone

I thought it was safe enough

That’s when you knocked on the door

Just a minute I said

Washed my hands

Opened the door 

And you barged in

So I couldn’t get out 

Shut the door behind you

And locked it

I stood there staring at you

Knowing you 

Had had too much

And that I  

Had had enough

I knew your reputation

Thinking yourself God’s gift

Bragging how you could get any girl

To drop their knickers 

For an ounce of your attention

But you set off my hackles

The first moment I met you

I became a challenge 

A conquest you couldn’t master

Because I wouldn’t give you the time of day

Let alone anything else

I certainly never wanted 

To be trapped in a bathroom

With a drunken idiot

You leaned over and grabbed me

Pulled me into you

Whispered in my ear 

How you knew

How much I wanted it

Only I didn't

Told you as much

Told you to get out of my way

Told you to fuck off

You just laughed in my face

You were so much bigger than me

Like a gargoyle

Sneering down from above

You grabbed me again

And I yelled

NO

GET AWAY FROM ME

MOVE

I grabbed the door handle

Reaching behind you

You thought I was trying to get closer

When I was just trying to get away

I heard the lock click and yanked the door open

It knocked you off balance 

And I slipped beneath your arm

And back out into the party

I was frightened

And no one noticed

People kept trying to give me drinks

Here

Down this

You have to

It’s part of the game

A rite of passage 

NO I said
Again

And again

It wasn’t right

And you knew

But you still tried to force me

I let someone else take the shots

I left the party

But I didn’t leave alone

Out of a room full of people

One person saw how I changed

One person listened to what I didn’t say

One person was a friend

When I needed one

Between him and you

There was no comparison

Who were you to think 

You could do that to me

Who were you to think

That’s what I wanted

And men joke about

Why women go to the bathroom

Together

It’s because we know

There’s safety in numbers

Words: ©2021LCR

Image: CCO