I saw a stick on the ground next to the log where everyone had been sitting, all the people who had now stood up and were looking at me, speechless but almost all holding their phones in their hands.
They’d seen it.
Of course they had.
Jesus Christ.
I saw red.
Red.
Red.
Red.
I grabbed the stick and held it up high.
Danny said something, but I couldn’t hear him.
All I could see was that video in my head.
Just as I was about to hit him, a strong hand wrapped around my wrist and stopped me.
“Stop!” I heard a voice shout, and someone moved in front of me like a shadow, blocking Danny, who was calling me a crazy bitch.
“You bastard!” I shouted as loud as I could.
Thiago held both my hands and looked into my eyes. “Kam, breathe. What happened? Tell me.”
And then, as if I didn’t have enough problems already, I had an anxiety attack. I was hyperventilating so badly I thought I would pass out.
“Thiago…” I said, unable to stop the tears.
“It’s OK. Just tell me what happened. Please. Breathe, Kamila.”His voice was serious and commanding, and after a few seconds I could feel the air entering my lungs again.
“He recorded me,” I said when I finally managed to get a word out. “He recorded me naked and put it on Instagram.”
“I didn’t record shit,” Danny shouted behind Thiago’s back. “Maybe you should be more careful who you sleep with if you don’t want…”
Those were the last words he got out. Thiago let me go, turned around, took two big steps and punched Danny so hard he fell to the ground.
Blood tinged the snow red.
“I’m gonna kill you,” Thiago said in an icy voice that scared me. He hit him again and again. People tried to pull him off, but no one could stop him. Thiago was like a madman. Finally, Julian jumped in. But when he tried to pull Thiago off, he caught an elbow to the lip. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Then I remembered that video again.
Those images of my naked body being filmed without my consent. And now that it was on the internet, it would be there forever. I imagined people looking at it on porno sites, anonymous men all over the world touching themselves and gawking at my body, enjoying something that was supposed to be mine.
What was going to happen now?
How could Danny have done this?
Someone must have called the cops because soon we could hear sirens approaching. Everyone took off, leaving their bottles by the fire so they wouldn’t get fined for underage drinking. Before I knew it, the police had arrested Danny, Thiago, and Julian, cuffing their hands behind their backs.
“Kam, call my brother!” Thiago shouted. He looked so worried, so scared…for me. As if he wished he could just hold me and make it all better, which is exactly what I needed.
I didn’t know what to do. I was alone, and for the first time, I was scared. When the cops pulled away, the few people left were staring at me, probably incapable of believing what I’d done. And of course, they’d all seen the video.
