he touched ME

One could hear the rustling of the leaves as he walked through the grass. He was a big ole fella. Tonna was just a child. To her he was Goliath, six foot and some. She could see him as she cowered under the leaves of the young sucklings of tobacco. He called out “Where ya at gurl, ya mammie ain’t paid the rent this month? Come on chere. Let me take a look at that there thang, to see if it’s fit or not.” Thang? Tonna didn’t have no earthly idea what he was talking about., but she wasn’t going nowhere. She could see the morning glories as they were entwined around the stalks. She could smell the sweetness of the tobacco and feel hot sand seeping between her toes. “Come here” he said, louder than the first time. Sweating and afraid she slithered her body through two more rows. She stooped down real low so that he could not catch a glimpse of her long black ropey hair. She could see that her options were running out, for the rows were ending. She could smell that he was getting closer. Tonna jumped up as if to surprise her stalker, but it was too late. He had already taken a hold of here from behind. Aggressively he turned her around and pressed himself against her. “Listen up here!” he said mumbling in her ear. “You here me? Now you can make this easy or hard, it’s up to you. Don’t blame me. Blame ya mammie See she didn’t pay yalls rent, so you and me gonna have us a bit of fun. You ain’t gonna say a word either.” He pressed his lips against her as she kicked and screamed. Nevertheless, he fumbled her to the ground. His knees unlocked her legs. The weight of their bodies unearthed the soil. The more he pushed, the more he managed to undress her. “No, no, no!” She cried!

“Hush, hush, and this want hurt a’tall. Who knows you might even like it” he replied. His hand cupped her tender breasts. She screamed to the top of her voice, but it didn’t matter for they were in the middle of nowhere. Most of the workers were gone to other fields or barns to work. The others were on the other side resting up under a shade tree. He tore her panties and grabbed her in between her thighs. “Look here, you might as well be still now.” For a moment the huskiness in his voice made her feel as if she could withstand the pain, that she could ignore what was happening to her. She closed her eyes, hoping to stay in that place for a while. She thought about th e times in here life when she felt the most secure. Like when her father rescued her from the wild dogs. And when her mother nursed her through the fever.

Suddenly the atmosphere changed. She could hear how his breathing was changing. He was making grunting noises. He began shoving himself into here again and again. “This is my rent” he said. Tonna laid there all confused. She was trying to figure out what she had done to deserve this kind of punishment. Why had she even come out the door? It seemed as if he was taking his time. “Oh God!” he said as he grabbed her hair and held it in his hand, “Now this is what I’ve been waiting for!” He gave off a great big whaling noise. Tonna thought he had just died. He just laid there. She began kicking and squirming. It felt like felt like water was flowing everywhere. Some off his face, and his chest. Tonna felt unusually wet elsewhere also. She laid there in a daze. “Don’t ya tell nobody about this, ya here” he said panting, and is ya mammie don’t pay the rent next month, I’ll be seeing ya at the same place next time. Now gwo on up outta here!” Tonna didn’t stand around to hear any more. She gathered her torn garments and hobbled aimlessly through the field.