Cassie returned from the bathroom, to a shot waiting for her. She recalls that it was this shot that contained the drug that enabled her rape.
Cassie wore an outfit not uncommon to college-aged girls in the Columbia, SC area, which is known for it's humid and hot weather. Although her stomach was showing, Cassie wore shorts, a baseball cap, and sported a tom-boyish pixie hair cut. She would be questioned about her outfit before her rape by authorities.
Cassie's recovery involved a feeling of isolation and the struggle of regaining her sense of self. In an attempt of "dark humor" a friend cross-stiched a gift. Cassie shares that her rapists had her "every which way" and the statement on the stitching is in reference to the event being her first time experiencing anal sex and against her will. She cites that she keeps the gift on display to remind herself that you must find humor somewhere in the events you experience.
Before the rapes, Cassie was a college student who worked in food service. She acknowledges that had the rapes not occurred that her life would have been different. She would have finished school, and possibly would have been someone different than who she is today.
Cassie met her husband CJ in her second year of recovery after her rape. Through his patience, and understanding she learned to start trusting men again, and began her path to rediscovering her sexuality as a woman.
Motherhood is a new chapter in Cassie's recovery. She feels that although she didn't finish college after the rapes that she does not regret how her life has turned out. She believes that her experience will help her raise a strong woman of her daughter.
Credits:
Created with images by Kristina Flour - "Secret"