That unforgettable moment
I walk out of the familiar parking lot of my younger brother's primary school holding my brother's hand. I look around the school's compound, taking in the structures I had known since I was a child. While I walk on towards the bookshop building, somehow, my head turn to the classroom block, which stands alone at the far end of the school's compound. As I look at the building, I see the Grade 2b classroom, the second classroom from the middle stairway and I was suddenly transported 15 years back, when I was still was a pupil of the school.
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It was the summer of my Grade 2. I had turn 8 just a few weeks before and I was going to Grade 3. Summer classes were on-going but I never went for any as I was already a smart pupil. My mum and I had come to school to get my new books for Grade 3.
"Go upstairs," my mum had said, "Go say 'hi' to your friends." I excitedly turned around and walked quickly to the classroom block. 
As I reached the first floor, I saw fourth graders in first grader's classroom and I realised that I didn't know where third graders were learning. So I decided I'd walk through each floor and observe what's going on as though I were a supervisor. As I walked from the left end of the building towards the right, I also realised that I didn't know who in particular I searched for as I didn't know whether my friends attended the summer school or not. But I walked on, to see if I'd know anyone and also to say hi to my favourite teachers, should I see them.
Then I saw him. He stood teaching in front of Grade 2b's classroom, not more than 2 heads taller than my 8 year old self. His plump, saggy dark skinned body moved, as though dancing to what he told the class. He was specially employed to teach phonetics to the school. He hadn't seen me yet so I started walking back slowly and quietly, like I'd seen them do in cartoons. I was about to let out a breath of relief as I fully exited his line of sight but I heard him call in his obviously exaggerated british accent,
"KARINA!!". I tense up at my name and stopped walking. "Excuse me, pupils." He say to the class and I heard his hurried footsteps coming out of the class, into the corridor where I stood. I try my best to relax as I soon saw his playful smile that seemed to disgust me. Ironically, that smile put other children at ease.
"Good afternoon, Mr. Val." I greeted, head bowed, eyes down.
"Karina? How are you?" I hesitated a few seconds before I opened my mouth to reply but he cut me off, "Why are you in school?" He asked indifferently.
"I came with my mum to buy my books." I replied, trying as hard as an 8-year old could to sound not scared. He looked at the bookshop building through the rails of the corridor and sure enough we could see mum concentrated on checking off a list.
"Are you looking for your friends?"
"Yes, I don't know where they are." I replied a bit perplexed.
"Let me show you." He offered his left hand but I didn't take it. I was excited to see my friends but I was also wary of him. We walked through the corridor and went up to the second floor. As we walked, I made sure to look into each of the classes. We finally got to the computer lab. He brought out a set of keys, opened the doors and locked it once both of us were inside. I realized we were alone but I tried my best to stay calm despite the fact that my heart rate had sped off. Like he could feel my fear, he held my hand.
"Karina," he said softly, "I just want to show you something on the computer." I slowly nodded my head and followed him to the second row of computers. He sat and placed me on his laps. He turned on the computer and asked me to play a game.
While I was just getting into the game, I heard him talking softly, soothingly, "You're such a pretty girl, Karina. Did you know that?" I stopped playing my game and nodded my head softly. "No!" He ordered, taking my hands and placing it back on the keyboard, "Keep playing your game." His hands ran up and down my thighs, from my knee up to my private part. I really wasn't feeling anything, but all the voices in my head started talking at the same time so I knew I was in trouble. I tried to wiggle out of his legs but his hands came down firmly on my thighs.
"Don't move," He ordered aggressively and I let out a scared whimper, "Or talk!!" He kept one hand around my waist to keep me from moving as he started kissing the back of my neck. I whimpered again, a bit too loudly this time, and his other hand came up and covered my mouth. Then he pushed me back against him and started rocking my body to a hardness that protruded from his legs. 
"Keep playing your game!" He whispered authoritatively and my shaky hands immediately flew to the keyboard. My heart kept up its rapid pace as his hand left my mouth and went down to unbuckle his belt. As though it'd prepared for this moment, the hardness that was there felt even more intense, so much I had to turn to look at what it was. "Don't look!" he barked, "Keep looking at your game!"
I finally felt tears begin to well up in my eyes. "Don't cry or struggle, Karina" A voice from my head whispered, "if you do, you may not be safe." The voice calmed me so I took a relaxing breath and said slowly, like I was sad to break our moment,
"Mr. Victor Val, my mum told me to be back in 5 minutes and I've been gone for over 30 minutes." I kept my voice in a soft whispher, "She might have started looking for me."
Somehow, my voice remained calm through my speech. His hand abruptly stopped trying to remove my pants. He placed me back on the floor and quickly fixed my dress. As soon as he opened the door, I ran downstairs to my mum. 
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"Good afternoon, Ma" The voice of the bookshop attendant brought me out of my reverie. I greet back politely and smile a bit, grateful that I'd come a long way from the shy and timid girl from 15 years before.
