Rachael A. Parker 

Virgin Red


In the car, on the farm.

He and I in the backseat.

My hands small, his experienced. 

Sweat beads rolled past my loose red curls. 


I hadn’t given it much thought.

Caught in the backseat by his body. 

He wasn’t even looking into my eyes.

The windows were open, but I couldn’t breathe.


I couldn’t think about it. 

I didn’t say no, I didn’t say yes.

I couldn’t decide, his face was too close.

My skirt rose past my thighs, then, further, more. 


He whispered, “Relax.”

Thoughts stopped rolling, pain started coming. 

Innocent blood covered my lap, some on my skirt.

I would have to wash it out; my mother couldn’t know.


No holding, no calming. 

His experienced hands back on the wheel.

He pulled in my driveway and nodded me out. 

There was no reverse. I shut the door, hiding my skirt. 

 

~

Rachael A. Parker is a Kentucky born and raised writer from Maysville. She is a 2012 graduate of Berea College, receiving a B.A. in English: Creative Writing and a minor in Art History. Rachael has a profound love for education which prompted her current position, working for the national organization Teach For America as a 3rd grade Reading and Nonfiction writing teacher in Cincinnati, Ohio.   

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